4 Things I Learned after 2 Weeks Vacation in Maine
Some vacations are about doing stuff but the best vacations don’t have agendas. When you need a vacation to recover from vacation, you did it wrong.
Our plan was to live without a plan for two weeks.
My bride and I have two homes. Our home is Pennsylvania and we grew up in Maine. We just returned from two weeks back home in Maine, most of it spent in a small town 35 miles south of Canada, Machiasport. (Our real home is Central Maine, but the coast has the best seafood in the world.)
You could throw a rock into the Atlantic from our vacation rental and it was secluded. We saw two people on the beach the whole time we were there. The word ‘beach’ is misleading for the coast of Northern Maine. You wouldn’t dream of swimming unless you had a layer of blubber. Occasional patches of sand pretend to be beaches.
4 things I learned after 2 weeks vacation in Maine:
#1. Books inspire. Cable news contaminates you.
We didn’t see the news for two weeks.
I read Man in Search of a Soul by Carl Jung. He was brilliant, even if you don’t agree with everything he believed.
Cable news at night is idiotic.
#2. Ted Lasso is as good as my friends said.
We don’t have Apple TV at home but our vacation rental did. In the evenings we binged two seasons of Ted Lasso. Talk about a lift.
#3. The world doesn’t need me.
Everything kept turning without me. That’s freeing, not depressing. Brevity and frailty add value to every breath.
#4. Rituals and routines are good.
Living without an agenda is good for awhile but rituals and routines tell us who we are and where we’re going. Useful routines are channels of reliable contribution. Rituals provide stability in turbulence.
What have you remembered after time away on vacation?
Note to self: Go visit Maine!
We love it. Hope you get to go, Michael.
This is great – I am traveling to Utah in late Otober and I am going to purchase that Karl Jung book – I always see his quotes, but I have never read a Jung book. Thanks for sharing.
Enjoy your trip. Hope you enjoy Jung. He definitely had some interesting ideas. He was totally committed to idea that dreams are a window into our subconscious self. That part isn’t as relevant to me as just noticing how he thinks and communicates.
I always look forward to unplugging during vacations, and agree 100% about the news. It’s sad that we have to seek out the good news. Your statement about Ted Lasso is spot on, LOVE that show.
Thanks Brenda. I think the problem is the news needs a crisis to gain ratings. I’m starting to think more about the way a tv show makes me feel when I’m done watching it. I lean toward dark shows, but I’m finding that uplifting shows are important.
Thanks for this! We lived in New England for 8 years (now in Ohio) and I miss being there this time of year. I enjoyed your refreshing post and love your picture.
Thanks Jill. For us, New England is a great place to visit. Winters are a little long. 🙂
Lived in Waterville Maine…the seasons are July 4 and winter!
“…routines tell us who we are and where we’re going.” I am all over this quote. I love it. I know it is a bit out of the the context of this blog, but I great question that comes to mind reading this is, what are my organizations rituals and routines? What do they tell us about our organization? What do we need to start doing? What o we need to stop doing? Thank you for the post.
Decompress – Reboot – No Agenda – all necessary under the guise of a.vacation … even better! Welcome home!
Thanks Melrose. It’s great to get away and great to get back. 🙂
These are GREAT questions @sisepauedeabc. Very relevant to “who” the companies sees it’s associates to be.
Thanks for your encouragement and insight. Your exploration of rituals and routines could be truly useful. How meetings are run is one place we could all use a little evaluation. Cheers.
“Everything kept turning without me. That’s freeing, not depressing.” This resonates with me! In the busyness of the day, it’s important we remember there are truly very few critically important things.
So true Michele. When I think about it, the importance of people sometimes slips through our fingers while we are busy getting stuff done. I wish you well.
Great post! I’m glad to see others feel that same about being liberated from a schedule for a time.
Appreciated your thoughts on the value of rituals and routines. (As well as many of your other newsletters.) I must have sensed the “Maine” in you and that must be why I am drawn to your newsletters. 🙂 I grew up in Aroostook County but have lived in the Philadelphia area for a couple of decades. My family and I spent a full week on the water in Southwest Harbor last summer and it was fantastic! I need more of it! A good friend of mine always jokes with me that you can take the boy out of Maine but you can’t take Maine out of the boy.
As a New England transplant myself, I love those rocky shores for a reset and quick vacation, even if it is just an hour! I love the idea of a vacation with no plans. I also have been better at taking time off usually to return to see my family and love to remember that the world doesn’t need me for that time!
We’re Coloradoans but ME is a second home. And it’s the only vacations we actually just sit and relax and are unscheduled. I love your list and plan to incorporate, not just on vacation either. I would only add because we’re a food family, find a day or two to splurge and enjoy a long, relaxing, conversation filled evening around a table of awesome food. And when in ME, lobstah! Lots of lobstah!
Fun post. Thank-you for sharing with us Dan. I especially loved the picture of your vacation reading spot. ME looms large in my imagination and I hope to visit there someday. I agree with you about Ted Lasso. It’s fun and brilliant and feels good to watch.
My husband and I have a favorite “get away” place. It’s a place for relaxation, romance, and retreat. We also use our time for “visioning”. Where do we want to be in 3-5 years? What’s ahead for us? We walk on the beach and reflect on our time together and vision our future together. Then, we enjoy being refreshed when we return home.
I learned after 10 days on an island with no agenda that life should be enjoyed and that as much as I don’t need an agenda I do need a routine to start and end my day.