Post-staycation check in!

When exactly did I turn into such a nature boy?

As mentioned last week, I didn't "go" anywhere for my vacation, but I still packed a lot into it. And yes, I did manage to blow up my routine enough that by the end I was truly growing relaxed and enjoying—you guessed it!—the ability to spontaneously pursue whatever I felt like doing. And while that was mostly just keeping on the move, general freedom from the more constricting views of time really does help me recalibrate and emerge refreshed.

A handful of highlights included, but were absolutely not limited to, the following:

• Did a lot of walking; my apologies to anyone who's FitBit friends with me since I kind of blew up the leaderboard with over 60 miles of walking in the first week off work alone
• Got a bunch of original art framed (and realized it was the first time in my life I was getting something framed as opposed to everything in frames on my walls right now having been a gift at some point in the past) 

• 
  Visited the Chicago Botanical Garden and wondered why it had taken me so long to visit and holy heck I'd buy a membership if I thought I'd make it out that way often enough ... but it's gonna be a regular spot to visit for me in the future!
• I got my first haircut in almost 2 years, and while I honestly never expected to grow my hair out again so it seems like I should enjoy it before it's all gone. So while it's still long it feels so light and bouncy on my head now that layers of frizz acting as velcro have been removed. And a HUGE shout out to my stylist since she has to deal with a customer who doesn't wash his hair or use any hair products, but still wants his naturally curly / wavy hair to behave and look nice, and if you think that's "simple" I think it is the exact opposite
• I went to the beach! Maybe I'll eventually learn how to dress for the beach
• Spent more time regularly talking to my mom than I have in years. Spent time with my entire immediate family on my actual birthday. Hung out with my mom even more after that, and I am really enjoying being able to see my family more often (though I still self-test for COVID before seeing my mom, because mom must be protected at all costs!)*
• Bought a new phone and absolutely abused the wide-angle lens (because it is totally normal to do that for the first week of having a new lens, right?)**
• Bought tickets to a few concerts I wanted to attend and skipped all of them due to my personal discomfort with the current COVID variant spike, but I felt good about at least trying to go and still being able to financially support those acts, even from a distance
• Spent a lot of time in neighborhoods both familiar and new as I wandered the city on certain days with no defined path or end point and it was so refreshing and freeing to move about unconstrained by time or expectations

I think it's that last point that sums up the true highlight of my staycation. After years where time has felt both meaningless and oppressive at the same time, approaching it from an unstructured direction devoid of real-world pressures helped redefine my mental relationship with time in a healthier and more sustainable direction. So, despite not getting more than a couple dozen miles outside Chicago at any given time, I feel this vacation was a total success!

*An aside: I did notice that when I was masked in an enclosed space I was often the only one, but that was fine by me. Though in those situations I've been increasingly harassed by non-mask wearers for wearing one ... which I absolutely can not understand.

**Was secretly happy I didn't have the new phone until after my Botanic Garden visit, otherwise I might still be there shooting pictures of all the amazing tableaux.