We spent the past six weeks on Galveston Island, Texas, where we did nothing. Unless you count walking on the beach, having lunch or dinner in town, repairing the motorhome, visiting with friends, or making new acquaintances, we never did anything. As our time was drawing near an end, I started feeling guilty about doing nothing. Why do I think that I should be doing something? Why isn’t it okay for me to do nothing?
Google “word for someone who does nothing,” and you’ll find these answers according to yourdictionary.com: bone lazy, slacker, layabout, idle, couch-potato, lazy person, lazy, laggard, slouch, indifferent and deadbeat. Not wanting to carry the judgment of any of these titles, I’ve identified the reason for my feeling guilty. By doing nothing, are you automatically one of these things? Isn’t it possible that one might not be lazy so much as extremely talented at letting go?
Generally, we stay between 2 – 4 weeks in a location. Since we work weekdays, we leave our travel for the weekends. A two-week stay gives us a full weekend to explore where we are. Some destinations deserve more time, so we plan to stay longer. On top of that, many RV parks offer a monthly rate that is significantly lower than the daily or weekly rate, of which we like to take advantage. I refer to it as “go-slow pace,” especially when compared to many other RVers that we have met.
Even with our slow pace, we rarely see everything an area offers. In the beginning, this was hard for me. As we would be nearing the end of our stay, I would start packing in an extra excursion here and there, an evening hike or bike ride, and so on. Brian reminds me frequently that we can always come back. To paraphrase, his words go something like, “If we do everything in a place, we won’t have a reason to come back. If we like it enough, we should leave a reason to return.”
But leaving things for the next time isn’t easy for me. Easily distracted (did you say, “Squirrel?”), I am a busy body who doesn’t sit still for very long at any given time. Typically, I go hard from the time I get out of bed in the morning until sometime around 8:30 or 9 in the evening. An ex-boyfriend of mine even nicknamed me “Anne with a Plan.” While I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I recognize now that this is how I have lived and generally have preferred to do things.
RV life with this level of needing to plan can be good and bad. On the positive side, we have never been without a place to stay, food to eat, sights to see, generally fair weather, etc. On the other hand, planning every moment leaves little time to do nothing. Trust me when I tell you as a planner that it can be incredibly frustrating when a pandemic or other circumstances beyond your control require that you change your plans.
Did I mention that having time to be without plans allows us time to dream, a chance to rejuvenate your passion for life, and to recuperate from your past experiences?
Certainly a more Eastern way of thinking about doing nothing, it sure sounds a lot better to me than being judged as lazy! My new plan is to let go of the guilt and schedule more time to do nothing as we move on to new places and new experiences.
How about you? Do you believe in the importance of doing nothing?
