Just like a well-trained dog, a lot of my life revolves around routine.  I have the same routine during the week and I have a different routine I follow on weekends.  The reason I rationalize such behavior is I believe it helps to keep a household running smoothly.  Certain things need to be done at certain intervals to make sure everything is taken care of.  By everything I mean bills being paid on time, having food to eat, living in a clean house, having clean clothes to wear, etcetera etcetera etcetera.  I pride myself on being the master of the things that make up my routine.  I’ve always been on the anal retentive side which is probably why I do what I do for a living.

Keeping everything running smoothly is one thing, but over time I have realized sometimes my life has become so routine that it’s…routine.  I have even figured out how to include fun things into a routine to the point where they become routine.  As I stand back and examine the need to change things up a bit I come to the conclusion that I have been in my routine for so long I haven’t taken a meaningful vacation in five years!  By meaningful I mean a vacation where you leave the house, completely disconnect yourself from work, and travel somewhere you’ve never been before and explore new things.  During the past five years my vacation days from work consisted of taking a day off here and there because I didn’t feel like going to work that day or I wanted a three-day weekend or an additional day off over a holiday.

I need to get away.  I need to escape my routine. (more…)