What comes to mind when you think of the word vacation? Baking in the sun at a tropical beach? Going kayaking and tubing along a beautiful lake? Taking an obnoxiously long car ride to visit family? "Vacation" is a term that carries various meanings for many different people. These personal definitions are usually developed through family traditions, past experiences or even through the media's portrayal. Either way, a vacation is usually associated with traveling away from home and participating in an out of the ordinary and exciting daily routine. Dictionary.com defines vacation as "a period of suspensions of work, study, or any other activity, usually used for rest, recreation or travel." Last week while on vacation (Ironic, isn't it?), I was challenged to think about the term and its true meaning really is.
For me personally, the term vacation means a warm and tropical place where my biggest decision of the day is which bathing suit to wear. This is because ever since I was very young, my family and I embarked on a plane every summer to the Dominican Republic to enjoy a week of pure relaxation (and a lot of unnecessary eating). My parents fell in love with the idea of an all-inclusive tropical resort and worked hard during the year to make it an annual family tradition (even returning to the same resort). This resulted in my siblings and I to establish our own perspective on what a vacation is. I admit at one point I was very narrow-minded as to what the term meant to me, only because it's what I have been used to.
This past week was our family vacation, which as usual, did not disappoint. We rotated between lounging at the pool and the beach, went on exciting excursions and took full advantage of the all-inclusive aspect of the resort. As mentioned before, traveling to this particular resort became a tradition of ours, making this year our ninth visit in a row. We felt very at home there and become very friendly and familiar with the staff and the overall aspect of the hotel. At this particular resort, a majority the employees lived a good distance away making a daily commute almost impossible, especially after a 10 hour (or more) work day. Because of this, they stay overnight in small bunk houses for a long period of time to eliminate the trouble of going back and forth. After about a month or so of working without any days off, each employee then gets about four days off to travel back home. This pattern usually repeats year round depending on what type of job the worker has.
This year, my family become very friendly with one particular waitress at the pool. We asked her about her life; things like how many kids she has, how far she lives, what she likes to do, etc. Although there was a large language barrier, we were able to decipher that she has a husband and a five-year-old son who both live at home about a half hour away from the resort. With her broken English, she excitedly told us that tomorrow was her last day working after 25 days in a row. After tomorrow, she would have to pay for a taxi ride home, spend about four days with her family then return back to work. Her face lit up when she said she would even get to help her son get ready for kindergarten.
After telling us more about all of her plans, she excitedly said, "Vacation for me!" Although she was overjoyed, this statement stuck out to me for some reason and I suddenly felt very sad for her. Her vacation was getting to go home? How could that be possible? Since I'm a professional over-thinker, I began to analyze the idea of what a vacation really is. There I was, staying at a four-star resort in the Caribbean being waited on hand and foot without a worry in the world. To me that was a vacation, but to this waitress, she considered her home as a vacation.
As mentioned before, this particular trip challenged me to think about the true meaning of the word vacation. It's not necessarily about the location, but who you are with and how you spend your time. I will continue to appreciate my interpretation of the word, but I will now open my eyes and realize there is more to a vacation than a plane ride and a pina colada.
