Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Vacation Planning: Assembling the Crew



Choosing a destination is only the first step. After that comes the more difficult step of assembling a vacation crew. Over the past few years, we've done a pretty good job of badgering almost every single person we know to come on vacation with us. At times, I feel we're one PowerPoint presentation away from being like those creepy people you're vaguely aware of that are always trying to get you to join their pyramid scheme. Heck, sometimes I think we'd have more luck if we just went the extra mile. Nothing says "Awesome Vacation" like a great slideshow.

 
When searching for a good crew, there are certain types of people that you want to avoid. The first of these is my least favorite, the kind of people that try to overload a trip with as many vacationy things as possible. While I love to experience new things while I'm in a new location, there has to be a limit. My ideal is researching most of my options prior to arriving and coming up with a vague sense of some of the things you'd like to do with no real definite time frame. I've gone on vacation with people that have actually made reservations for things before the trip ever started.

My problem with this is that when you stick to such a tight schedule or try to get too much accomplished, it hardly feels like a vacation. One of the points of getting away, is to actually get away from the kinds of constraints you feel at home. When you find yourself running around trying to adhere to any sort of vacation, it starts to feel less like an escape and more like work.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are the people that use their vacation to behave the exact same way they would at home. Sure, TV is great. But I can't fathom the idea of spending a week in front of the TV when there is a very vast ocean just minutes away.

Fortunately for us, this year proved to be easy. Matt, Katie, and I were in as we tend to be awesome. Our friend Nathan, a veteran of both Virginia Beach Part 1 as well as OBX Part 1, happened to have a week free before he moved from Memphis to Virginia to start an externship. He invited his friend Tim along and that made five.

After that, nobody else wanted to go with us. The older we get, the harder it seems to be to get people to come with us. Friends are married now, some of them even have kids. Some of them really don't seem to like to have fun.

Once the group is set, you get to start the more exciting task of finding a place to stay. And that is what we shall discuss in the next entry. Back to you, Matt!

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