Vacation vs. Adventure

Caroline’s Thoughts

For years I have been perplexed or bewildered by people who choose to vacation in the same spot year after year.  Grouped into this same category are people who are able to spend day after day lying on the beach soaking up the sun.  I’ll admit at times these tendencies have annoyed me.  As a naturally curious person, I feel a sense of urgency to seek all the knowledge I can while experiencing as much of life as I can.  And yet here are people who are living a sort of Groundhog’s Day approach when it comes to vacations.

After recently bingeing on a Netflix travel show, I have come to realize that there is a distinction between vacationing and traveling.  I am not a vacationer.  I don’t take vacations.  I travel.  I want to take journeys.  I am an adventurer.

So I suppose there is a place in this world for people who spend days at the beach and return to the same spot year after year.  They take vacations.  They are vacationers.  They want a “period of suspension from work.”  They want to rest.  I am willing to accept these vacationers; however I know that I am NOT a vacationer.

I am a traveler.  I want to take journeys.  I want to travel to distant places or just to wander.  I want to start out in a direction and see where I end up.  Along the way, I want to have adventures.  I want to have “exciting or unusual experiences” on my journeys.  I want to visit new places, and for lack of a better cliche, “expand my horizons.”  I want those places and people I have read about in books to come to life.  I don’t want to be a vacationer. I want to be a traveler, a journeyer – an adventurer.

Yes, I want to have those “bucket-list” journeys and adventures, but I don’t always have the resources to provide those “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences and travels.  So how does one feed that need to be a traveler or adventurer in real life circumstances?  I (we) have decided to become Lagom Adventurers- not over the top, extravagant experiences – but “just right” adventures.  Excursions that fit into our daily lives. Adventures that fill the need to wander, to learn, and to experience life.  

What defines a “Lagom Adventure”? The answer is whatever is an exciting or unusual experience/trip to you., Whether that be hiking a 10 mile race across a portion of the Ozark Trail, spending an afternoon sampling wines while listening to a local band, exploring and learning about local historic sites, or even wandering the grocery store aisles looking for new foods to sample. These aren’t life changing, book writing events, but they may be interesting, blog worthy experiences.

I am not saying I don’t want to continue to keep checking things off my bucket list.  I want to take take those larger, more extravagant trips, but in the meantime, I am going to start focusing on the “just right” every day adventures that can help curb the wanderlust that sometimes sets in.  I am going to live the life I have made for myself to the best ability that I can while striving for the life that I can only dream of living.  I want to be an active participant in MY life. The life I have now, not the one 10 years from now, not when I’m retired, not when I have the money.

I will probably never be a “vacationer.”  But I will be a traveler, a journeyer, an adventurer – a LAGOM ADVENTURER!

Katie’s Thoughts

As Caroline was writing this post, I was experiencing it first hand!  In July a few girlfriends and I took a quick trip to Riviera Maya in Mexico for “vacation.”  It was there that I came to the realization that I am most definitely an “adventurer” and not a “vacationer”!  

It was gorgeous…beautiful resort with delicious all you could eat food, a California King bed in my swimout room to a maze of pools, white sandy beaches along sky blue and sapphire waters, massages on the beach…who needs more right?  This girl!!

To many people, having to get a passport, go through extreme airport security (in the United States, not Mexico), and hopping on a plane to a foreign country would be all the adventure they would need.  I won’t lie that did get my juices flowing; however, once we got to the resort, there was just something missing.  Despite how beautiful the resort itself was and all these little foreign critters called “coati” running around, it didn’t feel like I had envisioned my first time in Mexico.  It wasn’t until we ventured down to the ocean, did I really feel like I was in Mexico.  But even then, something was still missing….

The best way I can explain the way I felt was “anxious.”  I had trouble sitting still and just relaxing.  I tried really hard to join in with the rest of my crew, but often times I found myself out in the ocean just jumping around looking for fish, playing endless games of sand volleyball, or doing water aerobics in the pool with the “entertainment crew” while my friends slept peacefully catching the rays.  I needed to get off the “rez”!  To go explore the Mayan ruins and other beaches, eat real Mexican street tacos, and compare the “Box” in Playa del Carmen to home (Crossfitters know what I mean!). 

Unfortunately, since it was such a short trip and everyone else’s goal was to relax and get a different set of tan lines everyday (which we all accomplished), I never relieved the feeling of ADHD I had.  Don’t get me wrong – it was definitely an amazing trip.  One I’m glad I took.  I had some great experiences with some even better friends.  And even though I’m sitting here talking about the things I didn’t get to do, I’m sure my body and mind needed the rest that it got because if you know me…I’m always on the go!  

Everybody’s level of “lagom” is different, and that’s perfectly fine whatever yours may be.  The more “adventures” you take, the more you will learn about yourself and what your needs and limits are.  So go do yourself a favor and find your perfect level of Lagom Adventures!