Creating A Life You Don't Need A Vacation From

Now that my husband is retired, it seems that many folks assume we will be heading off on one adventure after another, travelling the world, seeing new things etc etc etc.  And, yes, we have spent a few hours thinking we would love to go here or there but then we always seem to end up laughing about our plans because they have a theme, the same theme, over and over.  Go so place nice and quiet, where we can sit by the fire, sit on a porch and watch the beauty of nature all around us.  Do some hiking and just enjoy each others company.  Sounds wonderful, and then we realize that we are making these plans while sitting on the back porch, watching Red Shouldered Hawks fly past us.  Observe our friendly crows, Edgar, Allen and Poe, come in for their meals, three times a day, like clockwork.  Or in the evening we listen to the coyotes yip and hear the foxes scream off in the distance, while the Great Horned Owls call one another from their respective trees.  We often make these amazing trip plans while sitting by our own fire.  We laugh, because in reality, we have created a life right here, that we have no need to escape from.  Both of us have traveled and seen the places  we wanted to see for the most part.  When our children were young, we showed them the bigger world around them, and now, we have just the haven we want to spend our time at.   How we love our gardens, and watching our chickens and ducks.  How we enjoy the bird watching we get to do right here from the comfort of our home.  How we love to sleep soundly in our own feather bed, comfy and warm, with no fear of bed bugs !  
I remember reading a story once about this very busy wealthy man that NEEDED a vacation bad,  He had to get away from the rush and demands of his executive life.  So, he booked a trip to a obscure fishing village in the south seas.   He savored each and every moment of this solitude and each morning he would watch this lone fisherman, take off in his tiny boat, fish for a few hours, come back with his daily catch before noon and then spend the rest of his day playing with his children and even taking a nap on a hammock hanging off the porch of his simple home.   The wealthy man approached him one day and said, this place is a goldmine waiting to be discovered.   If you would just invest some money in making a big resort hotel, you would have thousands of guests and make so much money, you would have everything you want.   The wise fisherman, paused a moment and relied, "If I do as you suggest, then I would be too busy to enjoy all the things you have come here to enjoy.  I would then have to take a vacation like you to a place that is exactly like the one I already have".  The wealthy man understood.  The richest people on earth are the ones that have a life, they don't need a vacation from.   As I strolled around our homestead this morning and went about my chores, I think we have created just such a life for ourselves and I think, we don't need to get away to anywhere.  We have it all right here.