Very pointed question this week, Jigg! A bit too pointed, so I will deviate from it a bit (my apologies in advance!). Personally, I’m not big or fond on vacations. They cost a lot of time, effort and money, and when it’s all over, you have nothing to show for except the memories that reside in your brain. It’s kinda the same feeling you get when you dish out $400+ for a table at a club, but when the night’s over you say to yourself, “I can’t believe I wasted all that money on a table that we barely hung out at.” I’d rather spend my money on things that are more equitable. … Moreover, I’ve always been a bit jealous and even cynical on my friends who take these international, lavish vacations from Europe to Asia to South America, and they take them relatively routinely. Excuse me, but do you have anything else better to do with your time and money? Do you have a life? Do you have a job? Perhaps it’s a feeling of superiority, or even jealousy, on my part in that I work too hard and I have big bills to pay (such as expensive Manhattan rent!). I’m constantly reading and studying for certifications that my job requires of me. I’m attending networking events and workshops. So, time and money are precious to me than to use it and abuse on expensive, exotic vacations that will be worth a total of $0 when it’s all over. I have a life. I have things to do. I have people to see. … I remember there was this girl I knew in college and she would literally take 2 month-long vacations across the world every year, from Africa, to Asia, to Europe. She would always try to euphamize her ventures by saying she’s gaining a “world perspective”, as if her vacationing the world has some kind of nobility attached to it, when simply she’s someone who just likes like consume and be unproductive. I think deep down she really felt guilty about what she was doing.