How Not to Waste Your Summer Vacation

Looks like much of our summer vacation would be spent at home. If you're a homebody (like I often am) then you have no problem. But what if you're used to traveling during summer vacations (as I often do, too)? Staying home would be sheer horrifying.  But it doesn't have to. [Picture above by Austin Distel, Unsplash].

I've started it--going over pictures and videos I posted on Facebook and on my YouTube channel. I thought it would be boring, but I was wrong. It was actually fun, especially the part where you remember the very feelings you felt when the experiences took place, and watching and listening to your special someone in the videos.

Or simply staring at the pictures and reminiscing what took place there--the laughter, conversations, cries of excitement, adventure, suspense and mystery. The good news and bad news. And especially the crazy rides to the countryside.

Picture above from this site.

I remember the time when we all felt the call of nature and we were in the middle of nowhere (amid rice fields actually), no gas stations, fastfood or bay stations in sight. So we stooped the car and knocked on the door of a tattered hut and asked if we could use their toilet. The hospitable owner agreed, smiling. And as you'd guess, the toilet wasn't that user-friendly, not when the users were from the city. But it was good enough for the purpose.

Several times I had to use a toilet bowl that was simply embedded on the floor. You'd squat as low as you could and fire. And when I was a kid I actually used a rural outhouse a lot of times when I spent weekly vacations in my dad's hometown, San Juan, La Union.

You know what an outhouse is, of course. It's a makeshift, elevated toilet facility covered with sacks and branches and located about 50 meters from the main house. So it's tough using it in the middle of the night. You never know if a python or wild boar lurked nearby. Then you squatted on the floor right over a hole directly aiming at a large earthen vessel buried halfway in the ground below.

And yup, you got to be a sharp shooter. A three-pointer. One miss can be fatal. The picture here is a decent one compared to what we had back then.

These things make summer vacations extra fun, and reminiscing them extra exciting especially during a COVID 19 total quarantine.


Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Why We Often Relate Work Breaks with Nature Trips

When we need to take a long break--like a spiritual retreat--or even a vacation, we like going closer to nature. Why? Because when God himself rested, there was nothing on earth but nature. Nothing of man was there--or in all creation. Even in outer space. No human junk yet. 

So, being made in our Creator's image, we also prefer near-nature retreats or even a respite from the daily grind of our jobs or businesses. Adam and Even enjoyed that nature escapade with God until they thought of making their own, turned out to be human junk. So we're often refreshed when exposed long enough to pure nature. God's own handiwork.

But some folks spoil their nature trips when they bring along human junk. My friend once went up Trinidad, Benguet supposedly to enjoy the mountains but brought along his headphone to listen to junk music instead of just quietly listening to creation. What a way to spoil a vacation. Turn your sadness into laughter. Click here.

I mean, spend all that money just to listen to junk music? Or play video games? Or play board games? You should've just stayed home.

You go up mountains to escape city life--but you bring along junk. I can't figure that out. You go on a picnic near rivers or by the rice fields or seashore but eat fast food junks and junk snacks. I look for local fresh fruits when I'm in the province but sadly all they offer are mostly chippy and softdrinks. "What happened to guavas and siniguelas and caimito?" I ask. They look at me like I was an idiot.

Well, they offer you kalamansi or guyabano juice in tetra packs with labels saying "fresh."

I like eating fresh, handpicked veggies for lunch or dinner when I'm in my hometown. Once, while in the middle of a rice field during harvest season, the caretaker offered us raw amplaya young shoots garnished with sliced onions, tomatoes with a sprinkle of bagoong or preserved fish. I love the crunch that came with every bite plus that sweet-bitter taste wonderfully neutralized by fish preserve and freshly harvested rice.

At one time we were served native chicken tinola with freshly picked papaya for an all-organic lunch. Nothing artificial about it, all in the environs of rustic paddies. You savor real creation from God unspoiled by human junk. Ripe rice stalks swaying in the cool wind in the backdrop with a hint of its sweetness in the air. 

How can you mar all that with human junk?

Next time you take a break to the countryside, forget about city junks, your boss and work included, and just ponder on the works of God. He himself saw that it was good, a guarantee of what you can expect when you stay close to nature.