Just out of curiousity, I’m wondering how many people actually got to have some real vacation in their Summer.
Did you get away? Even long weekends count. Have a “Staycation”? They don’t count. I’m talking about the real, pack a bag and get out of the house and away from our everyday life sort of break.
a bit
I got to Buffalo and Niagara Falls for one weekend, and to NYC and Long Island for another. Stressful driving sort of wipes out any “vacation” benefit on these short jaunts, but they were away, and more than a day.
That said, the falls at night were great, the german beer fest in the woods was unlike anything I’d seen before (pretzel necklaces for easy access), and NY is always fun in short bursts.
Locally, getting out in the canoe is almost like a vacation each time.
No one but me
Nobody took any breaks this summer but me. How sad.
New York City and Everything
I was in NYC for the month of July. But as I was seriously ill then, I was mostly homebound, which, in NYC, is not much fun.
Collateral effects of Privacy's demise?
I thought the initial question was a very good one. But for awhile now I’ve been disconcerted by the lack of community on this community site. Despite the fact that- in my opinion- our hosts and moderators do a very fine job of welcoming people, while expressing themselves honestly and engagingly, I perceive an increasing reticence to share.
I had stuff I considered relating from this summer, but lately all my efforts here feel like they are met by just a handful of people willing to enter into discussion. I am greatly appreciative of those contacts. And online, lurking is a right, not a just a privilege. Of course, my content or tone might be off-putting, one never knows.
Parsing out privacy
I think there are a number of factors. One is undeniably the social media sites where everyone shows their meals and cats. Discourse has shortened to 144 characters, and memes and counter-memes. Also, we go thru phases on iBratt. Lately when I come by, there are a few dozen visitors but only a couple users logged in. We’ll see if things pick up in the Fall with more peep indoors.
...
The thing to keep in mind is the insularity and size of the iBrattleboro userbase. The number of users who actually post is minuscule, and the relation of visitors to commentators likely follows a power law. I think privacy may have a part to play due to the fact that these few commentators likely know the people they interact with on this forum on a semi-personal basis, but the influence of Twitter et. al. is not what’s at play.
Originally
I posted this because of several conversations I’d had with friends where they realized they hadn’t gotten any vacation. Made me wonder if vacations are mostly things of the past.
Summer vacations expensive
Right through the 90s, I took summer vacation as a given, something even my own family, not wealthy, could afford and that I had been able to afford myself even on a crummy bank teller salary. With a friend or two along for the ride, we could always manage to go somewhere for a week, almost always the shore, either Ocean City, MD, or the Cape, or Newport. Motels and summer cottages of the more rustic sort could always be gotten for a rate a regular person could afford. It was blissful. I would sit on the beach, reading books and people watching all day, go for long walks along the water, walk the boardwalk or other commercial street at night with the other summer people. It was great. I always managed to have enough for one nice dinner out and one treat from a local shop, too, which sort of rounded out the vacation experience which consisted of a really relaxing time, the making of some memories, and something to remember it by.
I haven’t had a vacation like that since the late 90s before the dotcom crash. But I could use one, I know that. I don’t think working every week of the year without break is good for you. But if you can’t afford the destination or the time off, that makes it hard. So now I worry that this is the new reality.