14 Comments

  1. Shifting Away From the Vacation Mindset - Grounded Traveler
    April 30, 2013 @ 1:22 pm

    […] still end up feeling like a rush of freedom. Do what you can to cram enjoyment into a few weeks and store it up like a mouse to live off for the next months of working. I want to get Beyond Vacation. I am now […]

  2. No Onions Extra Pickles » Blog Archive » Travel When Untraveling
    October 20, 2010 @ 10:42 pm

    […] a lot of posts about coping with being unable to travel – two that instantly come to mind are Vacation Juice by Andrew of Grounded Traveler and When a Travel Blogger is Stuck at Home, a guest post on […]

  3. Expat in Germany
    October 17, 2010 @ 10:59 am

    Great post and anyway I can extend my vacation, I’m there! I also love Sundays in Germany, since almost everything is closed and you’re not allowed to do anything that makes noise, I find that they’re like a vacation day. Today, we had planned to go hiking, but as the weather is bad, are going to check out the Mercedes Museum – something I would do if I was on vacation.

    • Andrew
      October 18, 2010 @ 5:22 pm

      Hope you had fun in the museum. Weather was kind of ugh for us here too. As long as you plan well enough on Saturday to get all the shopping done that needs doing, Sundays are indeed nice day to just chill. Took me a while to get out of my Sunday grocery habit that I brought from the US.
      Thanks for the comment.

  4. Anonymous
    October 16, 2010 @ 10:28 pm

    Planning and travel blogging really get me through most of the year. I’m already planning my trip to Japan (which isn’t for another year…argh…though I’ll be taking other, smaller trips in between to not lose my mind). When I was working full-time, I was one of the very few who would save up all my vacation, and get the hell out of there for 2-3 weeks – which I could never understand. I love to look at my old vacation pictures, and reminiscing about delicious foods I’ve had abroad always puts me in a good mood.

    • Andrew
      October 18, 2010 @ 5:20 pm

      Sounds like you’ve got a good solid plan put together for bridging the gaps. Did you use your entire year’s vacation at once then? If so, you really must have had a good plan to get through an entire year.
      Thanks for the comment.

  5. Sabina
    October 16, 2010 @ 3:45 pm

    It really is awful how little vacation time most Americans get – one week. That is not enough to recharge from the other 51 weeks, no way. Weekend vacations always work for me – better yet, long weekend vacations built around a summer holiday like Memorial Day. Even that amount of time away can be so exciting and relaxing.

    • Andrew
      October 18, 2010 @ 5:18 pm

      I’ve thankfully never worked at a place that gave less than 2 weeks, even in the US. I guess I should be thankful for that. Yup, long weekends are helpful. The downfall is the prices as everyone else tries to drive and book hotels on those weekends.
      Thanks for the comment.

  6. Jen
    October 16, 2010 @ 9:41 am

    I know what you mean, when I was working in the States I was one of the few people in the company who took vacations in two or three week stretches, and I’m sure it was frowned upon. It’s craziness in that country.It’s funny, when I usually get back from a long trip, I can’t make myself unpack my suitcase right away, at least not everything. It’s like I have to ease myself back into real life, and putting away the suitcase too soon is just too traumatic. LOL. Other things I do to keep squeezing the vacation juice fresh:1. When I’m on a trip, I keep a travel journal, but some days I just jot down short notes of things from that day. When I get home and I have more time, then I write out my memories and stories in more detail. It’s a great way to stretch out the vacation feeling. 2. Sometimes after a trip, I’ll just sit or lie still for a long time every evening and just think about the memories and experiences.3. I like to make a DVD on my Mac with my best trip photos set to the songs I listened to on the trip. I scan or take photos of airplane, train, or museum tickets and include those as well. Years later I still pop some of those into the DVD player and relive old trips. The music stirs up those feelings again and it’s a really evocative way to remember.

    • Andrew
      October 18, 2010 @ 5:16 pm

      Thanks for the comment.
      I know what you mean about the suitcase. Sometimes if there are clean clothes left after a trip, I live from the suitcase for an extra day or two from home.
      The DVDs sounds really cool. I keep thinking about doing such things. To the point of getting a camcorder to taking moving pictures for such projects. I just haven’t yet put something like that together. What do you use?
      2. Is one of those things that occurred to me, but have never done. It is cool to hear that others do that. I may try it, especially after a long day at work in the near future.

  7. Ali
    October 16, 2010 @ 4:45 am

    Blogging definitely helps me out with this, it’s sort of like I’ve been able to stretch my 1 week in Ecuador out into a month and a half. Talking to other bloggers and reading about their trips helps as a sort of second-hand travel, but it also sometimes makes me a little jealous. I also agree with you about planning the next trip b/c my mood can go from low to high just from 5 or 10 minutes of travel planning, even for a trip that is so far off I can’t even see it yet.

    Also, can we add “vacationness” to Webster’s? 🙂

    • Andrew
      October 16, 2010 @ 7:08 am

      We can add “vacationness” as long as we add “second-hand travel” as well. Is it like second-hand smoking?
      Yup, the planning is not something I really do a lot, but I totally was thinking of you in that line.

  8. LandLopers
    October 15, 2010 @ 9:38 pm

    I love this post and can completely relate with the utility of vacation juice.

    • Andrew
      October 16, 2010 @ 7:06 am

      Thanks for the comment and compliment. 🙂