Travel Thoughts: Getting the most out of your vacation

****Special Contributors: T-dawg,JosieBean, and Nick-E D

The five of us (W, M and our 3 special contributors) will travel altogether for 11 days. The five of us have already been vacationing for 8 days and we had one other compadre, Ms. Lily Anna North, for 5 of those days. We have 3 more days to "make the most" of our vacation.

Lily on a gigantic rope swing

Pictures of the special contributors below:

JosieBean

T-dawg

Nick-E D

In the past 8 days, we have hiked to our car with headlamps 5 days and woken up with alarms for 7 days. Some (JB) may claim that we aren't even on vacation. But even that one won't be able to erase the smile from her face remembering the view from the top of the multi-pitch climb that she and Nick-E D completed over one of the most beautiful beaches in Sardinia, Cala Luna.

Climbing around the beaches of Sardinia has been pretty special. The water is clear.




The weather is cool enough to climb but warm enough to swim.

While playing on the beach, T-dawg and JB took pictures of W and Nick E - D climbing. W must have been especially photogenic in his green and white tight short swimsuit (the "sunga") because other people on the beach began taking pictures of W as well.

Even though the 5 of us love to fill our vacations with physical exercise and beach time, we've welcomed the cultural and social interactions that Sardinia has provided. A cultural highlight was after we had piled into our 5 person car on a sheets of rain day to search for a dry place to rock climb. While searching for a dry place to climb, we came upon a charming town -- Monteleone Rocca Doria. Monteleone Rocca Doria currently has 130 inhabitants and is almost 1000 years old. It is perched on top of a mountain with a stellar climbing cliff band and overlooks a tentacled body of water.

It was wet and cold when we got out of car in Monteleone Rocca Doria. No problem! We found a bread museum. The bread museum showcased the local art of turning bread dough into ornate decorations and jewelry that resemble clay and porcelain craft. [http://www.ssardinia.com/en/land/cultura/storia-e-architettura/centro-di-documentazione-della-panificazione-tradizionale-in-sardegna.html]. But the true of highlight of the museum was the hostess -- she showed us the amazing view from the museum's rooftop terrace, picked pomegranites for us from the garden outside, and kissed us goodbye.

***As a side note: Kissing on the cheeks can be tricky -- it's important to either go in slow or know which direction to kiss first. (JB almost got a kiss on the lips).

Luckily, later we found the climbing area -- more climbing pics below. [Not the differences in weather -- the climbing by Monteleone Rocca Doria was cold! And climbing other places was hot!
















The 5 of us are now back in the car -- 3 girls in the back, 2 boys in the front -- for a day of transit. We will spend at least 3 hours in the car here in Italy, then 1 hour on a ferry crossing the strait of Bonifacio to the French island of Corsica. We will then drive at least 2 hours in France to reach our destination Corte. On this transit day of both potential motion sickness and beautiful sea and mountain scenery, we return to the question -- what does it mean to get the most out of a vacation? Is it better to relax as much as possible or to trying to do the most stuff possible? And if you are doing "stuff", how do allocate time between both doing the various options of exercising, seeing sites and museums, shopping, enjoying food and drink, having cultural experiences like seeing music, and traveling to do those various options?

Our thoughts about how to best accomplish a balance between the various options of doing "stuff" and relaxing is to, first, weigh the opportunity costs, second, plan ahead and be practical about what is logistically possible, and third, perhaps most importantly, minimize transit time where you feel cooped up (e.g., bus, taxi, car). Although transit time can be exciting with new views, new sites, new towns, it isn't always our favorite use of time. Maximization across these multiple variables can be tricky, of course, and the cruel reality of opportunity cost is also a challenge, but with good friends, amazing places and an open mind it all seems to work out.