I do. Have you noticed this phenomenon? Everyone is camping, at a cabin, or visiting someone for a few days. The plan is to drive home, say, late on Monday. Throughout the weekend, people have fun, and there’s talk about how they’re going to stop at this winery on Monday, visit that cute shop they saw, or get up early and hike nearby.
Then, almost inevitably, Sunday evening or Sunday afternoon rolls in, and people start packing and saying things like,
“I think I’ll beat the traffic and head home tonight,”
or “I figured I might as well just hit the road.”
Ever wonder why that is? What’s the spiritual lesson in that impulse?
While I’ve definitely been in “hit the road mode,” I’ve felt disappointed when others go there. The workaholic/busy-holic in me is all over the place on this one. I both want to leave to get back to my to-do list and also want to stay longer to execute my new vacation to-do list.
The saddest times are those when I’m somewhere that I may never return. And in a way, that’s every trip: there’ll never be that particular gathering of people in that place at that time and date again. The invitation to me is to savor every moment. Maybe not in that to do, to see, way but in that just to be there way.
