Two weekend trips (The Goal List 2018)

This post is part of my series on The Goal List, where I write about each goal I set and achieved in 2018.

The goal in question

2 camping/backpacking weekend trips

Why this goal?

A friend of mine once pointed out that the standard school year is split up so that kids always have something to look forward to.

See how every really long month is followed by a month with a little bit less desk time?

There’s an expectation that the halcyon days of summer breaks and ski weeks are reserved for kids, and that once we graduate from school we’ll never experience the sublime excitement of an upcoming break ever again. Unless you have a uniquely flexible work schedule, you’ll need to work very hard to give yourself the public school treatment. Two months off at a time is off the table for most people. It also isn’t possible for most of us to take a week a month off for 5 months a year.

However, I think that once you realize that the real prize just as much the expectation of the time off as it is the time off itself, you can start to tweak your life so you get that excitement back. The key is to give yourself little vacations on a regular basis. This goal was my attempt to maintain a high level of excitement and motivation through the year by giving myself regular little vacations.

I chose to make these camping/backpacking trips because nothing shakes me out of the day to day quite like getting lost in nature.

How did I accomplish it?

I established my own tolerable break schedule, favoring addition over subtraction. That is, instead of taking loads of vacation time I didn’t have, I added mini adventures into the nooks and crannies of my year. Even if I didn’t have a big trip on the horizon, I always had an awesome little one less than 6 weeks away.

So the timing was my first consideration. Where in my year would I need to inject a little excitement? At the end of the year, this is how my “time off” shook out:

You might be able to guess that my premeditated mini trips came in January and March. Each took one vacation day, was domestic and very affordable. They were all exotic and active enough to totally shake me out of my everyday bubble and make me feel utterly refreshed.

January: Niagara Falls

In January, my friend Margot and I took a three-day weekend trip to Niagara Falls.

March: Mendocino County

In March, my friends Katy, Petra and I took a three-day weekend trip to Mendocino County.