Getting away from it all

People say that when they head out on vacation. “We just want to get away from it all.” and usually they have an image like this in their mind

and this

Look at all the bucolic nothingness! The lack of people! The lack of cars! The lack of stuff in general!

Here is the problem.

Those are my views every single day

All.

I am already away from it.

It’s reason #6 on the long list of Reasons Why Stacey Hates Camping. Not only am I even FURTHER away from it all when we go camping, I lose what little connection I have with it all because there is no internet when camping.

I’m not regularly surrounded by enough all to want to give up the small amount I have of it.

When I go on vacation I want to get near it all. I want lots of restaurants, shopping places and activities within 5 minutes of me. I want to be paralyzed by the overwhelming choice available to me. I accept this means crowds & traffic, but that is the price of having it all nearby.

Its not a price I am willing to pay on an ongoing basis, hence the bucolic living situation, but it is a price I can deal with for 4-5 days every 6 months or so.

I like to vacation in population centers, to stare in wonder at the tall tall buildings, to feel hemmed in by all the traffic, to see the many many varieties of people there are to see (though standing in line behind some of them for a hour does lack a bit of  appeal but as I said – the price you pay). I like the rocking fast cable internet I encounter in population centers. I like the stores selling things I wouldn’t find on line because it would never occur to me to search for them.  I love the many different types of restaurants available. I like wondering about people who choose to live in these environments.I like amusement parks & cheesy tourist traps. I like crowded beaches & lakes. I like the feeling of being a part of something lots of people are doing.

DH though wants to get away from it all.

What he means is, he wants to get away from his job, which means going someplace with no cell service & no internet.

Because just leaving the phone & laptop at home are not enough. His conscious will not allow that. It must be a legitimate LACK of service causing his unavailability, not his personal choice.

Meanwhile I am busy screaming “You’ll pry my wifi from my cold dead hands!!!”

Which I realize makes no sense as you cannot hold wifi, but work with me here.

So he goes off on separate ‘man camping’ trips (that in a few years he will have a hard time legitimately leaving the boys out of…hehehehehe) and I dream about a girls trip to the city with spa treatment, bar outings, restaurant meals and lots of shopping.

This trip never happens because A) it’s more expensive than man camping and B) who’d watch the kids? Especially give the current 16 hour a day in another city work schedule DH has.

What this post is saying is

I’m NOT going to BlogHer, AGAIN! Despite it being on the East Coast and accessible by train from the local train station for a reasonable fare.

I think I just need to accept that short of it being held in DC I’ll never get there & probably I won’t get to DC either for the whole conference but I might make a few parties.