“Vacation is a lot of work!” Emily said yesterday. And in a very warped sense, it’s true. We have a lot of little tasks and projects to do. So, they become part of our weekend and non-working time. But here’s where it gets challenging. Take yesterday – Sunday
We woke up at 9:30 and 10:00 respectively – because if you can’t sleep on Sunday, what’s it good for? Then I wrote a blog post while Emily checked email and did some class planning. Then Emily made eggs while I loaded photos for the blog. Then we had to discuss some potential details of India. Then we rode to one of the southern beaches, Then we laid on lounge chairs – me catching up on personal emails on the iPad, Emily reading. Then we swam. Then we ate at the restaurant behind the beach. Then we went back to the laying/emailing/reading. Then we talked. Then I finished emails and read too. Then we left.
Then we went to dinner – but the restaurant we wanted wasn’t open, so we went to another restaurant we wanted to try. Then we ate dinner over the ocean at sunset. Then we rode to town and had a crepe for dessert. Then we came home, showered and spent two hours selecting wedding photos for our album. Grueling, right?
What isn’t immediately apparent in all the sleeping, laying, eating, emailing, riding and selecting – which make us sound like possibly the most slothful people on earth – is that we also had a concert we opted not to attend so that we could go to the beach and sort through pictures (which is no easy activity, let me tell you).
We spent a lot of the time talking about upcoming travel options and reservations which need to be made. And we need to do a ton of little projects including uploading photos, buying presents, scanning and sending documents, applying for a few writing gigs, making certain phone calls, figuring out ferry schedules, shopping for hotels in other places, etc.
Got your sympathy yet? Probably not.
Despite being on an absolutely breathtaking island with seemingly little to do other than our work, we aren’t idle and bored. The music festival going on now gives way to a dance festival next weekend. We have a number of beaches, and restaurants on our list – and as I mentioned, no shortage of little things we need to do. After all, we’re not really on vacation. We work a good portion of the week.
For me, last week was especially challenging in getting a routine going for my work. My project for the Houston Chronicle’s online ended and I started picking up more of the “regular articles” which go to websites like eHow and Livestrong. They have different things going on and I had to learn how to choose the right titles to keep my workday more manageable when trying to plow through seven or so a day.
It turns out that “How to remind one’s self of HIPAA rules” is surprisingly easy for me, but “Campgrounds in Northern California” actually takes a lot longer than it seems. There are reasons based on the article format requirements – but it took me a little bit to catch on. Much to my surprise, “How to Code a Gore-tex Shunt” was a breeze. Feel free to enjoy it on eHow.com – it’s a real winner for anyone who codes medical billing. I know I learned something.
Emily has been working a lot too. Teaching online is more involved that teaching on campus. She has a lot of grading and certain required interactions via online posts, email responses, and even calling back voicemails. Some weeks are busier than others and when she’s highly motivated, she seems to speed it up a bit. But it’s hard to keep it in gear all the time – and even harder when you kinda’ want to wander across the town square and look at cute dresses.
As Emily and I talked at the beach somewhere between swimming and eating, we also talked about us and this trip. We spend an amazing amount of time together and I won’t say there aren’t moments of moodiness and annoyance. But at least 97 percent of the time, we’re very happy.
We learn so much about each other – about really working together as a team in ways we wouldn’t necessarily have to at home. We’re constantly facing new situations, new places, new people, and new choices. We have to navigate these things – not just ourselves – but together, with each other in mind. It’s far more constant and involved than the occasional big decisions at home.
In the process, we know more about how one another thinks and can better predict each other’s response and reasoning. We have also learned to appreciate each other’s strengths more and to defer to each other based on competencies. Emily is far better at figuring out everything we’ll need for the day or a journey. I’m far better at figuring out hotels, airfares and transportation. Between us, we’ll get from here to there without any real hitches.
Not that we didn’t have it before – but our respect and appreciation of one another has deepened.
Best of all, we talked about how we both love every day of this experience. Sure, we hit problems and snags that go with travel. But they are very short-lived and easily resolved. Our journey, everyday, is amazing and fantastic. We say often – as we did today at the beach – that we have the best, most amazing life. We are grateful for our opportunities and this time.
So far, so good on the marriage and travel fronts.
Here are a few highlights of today some of which are featured in photos.
We decided to keep our motor scooter rental an extra day to make it easier to go to tomorrow night’s festival concert in Hora. We needed to let the rental guy know. We don’t actually know where he works because he’s the cousin of our studio owner and when we tell our studio-hotel owner we need a bike, the rental guy appears about five minutes later with a bike. But we run into the rental guy – and our studio owner – all over town because it’s Patmos and that’s just what happens.
I mentioned to Emily several times that we had to make sure to find Nicholas, the studio-hotel owner to talk to him about the bike rental extension. As we rounded the corner back to our hotel, the rental man was coming the opposite way toward the same corner. We pulled over, had a 20 second interchange, and it was done faster than you can order a Big Mac. Then we continued the last 100 feet to home.
The restaurant where we had dinner was overlooking my (to date) favorite beach – absolutely phenomenal. There were two adorable four month old puppies running around which Emily spent time photographing and everyone at the restaurant spent time feeding. These pups and their mom eat some nice seafood.
Still, the most important part of this event to report back to the outside world are these important words: sagnaki flambe. Yes, flaming fried cheese served in a sizzling hot plate like fajitas. Take something decadent, fry it to make it more decadent, serve it in its own oils and then light it on fire briefly for dazzling presentation. Cheese lovers everywhere – there are two restaurants above and on Lampi Beach, Patmos that are your mecca.
Lastly, in a quick side venture to find a ceramic artist’s workshop, we came across the classic site of Greek sites – countryside sheep and goat herding complete with shepherd and dog. Seeing this is surprisingly rare on this island.
What is astonishingly not rare are amazing view after amazing view. Curve after curve of road bounds over amazing coves, beaches and sea. Never have I seen any place which tosses you amazing coastal views as frequently as Patmos.
Sent from my iPad
