You Can't See It All, So Stop Trying...

A Slow Holiday to meet your soul.

We do all rush around like mad trying to circumvent the trials and tribulations of our daily life. Deep down we all know that the stumbling and road blocks were put up with our own hands or rather attitude. Aren't we a carbon copy of the old fashioned worker ants? Never mind the hamster analogy.

Some have annual holidays of 6 weeks and some only of 2 weeks, yet most of us use them in a similar way. Cram as much activity into them as possible. Gosh, we don't want to dare miss out on anything do we? How are we meant to relax at that pace. Taking European holidays where you see 10 cities in 5 days ( isn't that how they market it ) clearly means that you will spend a lot of time re-packing your suitcase and lugging it on or off a tour bus. Not what I would call fun.

Connecting, meeting and hanging out with our inner soul is jolly difficult when we surround ourselves with stuff and activities on our holiday. A mere dose of calm and a case of less is what we need. Imagine going an a holiday where the most stressful decision might be what time to get up and have a cup of coffee. Or if you should get dressed today. Should you open another bottle of wine or where to go for a boozy lunch...eh, or both?

There was a documentary about Switzerland and its mountainous areas. Rather remote and hardly populated yet beautiful and soothing. Greens of all shades interspersed with delightful wild flowers. The one idea that struck a cord for me was that that when you take a holiday away from the beaten track, it gives you the time to meet your soul. To reconnect and really take a break from your reality. To have a holiday!

A holiday shouldn't be about gathering facts, photos and souvenirs to show your friends, family and co-workers back home. A holiday to impress others and depress yourself. Frankly, those holiday pics being hauled out at dinner parties strike fear in many, the fatter the album is...It is somewhat easier on Facebook as you can look or not at your leisure. ( Since the advent of Smartphones we do tend to live our lives in byte-sizes and with an audience in mind! )

For a lot of us, taking a holiday in our own home might be the answer:

• Your friends & family are aware of what your home looks like so there is no need to haul out the camera.
• You know all your surrounding attractions and aren't tempted to rush around seeing them.
• You save so much on airfare / bus fare / hotels that you can cook outrageous meals with prawns / steak / wine etc.
• You can take a day trip to that restaurant you always talked about, and enjoy the day.
• If you yearn for it, you can spend a day at your local mall and go crazy...remember you have saved on hotels and airfare!

The world is such a big place with so many wonderful attractions to see. But we also need to realize, that we can't see it all...Let's start a trend to take Slow Holidays.

Biggi

Slow Is Fast: On the Road at Home