Has anybody else planned a grand, expensive vacation or weekend away, then wind up eating take-out in front of ‘Farmer Wants a Wife?’ That was me the other week, so, let’s talk about how bloody perfect ordinary can be.
From planning a weekend in a treehouse in the Blue Mountains, to eating unsalted fish & chips by the river…
Recently, I celebrated my 2-year-anniversary. I had this grand weekend idea of booking out a treehouse in the Blue Mountains inclusive of our own personal spa and massage, far from society. So why not? For the most, it was triple my budget. Not only that, I couldn’t even negotiate down to a weekend in a nearby chalet because everything in proximity of where I live was booked out…. bit of a late idea. And with the expected bad weather, I had no other activities booked. Here’s what we did instead…
I made a sexy pancake brekky along with a memorial display commemorating my partner and I.
We then had a spa/massage, manicure/pedicure day in town, complemented by an expensive but ordinary dinner (when I say ordinary here, I mean it was one of those over-priced, ‘fancy’ restaurants minus the fancy!)
The next day we played mini-golf and aqua-golf (I lost) and was supposed to go for an adventure boat ride, except it got cancelled and they didn’t tell us until we waited for half-an-hour then confronted them about it! We were stuck in our swimmers wandering around. We checked out the movies, then I bought myself sour-worms because I had sneaky cravings. We waited 45 minutes for fish & chips and they didn’t even salt them. Not complaining… just expressively mentioning it. Spending the entire weekend in celebration of us was so incredibly special that we didn’t need to DO anything spectacular.
Stop wanting to getaway– enjoy where you live, first.
This might be my most counter-intuitive thing I’ve learned considering I’m always traveling and getting away. It is nice and necessary to escape and explore the world outside the parameters of your town/city, but we can’t forget to appreciate where we are. Plus, life can be lived like a holiday in town– explore and try new activities. It’s not quite as invigorating and life-changing as a week in Fiji but can be just as memorable and sweet. 🙂 Save money.
I know I used to have this urge to move overseas or live traveling from place to place because I thought that was true ‘fulfilment’ or so Instagram told me. Of course we define what ‘living’ and ‘fulfilment’ means for us, but I don’t believe we learn to appreciate and make the most of the places we travel if we don’t accept and love where we live. I wouldn’t let that occasional holiday be the only time I feel most alive. There is more to life.
Don’t stop planning weekends in treehouses in the Blue Mountains, or considering moving to Europe (if you already live there, come visit AUS)
I will better prepare because it’s been a life-goal of mine to stay in a treehouse with a spa, but in the meanwhile, I will love my ordinary job; the same ‘ol scenery; my go-to cafes; and the Sunday markets. If your goal is to move towns because you’re unhappy, keep doing what’s good for you. Keep dreaming and working toward your goals but I think you shouldn’t try escape the mundane and ordinary to live this preconceived ‘dream life.’ I’ve heard a lot of adults tell me that getting into a dream-job or living an ideal life is never as extravagant as you think… life itself is usually usual.
Keep being happy with whatever you choose to do and wherever you are.
That’s the takeaway (with the chips salted!)
