Vacation Time and the Nature of Self-Care

I lay in bed, and I can already hear the whispers. The woods beckon me...

Frolicking ferns play under the canopy of trees who've watched our world shift. The distant groan of bears, amplified by the faces of gorgeous rock walls. The gurgle of a river punctuated by the strange and splashing habits of fish. Yes! That is self-care.

It's still dark when I rise to prepare for the 'short' trip to Hocking Hills, a nature reserve in Southern Ohio.

Little do I know that my son will develop some fear of car rides mere blinks into the outing, and I will end up with my arm around him like this for the rest of the drive. I'm smashed between two car seats, yet I feel Zen. My biggest concern is the lack of phone signal to sustain me...


I had no idea yet that life had this planned out carefully. Perhaps a forced timeout from the internet, my constant headphones, and all the stories I've started and left uncompleted.

The forest is my happy place. When I need a serotonin boost, I'm known to walk barefoot through the trees, primal and in commune with the abundance around me. Direct dirt contact with your feet is scientifically proven to be beneficial, did you know that? They don't call it grounding for no reason.

It would seem that the mischievous forces that rule my world decided I needed to tune in and zone out. So, I arrived to do so sometime that afternoon. Getting out of the car felt like heaven, until I remembered I was simply at the gates. Sweet release!

Hocking Hills Visitor Center, located above Old Man's Cave.
Instead of stopping by our vacation rental first, we dove right into the scenery. I probably needed that more than I knew. Self-care can be sneaky at times. You set the intention, and then it's out there. Part of this for me has always been swimming with the current.

For this reason, I may have to state that I think self-care is often selfish. Naturally, when we seek to recharge our own batteries, we cannot attend to the batteries of others. For me this meant a variety of things during my visit. Chiefly, I was suddenly MIA for all the people I work with. I was under the impression that I would have wi-fi, and assumed I'd be able to attend to my duties.

It's times like this that I remember why I love writing. Curating. Sharing my experiences here. I shouldn't be stressing about that while on vacation though. I took some time to reflect on this. How perhaps being a bit selfish and letting my incomplete tasks drift off on the breeze might actually be just what I needed to be better afterwards. I thought on why I joined Hive in the first place.

^{These were taken after our hike, as evidenced by the mud all over my daughter Thea}
I've been taking a lot of time to grow these days, and part of that is identifying my priorities. I have a habit of biting off more than I should chew oftentimes, then I turn it into the challenge of proving I can. I've learned that the most powerful word when it comes to self-care is NO, but I still struggle to enunciate this single syllable.

It feels selfish to define to someone that although you probably can do whatever it is they are asking of you, you've chosen not to. They knew your capabilities when they asked, and you drew a boundary around them by saying no. Is there anything kinder to yourself than holding your energy as a precious resource?

As it turns out, when you do this, you end up with more to give. To yourself; to others.


It started raining soon after we arrived. Outside of worry over my camera, I was simply in the moment. Here I am in all my messy haired glory, my true self.

Allowing yourself to relax means sweeping your mind clean in my world. I stopped counting the things I didn't do before leaving. Forgot the overly dramatic phone call I had received from my estranged mother early in the day. Denote me self-centered or cold, but I refused to give her the piece of me she demanded.

However, if you've read any of my other blogs about her, you probably wouldn't call me those things. She's a real piece of work. Perhaps I should add here that sometimes self-care isn't simply selfish, it can appear quite brutal, even.



What a place to let your worries go! Although I took something like 1200 pictures while enjoying the natural wonders of Hocking Hills, I still haven't pulled them from my 'fancy camera'.

I intend to do so in the coming days, and I am excited to share them with everyone on chain! For now, here is the best shot I took on my cell phone. You can see the thick mist left behind by the flighty rain, coming and going as it pleased. When I look at these gorgeous formations, I am in awe of Mother Nature's artistic skill.

With the fatigue from the trip, I think my son Emory needed some extra love. He wanted to be carried for a while, and thankfully this was a shared duty. It provided some sweet bonding, which I captured these photos of.



