The first week of vacation is amazing. Everything is new and all of the experiences are so different from those at home. I tend to miss the scenes of daily life everywhere around me. Eventually I begin to open my eyes and see the real movement. People are going to work, kids to school, traffic approaching rush hour, routine. Routine is everywhere around me. Do you lose routine when you travel?
When I travel I throw my own routine out the window. I get fat, I don't exercise (other than walking, a lot), I don't necessarily eat well, I drink too much, etc. etc. Sometimes I think this is the reason most people go on vacation anyway. I love it, but at the same time I feel a little guilty for letting myself slip.
Is being on vacation not meant to be party, sleep, party, party? This is all fun and games but where are the cultural experiences, the local interaction? People are buying, selling, moving, going about their daily lives while I just sit and observe. I am the passenger.
I think, shit, it's Tuesday, everyone I know back home would be slaving away behind their desks, working. Sometimes I forget that “normal” people go about their lives in a very steady, secure routine. Travel is a chance to let this go and live for the moment, as cheesy at that may sound, sometimes it’s a liberating experience to drop everything in your life and hit the road.