Diary of a Staycation

Something I’m starting to see about myself is that I am a workaholic.  Or, rather, I tend to dive into projects with an intense commitment of time and effort.  That could be work or theater or writing or hosting a party.  And considering a lot of my work is hosting parties and staging the production of an event, well… you can imagine.  Of course, the opposite is true as well.  I am true to my lazy Leo nature and can apply that intensity to not doing anything productive at all.  I am in awe at the amount of time I waste – especially when I’m not doing something like writing or running or keeping up with the people in my life, but choosing Netflix or social media or sleep.  A little bit of that in moderation is a good thing… but my fear of the tendency to go overboard has kept me in the whirligig of work for the last two and a half years.

I dropped the theater part six months ago.  It feels good.  Man, does it feel good.  But that just left more time to work.  To join other boards and committees and volunteer for other fundraisers.  I am glad for that, especially as it connects me even more to the community where I hope to be living in a year.  But I still haven’t taken much vacation since my last adventure to Ireland, which was almost two years ago.

I’ve been at my job long enough to recognize that vacation probably won’t be possible once the calendar crosses into February… and through most of the spring.  So I put it on the calendar and decided to take some time off this coming week.  I don’t have the budget for travel – but I do crave a change of scene.

At home.

Okay.  It’s a change of routine.  And that is what I intend for this week to come.  I don’t really want to indulge the sloth monster.  I did that enough over the long holiday weekends.  She is boring after a day… and actually not a lot of fun.  I require some discipline and accountability for the week to come.

So I am going to write about it.

I had a few thoughts about this during my 45 minute commute to work this week.  I want to use the week to get back to a healthy habit of writing anyway.  When I blogged more regularly, there was the routine and the reward of a reader or two.  I also thought about how when I have traveled to Ireland for vacation, I would write about my week off.  Writing about it made the days more valuable and the highlights of my tasks more memorable.  And, just in case, you didn’t get this point I’ve uttered a few times, it reinforces the habit of writing.

All this to say, I am going to blog about the week to come.  My staycation.  The backwoods of rural Central Mass may not be as enthralling as the northwest coast of Ireland.  Then again, I work in tourism and know that we always underestimate our own backyard.

My backyard.  Well, actually my neighbor's.  But where I walk to with my dog every day.
This is from yesterday, before the snow came.

I will spend a lot of the coming week cleaning out the house.  So it will be like going through a museum of my memories.  I will have time to cook and rave about the food.  And, lastly, but most importantly, I am going to write.  And tell you about it.  To make myself accountable.  To hopefully tantalize some future readers.

I hope you will follow along and read over your morning coffee or on a quick scroll on your break.  I will do my best to entertain you.