Then it was time to dry off and recoup from the adventures we had in this blessed place. Turns out our rental was pretty sweet too.

As we turned down winding country roads, a bit muddy but ready for the next phase of our day, this beauty came into view.

Don't let that satellite fool you, there was no such thing as TV or Wi-Fi signal here; all the better. At night I listened to the soap operas of nature.

I missed my muse, my madness... Writing. Yet love isn't expectant, it's understanding. Isn't that a great lesson in self-care too? Giving yourself the gift of empathy as a lover would.

Taking the time to experience the silence, I choose to celebrate that for myself.

I ruminate on the merits of patience, and how I've never really had to recognize them. The US is a fast grab, have all, culture. To want to be online yet find yourself unable is such a first world problem. I laugh, and I cry a bit. I'm frustrated; and it's just me being that way, really.

I do make a mental note to finally pony up and pay for Microsoft Word, however. I can't write in the chaos of the computer's 'notes' feature. Besides, look at this place! It's only me who would be stressing, instead of enjoying staying here, yeah?


This kitchen pulled me right in. I sure do appreciate a semi-minimalist kitchen! This place had all the gadgets I imagine in the homes of the rich, and none of the clutter. Chefs kiss!

I particularly liked these cozy and functional counter decorations. The ex-bartender in me thinks of a dozen recipes I've like to present on this cute wooden tray. Mojito. I land on how perfect a pitcher of them would be here, served in the little metal glasses.

Of course, I had no advance notice on this fierce desire, and lacked the needed supplies. That didn't mean there wasn't still some drinking going on through!



I worked in a wine bar for a while, learning about pairing, and most importantly enjoying wine. I laugh at how ill fit this particular union is, thinking of all the guests I've served over the years who wouldn't have had any idea. Sometimes we'd suggest awful pairings to wine snobs when I worked there, this was a sadistic but harmless form of self-care. Cheese and wine are always good.

Yeah, also selfish. These people never knew what they were talking about. It seemed that the more assertively pompous they were about "That trip they took to France", the less knowledgeable they actually were. No one ever called me out on my joke pairings.

Maybe we did it out of need for a comedic act of self-preservation, a sneaky sense of superiority carrying us through the rest of our exchange with the customer... Or maybe we did it for the reason anyone in restaurants does stuff. Because it's a ruthless environment, one which more thought experiments should be conducted in.

Hold my beer Stanford Prison Experiment!



Thinking on it now, I have to question if enjoying alcohol is self-care or not, and if so, what variety? Certainly not all self-care is rooted in selfishness. I suppose it can also be social. There's nothing like having a few drinks with a group of friends, laughing and releasing the tension you brought through the door with you. In moderation, I'd call it downright healthy.

That is what the act of mindfully caring for yourself is centered on after all; no matter how you do it. For some a walk in the woods when it's hot and raining would be terrible. For me, observing any sort of strict diet would be the same. I love myself by drinking 15 cups of coffee a day; damn the consequences. That's my mental health crutch!


The one major downside to this rental was the well water. If you turned on the sink, you were met with the pungent smell of rotten eggs. I'm not going to lie, I didn't shower for the few days I was there. Instead, I washed up quickly with distilled water, and then hopped into this lovely hot tub as often as I could.

It has fancy lights?! Shut the front door. Listen, this probably doesn't surprise plenty of people, but I am no jacuzzi expert. I watched the array of constantly changing colors the lights produced and found it quite enchanting.

Never squandering a chance to have some child-like sense of wonder, I had to take the photographs above to remember this joy. As vacations tend to go, you're leaving with only memories before you know it. Thea wistfully stared at the hot tub as we departed, "Goodbye, I'll miss you."

I had to laugh and take a photo of this ratings overview magnet. It would appear that the mocking of stuck-up people is a form of self-care that the owner of this joint and I shared.

Two stars- close the listing down.

One star- Put the host in jail immediately!

Heh, that's one way to remind people not to be so darn serious.

Well, as usual I've written a few hundred more words than I meant to. Grindan habits die hard (or never). Thanks for the awesome Weekend Engagement prompt of self-care! Cheers!

All photos in this blog are my own.