Diary of a future rentier (29)

According to Wikipedia, vacation is a period of time during which a person ceases his or her usual activities. The term comes from the Latin "vacare" which means "to be without", to remain or to be unoccupied. However, our world of hyperactive madmen does not like emptiness, so the mentors of the economy quickly concocted devices to keep us busy at great expense during these periods blessed by the gods. I am the first to want to go to the tropics as soon as the opportunity arises, so I am in no position to criticize, but it must be recognized that human beings really have difficulty remaining quiet and doing nothing, as the original definition of the word vacation implies.

Of course, it could be said that going to a paradise island also means doing nothing in a certain way. But hey, even there they can sell you all sorts of activities: jet-skiing, excursions, visits to rum distilleries, cigar factories, dance classes, aqua-gym, etc. In short, lazing around, from the Italian "fare niente", doing nothing, is really on the decline.

Not to mention that a good number of us are equipped with smartphones that remain permanently connected to respond to professional emergencies. At this price, one might wonder if we would not be better off working. Is it really worth spending thousands of euros on a trip from which we will hardly return rested because

• We worked like crazy to be up to date before leaving.
• We stressed about packing at the last minute.
• We spent 12 hours on a plane on the way there and almost the same on the way back.
• We continued to answer his work emails during his stay and we were never really able to clear our heads.
• We didn't stay still for a minute because we had to visit as much as possible to somehow cushion the cost of the plane ticket (which in the end only increased the total bill even more).

All that to still have butterflies in your stomach before starting work again, already knowing the ton of hassle that will happen since you never really disconnected. And then to have your head under water as soon as you start again to catch up in a few days on all the work accumulated during the holidays. In the end, what are these holidays for? Or rather for who? Certainly not for you.

In the end your work is still done, so it costs your employer almost nothing and you spend infinitely more than when you were working. If that's not a godsend for the economy...

Of course, I wouldn't want these wonderful holidays to be eliminated for anything in the world. On the contrary, I would like them to last forever, by becoming financially independent. But for that, we have to completely change our mentality and relearn the original meaning of the word vacation...