Sometimes you just have to get away. For an hour, a day, or maybe longer. Where do you go to get away from it all? What would be your dream getaway?
15 thoughts on “Reader Friday: Getting Away From It All”
I got away by moving my family to the U.S. Virgin Islands for four years. Every time a cruise ship docked and a crowd of lobster-red tourists rolled off the boat to buy T-shirts, I’d laugh to myself and say, “They saved all year to spend the afternoon here. I’m here all year ’round.” Friends said we were crazy, and maybe we were, but you don’t know if you can fly until you throw yourself off a cliff.
It’s winter so damn near anywhere but Northern Ontario would be good. Well, other than Buffalo. Feel for them.
I don’t mind this time of year, but man, there’s a lot of snow already this year. Internet and cable was down all day yesterday. There’s only so much a girl can take 🙂
If money wasn’t an object I’d go to California for the writing conference in February, I believe. That would be a wonderful break.
After watching the weather news, I’m glad to stay put in Southern California! Otherwise, I would love to spend a couple of weeks visiting the “Big Houses” of Ireland. Some of them open their doors to vacationers, and I understand it’s a great getaway.
When we lived on the island, every December friends up north wouyld send pictures of the first snowfall. “Isn’t it pretty?” they’d say. No. I was born in Chicago. Snow is not pretty, it’s something to be gotten through. I would always send back a beach photo and say, “THIS is pretty.” Every Christmas we’d send friends and family a picture of us making a sand castle. Good thing they were friends, or they’d have hated me.
J.B. It only got in the twenties twice this week in South Alabama. It’s winter, it suppose to do these things, so I write. When I have had enough I go to Smith’s Hardware and order their hot dog special. For $3.99 I get two chili dogs, pkg. of chips and medium soft drink and learn about picking cotton from the farmers. Some of these guys are storytellers from back when they were boys.
When I need to de-stress and decompress, I go for a walk in the woods nearby, with a gurgling stream beside the path, and listen to the sounds of birds chirping and chipmunks and other small animals doing their thing, and watch the ducks and fish in the stream. Ahhh – I need that today! No snow here yet, but it’s cold out! Might just stay snug and warm at home.
Ya just can’t beat a nice long walk in the woods with your dog. I have my favorite trees and stumps. One or two friendly horses show up to find out what I have in my pocket. Eagles and geese will swoop by. Soon the giant swarms of wax wings will come by for an aerial ballet. All this in an hour or so!
My husband and I are ranchers. Getting away is a challenge. Our critters always need care. Thanks to being in the business with my husband’s father, we can take a vacation every few years and we’ve done some amazing things. A cruise in the Caribbean while back home it was freezing. A trip to Disney World with our daughter. And three weeks in Scotland with a dear family friend.
However, when I think of taking a break, its usually a lot closer to home. A trip into town to watch a movie in our small town theater. Visiting the Capital for a livestock sale. A ride in the pickup to put out salt while I sit all cozied up with my cowboy. Our weekly trip in to restock at the grocery store and visit my best friend. These are the real holidays that rest my mind.
New Orleans. First, last and in between. A week of work in New Orleans is better than a month of vacation anywhere else.
If I’m at home and just need a break, I might lie down on the couch and read a magazine. Or take a walk. A real getaway is a four-hour drive to our condo in Orlando and a visit to Disney World.
Being able to revisit Disney World is one of those dreams I have for making some money from my writing. I don’t have delusions of grandeur, but being able to create memories from my efforts would rock.
As I write this, my son and his family are waiting for the next snow-dump in Buffalo. More white stuff added to the six-feet plus white stuff.
We live in Phoenix. Today the temperature is a nice 70-plus degrees. Haven’t lifted a snow shove except for the year we lived in Denver.
People tease us about the summer heat here. I’ll take the heat over the misery and cold of winters elsewhere.
And after doing research on bigfoot for my novel, I’m content to stay in the hugbub of the city.
As a friend of mine is fond of saying, we in Alaska live inside a postcard. That said, there are two types of places I tend to drift toward when I need to get away. One is the wilderness. When camping in the Alaskan bush I find peace and solitude that I have not been able to experience anywhere else. Within 30 minutes I can be in a place where there is no sound of traffic on the roads or in the air, just the gentle gurgle of a stream, or the roll and crash of waves along the coast. Last summer we bought an RV and spent a lot of time in remote parks all over Alaska. I wrote most of my next novel while sitting by a camp fire in a quiet park, enjoying nature.
The other places I can go are even easier to get to, even though they may be many miles further. Luckily to get to those places requires no gas be burned, no hikes to wear me out, and I don’t have to carry a gun to protect against bears or other predators. These journeys can find me standing on a high cliff looking down into a volcano, soaring above puffy white clouds with eagles, swimming beneath the seas or running through a grassland with a cheetah. I converse with Leprechauns, ride on unicorns, drift in a time machine and snuggle with my muses. All it takes is closing my eyes, and letting the journey take me where it will.
