T-minus 6 days until I do what no American dare do: take a vacation that is so long, it would make a French citoyen green with envy. Five weeks. OK, maybe not envious, but there are plenty of friends and co-workers who tell me how jealous they are. Guys, it's simple: save your vacation and don't give a damn what the boss might say. Nike put it best, and so simply: JUST DO IT!
But what led up to this? Well, the true inspiration for this blog, and a "who knows?" career path... if there's demand for it: a dream of a 50th birthday celebration. Come with me to the "way back" machine, to 2014. I thought about what kind of vacation I'd like to take, and how. I thought about how cool it would be to simply rent a house and day trip in the region. I thought about the trip my partner, Anna, and I took to Provence in 2011, and how much more fulfilling it might have been to rent an ancient Provençal farmhouse and just drive around, or just be a part of village life. Call it an "Under the Tuscan Sun" daydream of sorts.
Anna, ever the practical person, said, "What about for your 50th birthday?" Oohh..... Bad move! That got my wheels turning. I just needed a little axle grease, but the wheels were definitely turning. Of course, it was just a fantasy, right? I mean, I could never in my life afford something so grandiose. I thought about castles and big old mansions sitting on the Mediterranean coast, with the warm sea waves lapping up against the pebble beach just outside of the garden walls. But, no, that could never happen,... right?
Fast forward to early February 2015: My college friend, Vivian, was staying with us for the purpose of celebrating mutual friends' 50th birthdays. We were talking and thinking about how both of us knew people who never made it to the half century mark. Vivian is also a cancer survivor, so 50 should be something to celebrate. I mentioned my far-fetched idea about renting a villa or castle and inviting all my friends and family to fly themselves over to the, as yet, undisclosed location, and they would have a place to stay all on my dime. Vivian, much to my surprise (she is quite the practical person) thought it was not only a fantastic idea, but a do-able idea and, damnit, we HAVE to do this!
We?
"Yes. Dan and I can go halvsies with you and Anna."
So much for far-fetched fantasy. This shit's getting real now!
...and that's the teaser for now. This trip is based upon a foolish idea in my head. Another foolish idea in my head would be to parlay this one into a kind of "event whisperer" profession. I could serve as a consultant to help others make some foolish celebration idea become reality. But there are so many things to consider. And a decent chunk of this blog will cover the logistics, and struggle to find a location, decisions, decisions, decisions... and the frustration of this ADD guy to want to "get it all right" and please all parties involved, that it becomes a torturous research game with little progress until the moment of "Fuckitall! Time to make an executive decision."
But until the next entry, enjoy this little ditty.
No comments:
Post a Comment