I'm back! Back from a week of relaxation in the mountains of Arizona, where my biggest concern was how I wanted my eggs prepared each morning and whether I would prefer to ride bikes, go sightseeing, do something "sporty" or just lounge on the patio reading my new Kindle all day. It was a lot a different than life in the big city so for that reason, it was truly a vacation.
That being said, I realized the beauty of vacations - they are an escape from your normal everyday life and are meant to be temporary. When I lived in Newport, RI people used to tell me my life was like a permanent vacation (which was kinda true) but that got me thinking...what's so wrong with that??
I think you can determine where your truly meant to live by where you'd vacation if money were no object. My vacation destination preference always, always, always would be a beach. It could be argued that if I lived by a beach I might chose to explore big metropolis's or jungles or deserts on my vacations - not true. When I lived ON a beach, I still vacationed to other beaches. To me, beaches are like snowflakes in that no two are exactly alike. I dream about experiencing new beaches and beach towns and comparing them all one-day in some giant interactive info-graphic... (the nerd in me speaks)
Sure I want to see other cities (London, Paris, Sydney and Rio De Janiero top my international list), sure I love escaping to some fresh country or mountain air and there are definitely a few non-beach places on my list of must-go's (Alaska and Central America's rain forest region to name a few) but my ultimate win vacation destination is beach.
I understand why living at the beach may not be the most practical. I get why people flock to big cities. I obviously appreciate how "lucky" I am to live and work here. I just think that people who do live here aren't always outwardly honest about how it really is (unless their rich, then yeah, their life probably rocks). If you're like me and don't have a trust fund, a rent-controlled apartment or a driver, then you probably do that thing NY'ers do where you convince yourself
that your life is really awesome and it's totally normal to spend $2000 plus a month to live in a glorified closet because yeah, you can tell all your friends that you live in "the city" (because to NY'ers there is only one!). <-- *Editor's note - I sometimes do this too...
I know how after a glorious NYC filled weekend of brunching and central parking and frolicking or even an excitement-filled weeknight adventure (complete with bar-hopping and bomb scares on a Tuesday night) you start to feel that "I love it here and could never live anywhere else" feeling. Despite all my whining on this blog, I've felt it often - I promise! My one difference is when I leave the city I am not filled with that "omg I miss it and need to go back" feeling that I hear others are (or claim to be). I am more often than not thinking how I could be happy in X-place and how if I lived in X-place I'd probably be able to have all the things I dream about but can't afford in NY (little things like...say...a closet, or outdoor space, or somewhere to store my beach chair...)
So what do you think folks, is life meant to be a beach or should I stick it out in NYC just a little bit longer? Comments please!
PS - Please enjoy a few pics from my trip. It was truly beautiful there!
