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Abstract

hin a day’s driving distance. I’ve also built up a group of friends (and two sisters-in-law) that live in some of those cities.</p><p id="586d">It has helped that another local friend has been bringing my partner and me along with him on trips to see his friends. He does a lot of charitable work for people in other cities, and he has started bringing my partner and me along with him on some of his trips. He also likes to travel to see his friends in some of those cities, since just traveling for work isn’t as fun as spending a weekend with friends.</p><p id="ca3a">So, as my partner and I have traveled with him (and increasingly his partner as well), I have begun to see the value in taking vacations away from home. It’s nice to get away from my city and be somewhere else for a while.</p><p id="76e4">In fact, we just got back from a trip to see a friend for his birthday, which is why today’s article is late. I tried to write it up while in the hotel, but we spent three days hanging out with him, so I didn’t have much time or energy to write. It was a total blast, and I had a lot of fun seeing a friend that I normally only see over Zoom, but I could only get so many articles written pre-weekend trip.</p><p id="2eff">Also, to preempt the comments I may get, yes, I know that the “don’t travel” mentality is a stereotypical midwestern thing, generally used derisively to describe a backward-thinking homebody who is distrustful of foreigners. I don’t subscribe to that mentality by choice.</p><p id="d554">My work is deadline-driven and stressful, and I’m a major introvert. Going to touristy places is a daunting thing for me, and the idea of spending a week seeing sights in a crowded city is a living nightmare for me. I also don’t particularly care for the beach, and my partner is somewhat sun-averse due to easily burning. I am also the only wage-earner for my family, and while we do fine, I don’t always have the money to travel regularly, never mind overseas.</p><p id="b247">Also, I was afforded the ability to travel as a kid and teenager, having been to quite a few other states as well as France, the UK, and Mexico. There are places I’d love to travel to — I’d love to go to Japan and also see more of Europe — but it’s not really in the cards right now.</p><p id="2563">However, thanks to my recent travels facilitated by my friend, I’m growing more comfortable with relaxation tourism. For me, the idea of going somewhere, hanging out in a nice hotel room, and eating good local food is a dream. I like to joke that I’d be a horrible European tourist — I would be the one strolling into my Rome hotel and asking the concierge where the locals like to eat, spending a week eating local food, and maybe seeing a handful of sights in between.</p><p id="dcf4">I like good food. What else can I say?</p><p id="cad3">So, in the spirit of getting out of the house, my partner and

Options

I are currently planning a getaway sometime soon. We haven’t decided where we’re going yet, nor when we’re going, but the idea of spending a few days in a hotel with my partner and some good food sounds divine. We might even go see some sights.</p><p id="5993">If you liked this, please subscribe to my publication, Thing a Day. I publish something every day on a variety of topics, so you never know what you’re going to see!</p><div id="da0b" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/thing-a-day"> <div> <div> <h2>Thing a Day</h2> <div><h3>In which I write one thing each day.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*eDMwsybTKAuurmHy6-tfoA.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="b742">Here are some other things I’ve written:</p><div id="6014" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-mental-health-benefits-of-working-from-home-7aa4b5c7a1"> <div> <div> <h2>The Mental Health Benefits of Working From Home</h2> <div><h3>How you can make your work-at-home job work for your mental health.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*RWN1ycUUxSrfn-ZX)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="4dd1" class="link-block"> <a href="https://psiloveyou.xyz/the-pandemic-brought-me-closer-to-my-wife-dc5aec7017bb"> <div> <div> <h2>The Pandemic Brought Me Closer to My Wife</h2> <div><h3>One year on, and being home all the time has been great for my relationship.</h3></div> <div><p>psiloveyou.xyz</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*LJCcZaTSIN3yD88v)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="f489" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/a-happy-couple-four-cute-cats-and-no-kids-7e333b3aa13d"> <div> <div> <h2>A Happy Couple, Four Cute Cats, and No Kids</h2> <div><h3>I didn’t choose the cat life, the cat life chose me.</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*kW1sT76YcruvP8IK)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Gotta Get Away: One Strange Consequence of Working From Home

Taking a stay-cation when you work from home isn’t always the best.

