I Despise The Beach
I despise the beach. I know, weird, right? But I do. I didn't used to. I used to look forward to going on vacation every year, to a beach somewhere. Now that I'm older though, I don't really enjoy it that much... or at all come to think of it.
So, my family are very blessed in the fact that we're able to take a vacation every year. We're fortunate that we can all still get together and spend time with each other and travel. I know a lot of families don't get that. Maybe they can't really make a vacation happen or they just aren't all on good enough terms to get it done. And so, I'm grateful we're able to. I like hanging out with my family.
As I'm writing this, we're getting ready to go to the airport in a few hours to depart Aruba, where we've just spent the past week. My mom is turning fifty this year and decided she'd like to come here for her birthday, and so that's what we did. I wasn't all that enthusiastic about going, but I went because her kids mean a lot to my mom, and I know she'd really like so much for us all to be together. Heck, I like that too. Again, hanging out with my family is great.
However, I have always believed that it is totally unnecessary to go to a different state or country to achieve this effect. There is no logical reason why family time needs to occur on a beach or indeed, on a vacation at all. Yet, every year, my parents choose to book some "tropical island getaway" or other, and lately it's not even fun to go anymore. Seriously.
Again, the family time is very nice, but I have just about had it with going to beaches, or places with beaches, or somewhere tropical or Caribbean. If you haven't been, let me assure you, the experience is basically identical everywhere you go. The beach has sand on it. There's also an ocean. There's really hot sun. The end. After one or two hours, you've pretty much accomplished everything you can accomplish on a beach. I just don't understand the appeal of repeatedly wanting to experience the same exact experience, again and again and again, year after year. There is absolutely nothing left that any beach on the Earth has to offer that we've not yet seen, but still we go to a different and new one every year.
I cannot stand the sand. It gets everywhere. It seems impossible to get rid of. It's incredibly annoying to deal with sand that you inadvertently carry off the beach with you. It settles itself, in a fine, gritty layer, into every possible crack and crevasse in the floor, the furniture, your bags, your shoes, your clothes... what a bother sand is. Nothing at all, to me, is worth putting up with it. Wet sand is even worse. There have been occasions where we've taken tours, including on this vacation, of the destination my family picked. Usually, those tours include a stop off at some beach or other, or some scenic ocean viewpoint, etc. Usually, we'll walk right down close to the water, get sand in our shoes, then a particularly powerful wave will break on the shore and send water flooding over everyone's feet. Now, you're walking around with wet, gritty sand trapped in your shoes. Again, nothing is worth having to experience that.
And then there's the sun. Here in Aruba, especially. The UV index here was 11 or 12 all dang week. And you're going out on the beach, in swimsuits, which expose quite a lot of your skin, so you can lay in the hot sun which, if you aren't careful, will cook your skin itself. How do you protect against that? You rub sticky, oily cream all over yourself, and that feels just wonderful of course. It only lasts so long though, so then you get to reapply it, probably with extra sand now that you're on the beach and can't avoid that. Like, doesn't that sound so enjoyable? So relaxing?
Then, there's the matter of booking, planning, and actually getting to the beach. Scour the internet for the nicest resorts/hotels. Make sure they'll work with you and for your family. Work on coordinating everybody's flights, plane tickets, etc. Figure out where you're going to eat. Figure out what you want to do besides lay on the beach all week, if you want to do anything at all. etc etc. It's totally not worth it, to put all that effort into what is supposed to be a relaxing vacation.
I say all this, not to suggest that the beach or vacation is the absolute worst thing I've ever had to endure. Far from it. I just think that, when you go on vacation, which is supposed to be an enjoyable, relaxing break from your normal life, during no part of your trip should you have to put up with something you find displeasing. The whole thing is supposed to be the opposite of that. Oh sure, maybe you'll end up having to deal with some less than ideal circumstances, in the people you interact with or the natural events that are going on, but if you pick a deliberately annoying place to go to, how is that a good vacation?
For me, the beach is an inconvenience. I never want to go, but I always seem to have to. From the moment I first got to the beach every single day this week, I was looking forward to leaving. Seems like you go, and you sit there for four or five or eight hours, and then you get to leave and go back to the room to get cleaned up for supper. I just never have anything to do, and there is nothing I could bring with me to occupy my time on the beach that I could not have done without us wasting thousands of dollars going there.
I usually try to spend my time on the beach thinking, of what else I could be doing if I weren't on the beach. For example, I thought of so many musical ideas I wished I could be at home playing or working on. One of the worst things about going on vacation for me is that I'm separated from being able to play music until I get back. There again, why would somebody choose to go and do something less enjoyable? But there you have it. I also conceptualized a lot of feature designs for apps I'm working on right now, although luckily I can still work on those because I brought a laptop with me. That's the kind of stuff I occupy my mind with, until I can eventually get off the beach.
The evenings on vacations for me are a little more enjoyable. Going out to eat is usually when a lot of that quality time together happens which I like. Heck, doing anything on vacations is when some quality time happens. Last year, we went to Hawaii, and did something interactive almost every single day. It was engaging. It was interesting. It was interactive. I felt that I enjoyed spending time with my family more when we were doing things, rather than sitting aimlessly in a beach chair somewhere.
Everybody else seems to prefer not doing things like that though, and instead spending time on the beach. I just, don't understand why it's so appealing. Maybe it's a visual thing that I'm missing. That probably has a lot to do with it. I'm sure the different color sand probably looks pretty, and the color and hue of the water can be very beautiful I'm told. The surrounding landscaping can be nice, palm trees etc. Maybe that just looks relaxing and contributes to... actually relaxing? IDK. I can only tell you it's not relaxing, fun, or enjoyable for me. And if I had my way, I'd never visit another beach as long as I lived. I've had my fill.
In fact, I might go as far as to say that if I had my way, I would never choose to go on vacation ever again either. Maybe that's just my introverted side speaking... I have had fun on some of the vacations we've done in the past few years. By and large, though, they were just something I went on because my family booked them. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have. Because I don't need a vacation. I don't want a break. I like my job. I have hobbies that bring me joy. I have a life that I like a lot, with great friends who I like spending time with. What's to take a break from? Why do something less enjoyable?
Again, I definitely don't want to come across as ungrateful that I even get the opportunity to travel, and I hope that's not what anyone reading this picks up on. Because we have been to quite a lot of places, and I've experienced cultures I otherwise would not have. And maybe it is good to do something different every now and then. Sometimes I do need to get out of my routine and try something new. It's just that I think that, for me, something new can be done right where I live. Right in my local city, or a neighboring one. And it can be done in a day or two. I don't see any need to go nowhere as far as we've gone, just for that.
I only meant to write about These, the logical reasons why I don't like being on the beach, and more broadly vacation. As I said when I opened this post though, time with my family really is great and I'm very glad my mom and dad keep trying to make an effort to bring us all together, especially as we all are grown up now and would never see each other if... nobody ever made an effort. And I know it's not all about me. The reason these types of vacations keep getting booked is because, all the qualities I find unsatisfactory are things everybody else doesn't mind and usually get a lot out of. It's really pretty selfish of me to only think of, me, and what I personally want. These vacations are for everybody, and they definitely seem to check most of the boxes for most of us. And that's good.
I'm just saying though, I despise the beach.