All work and no play
Jim and I love going out of town together. Who doesn’t relish a holiday from everyday life? Our love of vacationing runs the gamut between a fabulous trip to Paris…to spending a week in a tent in the Wisconsin woods…to renting a car and taking a day trip to a campy Old West Town. We aren’t that picky. Spending time together away from home relaxes and recharges us. It makes us appreciate our real life and our relationship more than ever.
Trouble is, this year we’re not in a financial spot to take even the cheapest of trips. Taking extended time off work is out of the questions for both of us. And I work throughout the weekend, so even a quick weekend getaway can’t happen. I just had that realization yesterday and it put me into a tailspin. I suddenly feel claustrophobic and trapped in my day to day life.
I’m stuck. Is there anyway to attain that feeling of vacation — that breath of fresh air — without going away? Without being able to take an actual break? I’d love some input here. Jim and I have had a pretty stressful, crazily busy, highly eventful year. We need to decompress. Help a holiday-hungry couple out, would you?
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Cathleen Carr & Robyn Okrant
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We are in the exact same boat this summer. Things look great for us in the eventual future, but for the summer it is super-duper-belt-tightening time. We find that it feels like summer if we do things we like to do on vacation like take nature hikes, bike ride, sit around a body of water or a pool reading a book, or play card games with the breezes blowing through our living space. There are many places in our fair city that we haven’t explored with our kids and it feels rewarding to get away from the house and see what is out there. Forest preserves are free to investigate. Picnics and camping are fun and cheap. Ice cream cones make any outing special.
For our “vacation” we are driving to my mother-in-law’s city to stay with her and visit lovely inexpensive locations in her area. We have kind relatives who want to host our children so they’ll get a sort of “camp” on their own with them. Normally we’d rent a cabin and eat like kings with these relatives or fly out to see them, but that just isn’t in the cards this year. I’m teaching my kids to cook as one of our summer projects.
I’m not going to waste any energy feeling bad about this different sort of summer. We have everything we need and it feels good to be frugal. The kids are learning too. My daughter says, “I like saving my money. I really don’t like spending it.”
It’s got to be even tougher to find something to do with kids — to keep them entertained. I think your trip sounds fun. Want some company?
The Honeymoon is over. The first day back at the office hit me like a ton of bricks.
Shortly before the wedding, I got my own office at work. “Hooray” thought I. How productive I would be in my new office. The ability to shut the door would surely turn me into a superwoman capable of multitasking no less than 20 items at once. No longer would I be interrupted by the gossip of coworkers! No longer would I be out in the open where anyone who wanted to would stop by my desk and ask for directions to the Cheesecake Factory!
Sadly, this is not how it went. The only difference between a door and no door, is that the incessant gossip is now preceded by a “Hey Regan!” shouted from the opposite end of the office, or a pound on the door. And if I don’t reply, it gets louder. Clearly, the only conceivable reason I would not respond to your opinions on dancing with the stars is because I can’t hear you.
This, I’m convinced, is what has turned my 8 hour five day a week schedule into a 10-12 hour five to six day a week schedule. That of course, does not include the time I spend making tomorrow’s to-do list while I’m at home, supposedly listening to my family or friends. Or, Incessantly checking my work email, just in case.
In front of me lies a vast sea of weeks upon weeks of watching my paid time off accrue as the warm weather passes me by. I should be ripe for another vacation sometime around January. I can only hope that by then, I will have learned to take less time off, so maybe that first day back won’t make me want to jump off a cliff. Or, maybe next year, I’ll become a farmer.
But that honeymoon! What a great trip.
Your work schedule sounds grueling. And I can SO relate to having a growing to-do list always in mind. It’s the worst when we have the chance to relax and we fill up the time with busy, stress-inducing thoughts.
Welcome back!
picnics, outdoor gigs, bike rides to more naturey less citylike places, lots of holding hands and eating ice-cream… all helpful, but not quite a vacay!
fd, yeah…not a vacation BUT i like the idea of picnics and outdoor things. you made me think how nice it would be to plan even an hour of outdoor — just us/no phones or email — time every single day we can manage it. thanks!
Robyn:
If you have a chicago public library card – you can go to the library and get free passes to the Brookfield Zoo or a lot of other fun places. My Jim and I love the nature musuem for the butterfly pavillon – rock on.
Brookfield Field Zoo, more than Lincoln Park Zoo, helps me “go away”! Its a metra trip though.