I just go to my room.
LOL!! Me, too. Wish I had the luxury to do otherwise.
I got away by moving my family to the U.S. Virgin Islands for four years. Every time a cruise ship docked and a crowd of lobster-red tourists rolled off the boat to buy T-shirts, I’d laugh to myself and say, “They saved all year to spend the afternoon here. I’m here all year ’round.” Friends said we were crazy, and maybe we were, but you don’t know if you can fly until you throw yourself off a cliff.
It’s winter so damn near anywhere but Northern Ontario would be good. Well, other than Buffalo. Feel for them.
I don’t mind this time of year, but man, there’s a lot of snow already this year. Internet and cable was down all day yesterday. There’s only so much a girl can take 🙂
If money wasn’t an object I’d go to California for the writing conference in February, I believe. That would be a wonderful break.
After watching the weather news, I’m glad to stay put in Southern California! Otherwise, I would love to spend a couple of weeks visiting the “Big Houses” of Ireland. Some of them open their doors to vacationers, and I understand it’s a great getaway.
When we lived on the island, every December friends up north wouyld send pictures of the first snowfall. “Isn’t it pretty?” they’d say. No. I was born in Chicago. Snow is not pretty, it’s something to be gotten through. I would always send back a beach photo and say, “THIS is pretty.” Every Christmas we’d send friends and family a picture of us making a sand castle. Good thing they were friends, or they’d have hated me.
J.B. It only got in the twenties twice this week in South Alabama. It’s winter, it suppose to do these things, so I write. When I have had enough I go to Smith’s Hardware and order their hot dog special. For $3.99 I get two chili dogs, pkg. of chips and medium soft drink and learn about picking cotton from the farmers. Some of these guys are storytellers from back when they were boys.
When I need to de-stress and decompress, I go for a walk in the woods nearby, with a gurgling stream beside the path, and listen to the sounds of birds chirping and chipmunks and other small animals doing their thing, and watch the ducks and fish in the stream. Ahhh – I need that today! No snow here yet, but it’s cold out! Might just stay snug and warm at home.
Ya just can’t beat a nice long walk in the woods with your dog. I have my favorite trees and stumps. One or two friendly horses show up to find out what I have in my pocket. Eagles and geese will swoop by. Soon the giant swarms of wax wings will come by for an aerial ballet. All this in an hour or so!
My husband and I are ranchers. Getting away is a challenge. Our critters always need care. Thanks to being in the business with my husband’s father, we can take a vacation every few years and we’ve done some amazing things. A cruise in the Caribbean while back home it was freezing. A trip to Disney World with our daughter. And three weeks in Scotland with a dear family friend.
However, when I think of taking a break, its usually a lot closer to home. A trip into town to watch a movie in our small town theater. Visiting the Capital for a livestock sale. A ride in the pickup to put out salt while I sit all cozied up with my cowboy. Our weekly trip in to restock at the grocery store and visit my best friend. These are the real holidays that rest my mind.
New Orleans. First, last and in between. A week of work in New Orleans is better than a month of vacation anywhere else.
If I’m at home and just need a break, I might lie down on the couch and read a magazine. Or take a walk. A real getaway is a four-hour drive to our condo in Orlando and a visit to Disney World.
Being able to revisit Disney World is one of those dreams I have for making some money from my writing. I don’t have delusions of grandeur, but being able to create memories from my efforts would rock.
As I write this, my son and his family are waiting for the next snow-dump in Buffalo. More white stuff added to the six-feet plus white stuff.
We live in Phoenix. Today the temperature is a nice 70-plus degrees. Haven’t lifted a snow shove except for the year we lived in Denver.
People tease us about the summer heat here. I’ll take the heat over the misery and cold of winters elsewhere.
And after doing research on bigfoot for my novel, I’m content to stay in the hugbub of the city.
As a friend of mine is fond of saying, we in Alaska live inside a postcard. That said, there are two types of places I tend to drift toward when I need to get away. One is the wilderness. When camping in the Alaskan bush I find peace and solitude that I have not been able to experience anywhere else. Within 30 minutes I can be in a place where there is no sound of traffic on the roads or in the air, just the gentle gurgle of a stream, or the roll and crash of waves along the coast. Last summer we bought an RV and spent a lot of time in remote parks all over Alaska. I wrote most of my next novel while sitting by a camp fire in a quiet park, enjoying nature.
The other places I can go are even easier to get to, even though they may be many miles further. Luckily to get to those places requires no gas be burned, no hikes to wear me out, and I don’t have to carry a gun to protect against bears or other predators. These journeys can find me standing on a high cliff looking down into a volcano, soaring above puffy white clouds with eagles, swimming beneath the seas or running through a grassland with a cheetah. I converse with Leprechauns, ride on unicorns, drift in a time machine and snuggle with my muses. All it takes is closing my eyes, and letting the journey take me where it will.
I just go to my room.
LOL!! Me, too. Wish I had the luxury to do otherwise.