As I’ve talked about, I work from home permanently now. I was first sent to work from home in March of 2020 at the start of COVID-19. Now, nearly 16 months later, my employer has commandeered my office for use by a new hire and I am working from home 100% of the time.

It helps that my job can be done remotely and that I enjoy working from home just as much now as I did at first. It’s had quite a few nice benefits that have helped my mental health, as well as my general relationships with my wife and cats.

However, now that I’ve spent over a year where I’ve been home 98% of the time, I’ve made an interesting discovery: staycations suck.

Okay, so that’s a bit of hyperbole, and I didn’t think that before (and still don’t, honestly). It’s just that, when I’m home all the time, staying home on my vacation isn’t what it used to be.

I’ve never been much of a traveler and I don’t have the money for lavish vacations, so whenever I got a week off, I generally spent it at home unwinding on the couch. It was nice that we were able to do things we couldn’t do otherwise, like go to a local Asian grocer that was much nicer to visit during the weekdays, but most of my time was spent at home.

However, after spending over a year being in my house, even during my vacation time, it’s become a bit…old. Don’t get me wrong, my home is a nice place to be and I draw a lot of comfort from it. It’s just that, since I’m home all the time, sometimes it’s a bit nice to, well, not be home.

Some part of it is the cabin fever that comes with being in lockdown for so long. I’ve spent so long in my house without much of a say in things that I just need to get out sometimes. I’m sure we can all relate to that. And of course, if you’re more or less forced to stay somewhere for a long time, it gets a bit old.

So, I’ve started to embrace travel. I live in a midwestern city with about half a dozen other big midwestern cities, plus quite a few smaller cities, within a day’s driving distance. I’ve also built up a group of friends (and two sisters-in-law) that live in some of those cities.

It has helped that another local friend has been bringing my partner and me along with him on trips to see his friends. He does a lot of charitable work for people in other cities, and he has started bringing my partner and me along with him on some of his trips. He also likes to travel to see his friends in some of those cities, since just traveling for work isn’t as fun as spending a weekend with friends.

So, as my partner and I have traveled with him (and increasingly his partner as well), I have begun to see the value in taking vacations away from home. It’s nice to get away from my city and be somewhere else for a while.

In fact, we just got back from a trip to see a friend for his birthday, which is why today’s article is late. I tried to write it up while in the hotel, but we spent three days hanging out with him, so I didn’t have much time or energy to write. It was a total blast, and I had a lot of fun seeing a friend that I normally only see over Zoom, but I could only get so many articles written pre-weekend trip.

Also, to preempt the comments I may get, yes, I know that the “don’t travel” mentality is a stereotypical midwestern thing, generally used derisively to describe a backward-thinking homebody who is distrustful of foreigners. I don’t subscribe to that mentality by choice.

My work is deadline-driven and stressful, and I’m a major introvert. Going to touristy places is a daunting thing for me, and the idea of spending a week seeing sights in a crowded city is a living nightmare for me. I also don’t particularly care for the beach, and my partner is somewhat sun-averse due to easily burning. I am also the only wage-earner for my family, and while we do fine, I don’t always have the money to travel regularly, never mind overseas.

Also, I was afforded the ability to travel as a kid and teenager, having been to quite a few other states as well as France, the UK, and Mexico. There are places I’d love to travel to — I’d love to go to Japan and also see more of Europe — but it’s not really in the cards right now.

However, thanks to my recent travels facilitated by my friend, I’m growing more comfortable with relaxation tourism. For me, the idea of going somewhere, hanging out in a nice hotel room, and eating good local food is a dream. I like to joke that I’d be a horrible European tourist — I would be the one strolling into my Rome hotel and asking the concierge where the locals like to eat, spending a week eating local food, and maybe seeing a handful of sights in between.

I like good food. What else can I say?

So, in the spirit of getting out of the house, my partner and I are currently planning a getaway sometime soon. We haven’t decided where we’re going yet, nor when we’re going, but the idea of spending a few days in a hotel with my partner and some good food sounds divine. We might even go see some sights.

If you liked this, please subscribe to my publication, Thing a Day. I publish something every day on a variety of topics, so you never know what you’re going to see!