Human experience is relative in nature. If you're having a
good
time, it's always measured against the standard type of time
you've had in the past. This is why some people are happy
living
in a mud hut as a subsistence farmer, and some people are
miserable even though they own an island.
If you gave the
hut-
dweller an island, they'd likely be happy, and if you put the
former island-owner in a hut, they'd likely be miserable,
because their experience is relative.
This is where it becomes obvious that we're doing vacations
all
wrong. Perhaps you're an accountant living in Guildford,
whiling
away your existence one 40hr work week at a time, driving
your
7 yo car back and forth to a 3 bedroom semi detached house.
Compared to the Earth's average inhabitant, your life is going
pretty damned spectacularly. You should be deliriously happy,
but no, instead, you decide a nice vacation will cheer you up.
So you're off. 2 weeks all inclusive in Barbados. 2 weeks of
sun,
beaches, pools, food & drinks service and room cleaning etc.
with no bigger demand than working your way through a
second
paperback. Lovely. That's a nice experience. You can tell,
because you've compared it to your tedious financial work at
a
desk in Guildford. After 2 weeks, your brain starts to think
life
can always be like this, but no. Now you're off back to the
office
and the tedious financial work. You had a good time for 2
weeks, but for the other 50 weeks in the year, your stuck
comparing office work with lounging around on a beach being
brought your 3rd Daiquiri. now you know you're having a
shitty
time.
So, the solution. The opposite, an Anti-Vacation. Barbados? Oh
no. This year you'll be doing a couple of weeks in the
Jinchuan
Nickel mine in China! A mere 200 miles from the Mongolian
border this beauty has 430 million tonnes of proven low-grade
Nickel sulfide reserves! Remember your overalls and safety
gear
because you don't want another verbal dressing down when
you
report to shift-supervisor Li, not given how badly you're likely
to
perform in your new role. You'll be doing a good number of
hours, 12 per day on average, however as the new person,
you'll
be filling in on whichever shift has a vacancy, so don't expect
your circadian rhythms to be anything other than frazzled.
Lunch is served in-mine and might be surprisingly good,
although don't expect a cold beer at the end of the shift... As
a
special guest employee, you'll be off to the theater! To take
in
the corporate presentations from the last 10 years alongside
perennial favorites from the government propaganda dept.
Your flight back will be eventful, new "sub-economy" seating
has
been designed with Anti-Vacations in mind. For safety reasons
ear plugs are banned and babies only fly free if they're
crying!!
So, how's Guildford looking now? Same again next year? Or are
we planning to take in a package tour? 1 week in a Pakistani
tannery before we take a connecting flight to Mumbai sewage
work?