Top 10 reasons I didn’t blog on vacation

July 23rd, 2008 Posted by Suzy Ogé

I’m back to work after a few weeks off, but was that really a vacation? Every summer we visit family and friends in St. Louis, but does it really count as a vacation? We always feel like we need a vacation to relax afterwards, unfortunately our Visa and Gap card statements are compelling reminders not to book another trip.

Here are the Top Ten reasons why you haven’t heard from me lately;

10 ) I haven’t been blogging long enough to need a vacation from it, so I will do my best to come up with 9 other really good reasons.

9 ) Out of sight- While out of town, I didn’t have to look my colleagues in the eye like I normally do when I feel overdue for posting on this blog. No peer pressure!

8 ) I enjoy writing and thought I would write a lot on vacation, but like everyone who optimistically drags an entire stack of books that they’ve been intending to read with them on vacation, in reality it just doesn’t happen.

7 ) So many swim meets, so little time. Living 5,000 miles away, we miss out on many of the little daily things, so admittedly I try to cram as many of these experiences as physically possible into two weeks. Catching my nieces and nephews in action at their swim meets, simultaneous soft ball games, Boy Scout awards, etc. has become an endurance sport. The schedule is grueling!

6 ) Shop till you drop! The entire U.S. is on sale, with nearly a 40% discount on the dollar from the euro. We didn’t go as far as our Belgian neighbors (InBev) and buy out any treasured American based companies (AB), but we did our best to stimulate the local economy while in St. Louis and hitting every mall in the metro area takes time!

5 ) No Wi-Fi in the “Gingerbread House”, our friend’s home where we love to stay when we visit. Our gracious host, like many normal people, must use his time at work to take care of his on-line stuff, because his home computer is cast off in the basement.

4 ) The basement isn’t scary or even creepy and I only spotted 2 bugs in the basement in the entire 2 weeks that could have been related to the cock roach family. But compared to the rest of the house which is very comfortable and cozy, sitting down in the basement to write is simply uninspiring and a bit anti-social.

3 ) I waited until the last day to purchase my new laptop. (Have I really made it this far in the list without mentioning how much I love my new HP? ) If I had bought it earlier, the love affair would have prompted me to blog about it immediately! For a fraction of the price of replacing or even repairing my destroyed PowerBook, I am beyond pleased!

2 ) I have embraced a slightly more European attitude about holidays!! We all deserve them and no apologies or stealth cover up operations are necessary to hide the fact that you are on vacation, as is still common in US corporate culture! I approve of both the quantity and quality of vacation days in Europe, but I am not exactly on board with the entitlement aspect…

1 ) Because nobody feels the need to have their work covered or customers served, business comes to a screeching halt in Europe for all of July and August! Many businesses simply close for weeks, even up to a month. So, obviously I have plenty of time to blog now that I am back and everyone is away!

The list of excuses above is in no particular order. The truth is that I missed blogging and the real reason that I didn’t post is not due to a lack of topics, but rather too many! Now that I have lived outside the US for so long, every time I return I experience sensory overload. I can’t help but notice and analyse everything, every little detail! So, you will be hearing more from me soon on my observations of patriotism, nationalism, customer service abuse, fast food and my day in the life of Bob the Builder.