We did the Brookfield Zoo last summer — it was a lovely day! But kinda expensive…Lincoln Pk might be more up our alley this year
OOH! You know, I’ve never been to the butterfly pavilion. Thanks for the great idea!
I’m getting my own ideas from all the responses! We, too, long for a pampering vaca away from home, but our rent just went up $300!!!!!! no effin’ joke – she hates us – so not only do we have that to contend with, but we want out so badly and we know that we will pay even MORE to get what we want from an upgraded place (how’s about a second bathroom so I don’t have to poop while my hubby is in the shower for gods sake?! – when nature calls, I can NOT wait!).
So we feel really stuck. Though I have a big paycheck right now to last me through the summer and I feel rich, I know I can’t just spend it on getting away b/c we are going to need that money so badly, soon (although the irresponsible, I-want-to-do-what-I-want-to-do-dammit! side of me really just wants to get away).
I’m thinking the bikerides downtown to museums, small special meals out, seeing plays that we want to see thru hottix & goldstar, etc. – these are going to have to suffice (sniff, sniff
)
I try always to remember that even feeling stuck and poor and needing to get away – we ARE luckier than most, after all. If you have more ideas, send ‘em my way!
Jeanne
Oh my gosh, Jeanne! 300 bucks is an insane jump. That happened to us a couple years ago and we had to move. Someone bought our bldg and decided to bleed us dry. Awful. Will you move?
We’re looking for free stuff to do too. Free nights at the theatre, free concerts, free tango classes down in Millenium Park. Hopefully we’ll find things that we enjoy together for a few hours at a time…
Rent a bunch of Rick Steves travel videos from the library or look at travel videos on YouTube. You’ll wonder why anyone goes anywhere anymore. It’s all online already.
Then encourage friends or family to come stay with you or near you. It feels like a vacation to have out of town visitors.
Fun Person. That is hilarious about watching travel shows. We do enjoy them. Thanks for the great ideas.
totally agree about having out of town visitors. It forces you to make an effort and see your home city from a stranger’s perspective and visit things you would normally avoid. It really is like an at-home vacation.
You’re on twitter, yes? Twitter almost always knows all… kinda. Try tweeting the following: “We need fun, interesting, cheap stuff to do in Chicago. Ideas?”
I’m am about 95% confident that you will get enough interesting/cool/random ideas from assorted people, in addition to the ideas people have already given you here, to fill many hours (wherever you can squeeze them) and might help you discover some novelty in your hometown
Bella — that’s a great idea. I don’t think I’ve ever used Twitter to gather info, only to disseminate or to read what other people have posted. Cool beans. Thanks!
Facebook is excellent for crowdsourcing too. Groupon and other similar sites are a great way to live like a tourist in your own city. I’d also look for B&Bs within a tank of gas for an overnight. In Oak Park or Evanston maybe? It feels decadent to stay so close and yet so far, but I’m a fan of supporting home-based businesses and letting someone else make me breakfast. Good luck!
I signed up for Groupon. We’re still looking for FREE stuff, but the right Groupon can make a dinner out possible.
Ah, we’re carless — I wish we were CARELESS instead
— and the B&B is out of the budget at the moment, but I love that you brought up Oak Park. We never go out there. That’s an easy train ride and could make for a lovely day out of town. Thanks!
The museums have free days (http://www.chicagohotblog.com/chicago-museum-free-days). Millennium Park (http://explorechicago.org/city/en/millennium.html) has free concerts. I find a lot of stuff to do thanks to Groupon, Living Social, and Mulamu (http://littlemerrysunshine.blogspot.com/2011/06/fun-on-cheap-or-thanks-groupon-living.html). Last year, I took my mom and brother on one of the double-decker bus tours for super-cheap (Groupon). A few weeks ago, I got 2 movie tickets for $9 through Fandango (including Fandango’s service fees and you can’t even go to a matinee for $4.50/person!) via Living Social.
Here’s a whole list of free stuff in Chicago: http://thelocaltourist.com/cities/chicago/free-things-do-chicago
Here’s an entire website devoted to free stuff in Chicago: http://chicagofree.info/
There’s even a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/FreeThingstoDoinChicago
With some creativity, I’m sure you and Jim will have a great summer on the cheap and it will turn into a great blog post!
All FABULOUS ideas! Thanks LMS…hey, I bought the Fandango Groupon too
Cowboys & Aliens, here we come!
Thanks for the amazing links. x