Gracetraveller in Australia

SA - Adelaide

SA - Kangaroo Island

SA - Barossa Valley


You Deserve A Month Off
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist 
Friday, April 19, 2002

I have a message. I have a revelation.

It is mild and harmless and wildly common-sensical and terribly 
obvious on a hundred different levels and yet also revolutionary, 
and still we ignore it and deny it and make a point to reject it, 
trammel it with our macho American work boots and proudly jammed 
timecards and 12-hour workdays and our bleary eyes and struggling 
relationships and rampant heart attacks.

We all need more time off. 

That's it. That's the revelation. Of course you agree. Of course 
you love the idea. But of course, like any good American, you've 
had the noxious Puritan work ethic pounded into your soul since 
you were knee-high to a fetus, when your mother ordered you to 
quit lounging and get busy and, you know, clean up your womb...

... We need more time off. A lot more time. Longer vacations. 
Extended breaks. Chunks of contiguous time which you can roll 
around on the tongue of your id and feel all swoony and blissed. 
When's the last time you saw an unhappy Aussie? Exactly...

... So here's the message: Do your work, do it well, take pride 
and show up on time and kick ass as much as possible. Then get 
the hell out. Leave as often as you can. See things. Get some sun. 
This is the message.

I got message. So I am going to Australia and New Zealand. To, you know get some sun, roll around in the tounge of my id. The last time I toured, I knew it was the travel bug that bit me. This time around, I know that this article was responsible for making me go. Mr. Momford is right, there is no moral salvation in working too hard. So I read the message and heeded the advice. To read the complete article, visit SF Gate's website.

I am Mary Grace, backpacking once again.