My Mental Vacation

Vacation is a State of Mind

I took a vacation for the long holiday weekend, with no airports, no parking hassles, no exorbitant tourist prices. We stayed home. I just didn't work, and that made it a great vacation.

Yep. You read it here first. Helen Kennedy did not work. The "feel" was similar to the trip when Tony and I rented a house on the Big Island for a while, and my laptop was out for repairs. On that trip, I couldn't work, but the effect was the same. I felt a little bit disconnected, but I got over it.

This will sound terribly boring to my vast audience of readers (I think there are two...) We did some leisurely shopping. Finally found some furniture for our house, which we bought almost two years ago. We drove over to the Ferry Building to buy some excellent organic food for dinner, then we came home and had a fabulous dinner, just the two of us. One evening, we just popped into the bar at Massimo's and had cocktails and appetizers. Relaxed and informal. Movies On Demand at home. No pressure. No expectations.

I guess a vacation is a state of mind brought on by the deliberate act of "not working."

Work Comes First, Sometimes

I haven't written in a while, but I've got a darn good excuse. I've been working a lot. Business is good. Busy! 

As consultants, we take the business when we can get it. To me, that is one of the most challenging aspects of being self employed: managing the workload without a) burning out, b) falling behind, or c) interrupting the sales process to deliver work, and then winding up with nothing on the horizon when a big project is completed.

I've been taking active steps to change this. The first thing I did was to incorporate. Yep. I'm now an LLC. I've got two clients on retainer now, and I'm working on establishing other quality partnerships. The goal is to better manage the ups and downs. All that should give me more time to travel, and more time to think about it.

My niece is coming from Texas with her family. I always like it when she visits. Her kids have never seen tall trees and mountains, so I've suggested we meet up in Tahoe and rent a house for a few days. I'm happy! I get to plan real travel, and will hopefully get to a place that I really love. North shore is my favorite. The pace is slower, and there are fewer tourists. I'll let you know what I figure out.

Did you notice that this post was a shameless plug for my marketing consulting business? Yep. I got that web ad into my blog, inserted a link, and there it is! Your turn. Go click on it!

Voluntourism

I learned a new word this week - voluntourism. Apparently I'm not the only one who enjoys taking a trip for the purpose of volunteering. I've gone to Mexico three times to serve on Lions in Sight eye clinic teams. As a matter of fact, my husband and I go together, and it is such a rewarding experience.

I really enjoy meeting people on these trips. The hosts give you their best, and they treat us like family. We get to see life from their perspective, much more so than if we were tourists. We visit places that tourists are unlikely to see.

The first clinic I did was in Cabo San Lucas, but we never once set foot on the beach. Basically, go about a mile or so north of the tourist zone, and you will see extreme poverty. We set up a clinic in an empty warehouse. They brought people to us from the desert by the busload. The docs would do the exams, and the technicians (us) would dispense the eyeglasses.

The second one was in a place called Union de Tula, in Jalisco. This clinic was a little different... the patients had a little money. The local Lions had to charge about $5 US for each patient, to cover the expenses of the clinic. A great deal, by our standards... $5 and you get an eye exam and at least one pair of glasses. But for some people in Mexico, an extra $5 takes months to earn, and when the choice is to feed your family or to get glasses, guess where that $5 goes. Very sad.

The third clinic that we did in January was the best yet. We were in the Yucatan in a place called Valladolid, which is between Cancun and Merida. I actually worked without a translator, even though my Spanish is pretty awful. Customs would not let us bring in the doctor's bag with the examining equipment until late in the day, so finding the right pair of glasses involved a lot of trial and error. The Mayan people were so nice... very open and friendly. I made friends with one little girl. 

We were in Valladolid during a special festival, and at 10:00 PM, all the women put on their traditional Mayan dresses with their special brand of embroidery. They go out dancing, without the men... all generations of women. They seemed like they enjoy it, and look forward to it. I never did figure out what the festival was all about.

More Ice Cidre

Last week, I wrote about Canada's ice wine, and I have since heard more about it from Jean Michel. His friend runs Cryo Cidrerie, not the one I originally found. So, here is a plug and a link to the friend of a friend's new website! Jean Michel designed their logo for them, and contributed many hours of tasting the product. A tough job, eh?

Frozen apples... that's something I doubt I'll ever see here in California.