What Is A Vacation?
The Idea
3 days in the Appalachian Mountains, 2 of my best friends, 1 car to roadtrip, no cell service and what do we decide to do? Plan the greatest vacation of all time — a video game retreat.
You might have blurted exactly what others I told this to did: “brUh.”
Well, to that I say — its not your trip its mine.
I have played video games for as long as I remember. Mostly single player RPGs and platformers, so it has since been a dream of mine to spend a weekend, no distractions, stuck to a console, in a house littered with snacks, cozy in the winter with a fireplace lit, alongside mates that are passionate for the same.
And now that I have adult money, what’s stopping me (blame whoever decided to give me a salary).
So, alongside some of my closest friends, we booked an AirBnB in West Virginia. The plan? Drive up with everything we need and never leave… well, maybe for a hike or two… and to actually leave.
If you want to see the video, wait till the end.
This Sounds So Lame
Now, why am I laying out the details of this trip? What does this have to do with understanding what a vacation means? Ok, before I get there, let me bring up another point.
Like I said before, there was definitely push-back. Other friends, family, and colleagues alike all said this was a waste of money. Some even started harping on the downfall of my generation, and to that I say: I’m privileged and I love it. We know it sounds stupid… from the outside looking in.
Challenge The Status Quo
Now, to my point. This takes a bit of poise but we’re alright with how stupid this trip sounds. Planning, the build up to, and the vacation itself was one of the most fun experiences of my life. Again, i’ve been itching to do this since I first started playing Super Mario 64 on my DS way back in 2009 (mhm, I played classics even at the sharp age of 7).
This is something I challenge all of you reading this to do. No… not a video game retreat, but to challenge the status quo on what it means to travel.
This isn’t about getting you on board with what I find interesting, it’s about getting you to escape tunnel vision. It’s about getting you to escape a standard template that tells you what going on a vacation means through trends and social media posts.
As such, if you usually try to fit as much as possible into a narrow timeframe, try exploring one place for longer. If you usually just go sightseeing, try something else that really gets you engaged with the culture (visit other cities or try volunteering to really understand the community). If there are activities you like doing at home, try them in a new place, like camping, cooking, art, driving vintage cars, cosplay, or even playing video games — why not?
Challenge what you are pre-programmed to think.
You’ll have a more interesting backstory and may be better off for it.
