On Vacation

I was on vacation. 

This might sound pretty odd for a guy who lives his whole regular life as his life itself were a standalone vacation, but yes, there are some circumstances, and these occur every once in a while, there are such circumstances, where I do freely consider/define/refer to what I am doing as a vacation. 

From/of/among the numerous indications of vacation, I chose, with your dear permission, to make my own playlist:

IF
  No wake-up buzzers
  No phones
  No coffee breaks outside with smoking co-workers
  [Absolutely] No word processing

AND ONLY IF

  Mind mapping = for a nice dinner

THEN SAY 

  „Excuse me, what day is this?“

On vacation, there is no destination, there is the journey and the arrivals.

Some people cannot help themselves counting the days left, before the particular vacation ends [Doomsayers]. This behavior has always sickened me, as it intentionally cheapens the moment lived, that exact moment.

Some people [mis]use vacation to compensate left work, some people renovate houses, some paint garage walls. Time: the more you have it, the worthless it gets.

The only blackberries you‘ll see on vacation are on roadsides, they smell nice and have no trademark signs on them. On vacation, the coffee is still warm when you drink it. 

IF

  think of your cubicle

  count the mileage

  take your coffee mug with you in your car (*)

  check your calendar/mail/facebook page

  [ON YR CELLPHONE]3G & data-roaming = ON

  you twitter

GOTO

  Doctor

(*) EXCEPTION: If your mug is filled with black coffee, don‘t waste your money on the doctor

And on vacation, you never, ever search for a parking spot. On vacation, you do walk. A lot. So did I.

Some vacations are home-runs. You meet friends, best friends reunion, you enjoy the company of your family, get silly, eat good food, drink wine and have lots of fun. These days become ones to remember for a lifetime.

You remember the sound of the waves of the North Sea, the silence of the Canyonlands, you remember the rain in Glasgow, or the music festival in Dolgellau, Wales. And then the taste of beer in Najac comes into your mind, you hear the jazz drums of Istanbul Nights and dream of the sunny summer days in Helsinki. The moquitos that bit you in Thailand buzz around, while the no-nonsence US Customs Officer stares at you. You smile.

The girls still dance at the Vondelpark in Amsterdam and you still do not believe this is real.

On vacation, the only hard disk you‘ll hear spinning, is your own mind hi-jacking all these memories, recording sounds, demuxing videos, downloading plug-ins. You‘re busy, distinctly. Lights go on, lights go off. Beep.

IF
  Vacation = yes

THEN

  [YOUR]On = Standby

You relax.

Oh, and back to the "Circumstances". Words by [RUSH]

[...]
All the same we take our chances
Laughed at by time
Tricked by circumstances
Plus ca change
Plus c'est la meme chose
The more that things change
The more they stay the same

Now I've gained some understanding
Of the only world that we see
Things that I once dreamed of
Have become reality
[...]

Now, I am busy writing postcards.

[BYE]

PS. I am not checking my voice-mail. Click here or on the image above to see more.