Vacation de Toussaint
God bless the French for their love of holidays. I apologize in advance to my American friends for admitting this, but we are blessed this year with four two-week breaks during our 7 months of employment in the French school system. The first of these breaks falls right in the middle of October after a grueling three weeks or so of work for us.
On Saturday Oct 18 we left Toulouse and didn’t return until November 1st. This two-week stretch of constant travel is definitely the longest vacation I’ve ever been on. Moreover, I had been living out of suitcases since leaving the US on September 24th, so this is the longest stretch of impermanent placement that I’ve ever experienced.
For someone like me who could rightly be described as a bit of a homebody, it’s true that traveling and taking the adventurous road is a little outside my comfort zone. Even though I am most comfortable in my own home space, I value travel and know it’s important for me.
What I love about travel:
1) SIGHT-SEEING. I love to see foreign landscapes, city centers, landmarks and the various markers of human achievement that can be found literally everywhere. Who doesn’t?
2) CULTURE. I love to be an observer of people and as much as it’s possible, to meet and talk with new folks everywhere I go. I like to watch and listen to the way mothers mind their children in other parts of the world, witness how daily commerce takes place, how young people amuse themselves, how customs vary, and how similar we all in fact are at the end of the day.
3) LANGUAGE. I like learning new languages. Before traveling somewhere new I try to learn at least basic traveling phrases that will be necessary for communication while traveling there. Even though I may be dabbling with only a handful of new phrases, I try to employ them whenever I can and be brave enough to go for it and just do the best I can.
I fully subscribe to the belief that travel is one of the best avenues for expanding one’s mind and promoting personal growth. Although travel means welcoming an environment of mild stressors like making an itinerary that works, managing transportation and lodging schedules, travel regulations, foreign customs and money, plus potential language barriers, it is all worth it.
By the way, I am really proud of myself for packing lightly on this trip! My husband might still suggest otherwise, but I seriously dwindled it down for this 2-week vacation. I think many Americans would understand how big of a challenge it is to travel for two weeks with only a purse and a small suitcase (the smallest that comes with a luggage set). I mean, this is impressive. Granted, I did borrow a little space in Nick’s luggage for overflow books and a second liquids bag (per flight regulations), but still… for two weeks of travel I was pretty impressed with myself. 😉
For more details on our Fall break, check out my subsequent posts on each destination.
Our travel itinerary:
1) Castelnaudary, France
2) Carcassonne, France
3) Porto, Portugal
4) Barcelona, Spain
5) Canet en Roussillon, France
I kept feeling a bit torn about the fact that on our fall vacation we were really experiencing an extended summer through our travels in Portugal, Spain, and southern France in late October while back home on the east coast I know my friends and family were going through my favorite rituals of apple picking, pumpkin carving, costume designing, and decoration hanging… and we were missing it all. Although Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year and normally missing out on the quintessential experiences of Fall would make me sad, I have decided it’s a season I am willing to miss this year without regret considering the path I am currently following.
So there have been no haunted houses, no hayrides or fall harvest tours through the farmers market for us this year, and I didn’t have a jack’o lantern or a costume for Halloween, but I as I made my vacation notes, I was looking out at such a beautiful scene that I really couldn’t be sad: the bright white sail of a sailboat cruising in the Mediterranean Sea, standing out against the brilliant blue of the sea, contrasting with the pale blue of the sky, and my bare feet buried in soft, warm sand… So I guess missing my beloved, traditional October for one year is okay with me.
Life-Pause in Toulouse 