Sorry I’ve been MIA for the last week. I was off in a mostly Internet- and cellphone service-free zone up in Greenville, Maine at Moosehead Lake on a vacation with a group of friends. It was our second year on a group trip. While we’re all still mostly unmarried, we figured we should keep trying to take our summer getaway before we all have kids and can’t do things without a real schedule. If we want to lay out on a boat all day, we can. If we want to have a cocktail with breakfast or sleep in until noon, we can. That’s the beauty of an adult vacation.
1. No Schedule
One of the hardest things for me to be comfortable about, but one of the most important. There are times you just need to step back and take moments one at a time. You miss things when you plan, like the unexpected moment where you find yourself laying in the middle of a lake in Maine with no where to be.
2. Sleeping with Strangers
Or rather, friends you don’t live with. It’s like living back in college, if just for a week. Sleeping in bunk beds, on futons, and air mattresses, sharing rooms and communal space. It breaks down barriers and lets you get to know people a whole lot more than you would if you had separate spaces.
3. Eat like Royalty
You’re basically feeding an entire army. Not as bad as it sounds. It’s actually really fun (and saves you a ton of money) by buying in bulk and planning meals. Our group even prepped before hand, knowing we’d have a barbecue night at least once and a burrito night (popped chicken in the crockpot before we went out for the day). And everyone made a special side salad at least one day a week, so we weren’t stuck with the same meal every day and everyone felt included.
4. Adult Movies
Get your head out of the gutter. One of the most surprising things was how glad we were by the end of the week that Andy had brought his GoPro
on vacation. I thought it would be a nuisance, but everyone enjoyed grabbing the camera and taking mini videos. Now all we have to do is edit the footage and we have a forever film of our week away.
I think it also encouraged others to take pictures, and with a large group, there’s no way you won’t get home without some images that you can all share.
5. Gas Money, Saved
Yeah, cheapo here. But think about it, if you’re traveling with a group, you can carpool (unless you’re flying to your destination). We shared space in cars for bringing up supplies, and barely anyone had to drive alone unless they came up later in the week.
6. Beer for Breakfast
Ok, that may be a a stretch, but with a group of adults, having Bloody Marys or Mimosas with our eggs and bacon seem a lot more comfortable without kids around. I know, you can have a drink with kids around, but for us, we didn’t have to worry about anyone but ourselves and there’s no one being self-conscious about a cocktail when the kiddos aren’t running around.
7. No Service, No Worries
As much of an Internet junkie as I am, I was extremely happy to have some time away from Facebook posts of puppies and babies, of getting phone calls about work, or even just checking my emails. We were secluded with very minimal Wi-Fi in our cabin. And yes, if there was an emergency, we would have had to figure out where the ambulances and hospitals were, but it was nice to be off the beaten path and an hour from real civilization (i.e. a supermarket).
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