Unplugged

My apologies, all! I didn’t mean to leave you without any new content last week. I had a few things ready to post from our fantastic contributors, but we all know what happens to the best laid plans. I was on vacation last week and internet access at our resort in Antigua was spotty at best. And while it meant a quiet week on the blog here, what a treat it was.

My last vacation that was anything more than a long weekend was this time last year in Jamaica. My husband and I have started our own tradition of heading to the Caribbean for Thanksgiving, and we go to a new place each year. Though even when we were in Jamaica last year, it rained most of the time and I spent more time on my phone and laptop than I’d planned. So it had been a while since I’d totally unplugged for an actual vacation. This year, we made it a habit of leaving our phones off and only trying to connect to the wifi once a day – over a glass of wine before dinner. We made sure nothing had exploded and all was right in our worlds back here, but other than that, we were pretty much off the grid and focused on where we were.

I didn’t realize until yesterday – our first day back at home filled with running errands, getting caught up and about 18 loads of laundry – how much I had needed to unplug to relax. For the 7 days of our vacation, we did next to nothing. One day of sight-seeing and then six days of laying on the beach, reading, watching the waves come in and grabbing a nap if so moved. It was blissful and so much more necessary than I even knew.

Thanksgiving is always a chance to take stock of all the things for which we’re grateful, and this year was no exception. I’m grateful for the ability to travel to beautiful places, but I’m even more grateful for the reminder to go easy. Work is important, as is making time for friends, family and our communities, but so is taking time to unplug and recharge. I hope you all enjoyed just the Thanksgiving you needed this year, whether it was full of family and friends, quiet and calm, on the road or close to home. Thank you for being part of my world here – I’m grateful for our company and I’m looking forward to plugging back in.