@KevinW,
Taking oneself to another location as a facilitating mechanism for taking a break can be described in many other ways than as a socially acceptable loophole to escape the Protestant work ethic, or as a consumer driven status symbol, or as a vehicle for replicating one's bourgeois lifestyle in another location.
Of all the ways you've paraphrased my description of vacation travel, possibly the Protestant work ethic loophole comes closest to reality, although I find that I sometimes take my Protestant work ethic with me. Today, for instance, and yesterday as well, were spent in part harvesting and planting perennial slips to augment the garden border on this property. I suppose that qualifies for "Protestant work ethic" in that I spent some hours for two consecutive vacation days thus occupied. Since I was baptized and confirmed as a Roman Catholic I suppose that I should try to work some Catholic guilt in here somewhere as well; truth be told, the view is exquisite, the weather divine, and I enjoyed the hell out of every single minute. No guilt here and it hardly seemed like work. I guess I fail at both Protestant work ethic and Catholic guilt.
Right now we are eating a bit of a late dinner: steaks (purchased at Costco at home, frozen in home made marinade) that were grilled to perfection by my wonderful husband on a Lodge hibachi that I scored on Freecycle a few years ago, red skinned potatoes and tomatoes with green beans from our little garden, cooked in very little time with very little energy expenditure in the pressure cooker.
The windows are opened and the breeze is lovely. No air conditioning this week! and that's wonderful.
Tonight we'll lounge in front of the t.v. which will receive free OTA signals from the rooftop antenna that my husband installed himself. My husband will catch up with email and perhaps tend to some tasks he can access via computer. I will continue knitting a pair of warm wool socks for this winter. I may also do some research re: purchasing some sock wool from a small local business that harvests their own alpaca wool and has it spun up into yarn. They've offered to have some wool spun into yarn with a nylon component so that I can use it as sock yarn. I need to ask them a few questions about that so I may shoot them an email. We support local businesses whenever we can.
I will also spend some time researching some approved recipes for canning fruit pie filling and some other recipes as well, and pricing out some local produce for the same. I ordered and received a batch of Clear Gel for canning right before we left town. It's difficult to find Clear Gel on store shelves, but it's the only thickening agent that's approved for home canning. I'm anxious to give it a try. I hope I'm not too late to can up some peach pie filling- and I know I'm not too late for apple pie filling.
Tomorrow may be kayaking- I use my husband's first kayak, which suits me well, and my husband has the kayak of his dreams, purchased in like new condition at a substantial discount on Craigslist.
And we'll take our dog swimming.
<:3~
We'll also make a batch of goodies to take to a neighbor who is recovering from an accident, and we'll have dinner with friends at their house.
The rest of the week involves- MORE OF THE SAME
<:3~ plus visiting some nearby, small towns and patronizing those businesses where necessary or desired.
Not a chain hotel or restaurant in the mix...
The List of Ever Present Chores awaits back in town- and it can continue to wait until we get back.
When we do return, I will see it with different eyes. I will have all sorts of ideas and perhaps some new resources for wool sock yarn, for canning recipes, etc.
Sometimes "blank space" is anything but... but without that down time, it's difficult for me to fully conceive of new ideas and directions, or to plan for same.
