At first glance, I can see why this would look like I’m ripping on the kind of vacation traditionalists who have settled into a pattern of the exact same vacation every year. Same time, same lodge, same breakfast at the Big Boy on the way there. I am not. Because then I’d have to wonder if I’m any better, and I fear I would come up wanting.
There are a number of distant races I have returned to year after year, and really, is that so different? Especially when that seems to be so much of my travel. Indeed, okay, I HAVE been wondering if I’m any better. A look back through this particular millennium has been prompting some uncomfortable introspection with regard to whether or not I’ve trained and raced too much at the expense of travel and exploration. The jury is still out. If training and racing has blessed me with self-discovery, it’s arguable that that’s a fair trade-off for some of the geographical places I haven’t yet poked around in. And, truth be told, the events have taken me places, too, and shown me a perspective most tourists don’t get. Crossing the Golden Gate or Mackinac bridge is tough to improve on. But crossing those same spans at water level could be considered such an improvement. And as for any monotony argument, it’s a different swim every time. I love Boston, and my best memories of the city are from the vantage point of the marathon or the aquatic equivalent, the Boston Light Swim. It’s a long, happy list full of good memories.
So maybe I’ve been doing it wrong or maybe I haven’t. Maybe I’ve been doing it right but it’s time for a change. I’ll keep thinking about it, and the best I’ll probably come up with is this: Whatever you do, however different or the same each time, if it makes you think a lot, you’re doing something the way it ought to be done. GPS has altered the game enough. We don’t need people vacationing on autopilot.
Bilan almost 5 years ago
Of course you go through the same routine every year. You repeat the same grade every year.
Sky_Shachaq almost 5 years ago
Poop in it this year.
whahoppened almost 5 years ago
But…neither one demands contact….Don’t throw it in the campfire though! Smoke will be deadly!
sandpiper almost 5 years ago
At his height, that could be a contact sport.
DutchUncle almost 5 years ago
Any “tried and true” “tradition” is very comforting . . . until it’s boring.
ZBicyclist Premium Member almost 5 years ago
Remember that old rhyme: “Leaves of three, great T P!”
micromos almost 5 years ago
I wish I could do my teens again.
Stephen Gilberg almost 5 years ago
That’s not adventure, just masochism.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] almost 5 years ago
Blog PostsFrazz13 hrs ·
At first glance, I can see why this would look like I’m ripping on the kind of vacation traditionalists who have settled into a pattern of the exact same vacation every year. Same time, same lodge, same breakfast at the Big Boy on the way there. I am not. Because then I’d have to wonder if I’m any better, and I fear I would come up wanting.
There are a number of distant races I have returned to year after year, and really, is that so different? Especially when that seems to be so much of my travel. Indeed, okay, I HAVE been wondering if I’m any better. A look back through this particular millennium has been prompting some uncomfortable introspection with regard to whether or not I’ve trained and raced too much at the expense of travel and exploration. The jury is still out. If training and racing has blessed me with self-discovery, it’s arguable that that’s a fair trade-off for some of the geographical places I haven’t yet poked around in. And, truth be told, the events have taken me places, too, and shown me a perspective most tourists don’t get. Crossing the Golden Gate or Mackinac bridge is tough to improve on. But crossing those same spans at water level could be considered such an improvement. And as for any monotony argument, it’s a different swim every time. I love Boston, and my best memories of the city are from the vantage point of the marathon or the aquatic equivalent, the Boston Light Swim. It’s a long, happy list full of good memories.
So maybe I’ve been doing it wrong or maybe I haven’t. Maybe I’ve been doing it right but it’s time for a change. I’ll keep thinking about it, and the best I’ll probably come up with is this: Whatever you do, however different or the same each time, if it makes you think a lot, you’re doing something the way it ought to be done. GPS has altered the game enough. We don’t need people vacationing on autopilot.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] almost 5 years ago
I was forced to go on vacation wondering if I had a job to come back to. Now it is of no consequence.
oakie817 almost 5 years ago
i did, growing up in the summer at the beach
Nick Danger almost 5 years ago
“Challenge accepted! I’ll see you next year, Poison Ivy!”