Alone again, unnaturally.
My friend’s sister is a married woman with a kid but every once in a while, she takes off on a vacation all by herself, leaving husband and child behind.
Her Instagram for the next few days will brag of all the great, expensive gourmet meals she has been having in Michelin-starred restaurants. Her Facebook posts will be rife with tantalizing pictures of what a fabulous time she was having and the millions – yes, millions – of her friends and followers will “like” them all.
I know of a married man who is the father of two young toddlers and every once in a while, he too takes off for solo vacations, leaving behind his harried wife with two little hyperactive daughters.
This is a phenomenon I cannot understand.
My travels are all work-related and when I get a chance, I will go on vacations with my loved ones. Never alone. A vacation alone is unthinkable – as unthinkable as buying a huge lobster and cooking it while everyone is at home, then stuffing my face with the lobster while others watch, smell and salivate. I visited Bhutan with my wife last year and also last year, I went to Russia with my wife and younger son. I invited my elder son to go along and the only reason why he didn’t was because he had classes he could not skip, plus he really wasn’t into Russia anyway.
I would never ever dream of leaving my loved ones behind to have a vacation of my own. Nothing makes me happier than vacationing with people I love.
Far be it for me to judge those who go on trips without their loved ones, but I really have to scratch my head to try to understand how some people can do that. I mean, life is short, the time we have with our loved ones gets less and less with the passage of time. Kids grow up fast, every moment you don’t spend with them is a moment lost. And when they grow up, they may not even want to go anywhere with you anyway.
Having just turned 60, I realize my days are numbered and I want to make sure whatever days I have left are of the highest quality – spent with people I love.
Too bad, some people would rather go on solo trips or remain as cold as a dead fish and ignore their loved ones by sitting in front of a TV watching Korean soap operas all night.
Snowflakes of the strawberry generation tell me they need to go away once in a while by themselves to de-stress and to catch up on lost sleep.
Yeah, right.
Life’s that tough huh?
Maybe I am generationally challenged.