We returned to Seattle from the Bahamas last weekend, but
it’s taken me until now to get around to actually downloading my photos and
starting back with the blog posts. Both of my assistants have been away, one on
vacation herself, and one out of town dealing with family issues. That means
that I’ve been packing and shipping furiously on my own, and am just now
getting caught up.
I thought it would be fun to kick off this new cycle of
blogging with a list of a few things I learned while I was on vacation.
1. I really enjoy being in a tropical place. I like the heat
and humidity. It’s liberating not to have to worry about dressing in layers or
carrying a jacket around all the time, although it seems that some places in
the Bahamas have adopted the US custom of using air conditioning to freeze
their clientele. Fortunately, most have outdoor seating areas for those who
didn’t bring a down jacket. If it’s 95 degrees outside, I can see cooling it
down to 85 or even 80, but not 55! I will never understand why so many people
seem to think they need to spend their lives refrigerated. I don’t think it
will make them last longer. People are not picked vegetables.
2. I can drink coffee without sugar! I discovered this when
I made coffee the first day and found that there was no sugar in the sugar bowl
or anywhere else in the place. After a couple of days, it was OK.
3. I can run on a treadmill! I had been planning to run on
the beach, but the beach was miles away and fairly inaccessible. I had
forgotten to bring my running shoes, and it really wasn’t a good idea to run
barefoot on roads with no sidewalk, possibly stepping on all manner of
unpleasant things. There was a community workout room nearby with a treadmill,
so I tried running barefoot on that. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected,
and I got a good workout in every day I was there, ending up running two 5Ks at
target race pace on the last 2 days. That’s much better than I can do at home,
but it has inspired me to join the local community recreation center so that I
can use their equipment a couple of times a week and probably more when the
weather gets cold and stormy and the days ridiculously short in winter.
4. I can go for almost 2 weeks without obsessively checking
my e-mail, texts, and news reports throughout the day. I got by with just
checking my business e-mail once a day on my phone (when the wi-fi was working) and dealing with any
pressing issues. Since I’ve been back, I’ve fallen into old habits, but have
resolved to cut down on the number of times I check everything. It’s amazing
what a time sink it is.
Stay tuned for the regular features to return, as well as the usual random things that I write about.
[All photos are mine. Another thing I learned is that I can take decent photos with my phone and don't need to bring a camera when I travel.]
Posts
Hi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but somehow I missed this post. Perhaps I wasn't checking my e-mails? :) Your vacation sounds fabulous. I really like the idea of being totally incommunicado. I try to be like that at home but it doesn't always work out so well...
Azar