Got up a bit late to go for a walk this morning, so went for one this evening instead. And while I was wandering around — unconnected to any sort of technology, as I've developed a taste for on my last few excursions — I found myself thinking "hmm, this sort of looks like Center Parcs".
For the unfamiliar, Center Parcs is a series of holiday villages scattered around Europe. I believe they're originally Dutch, but there are several here in the UK, and the last few times Andie and I have actually "been on holiday" as opposed to "having a few days off", we've gone to one of them.
Center Parcs' defining feature is that they're plonked right in the middle of a forest, which means your accommodation is surrounded by trees, to get anywhere you have to walk down pleasant roads that are lined with trees and other natural vegetation, and the whole place feels very "natural"; even inside the main plaza of the place, which houses a bunch of shops and restaurants, there are a lot of plants growing, and the place is heated and humidified to a pleasantly tropical-esque environment without being overbearing.
The reason why I was thinking about this was that one of the things I like the best about going to Center Parcs is just being in the forest. I could easily spend a week there and not actually do anything — just enjoy hanging out, relaxing and being in the forest. And while I was walking across the Common this evening, struck by how much the tree-lined path I was walking down resembled similar experiences I'd had at Center Parcs, I found myself pondering why it nonetheless felt different.
I think it's the fact that when you're at Center Parcs, you know you're on holiday. You know that you have no commitments; you know that when you reach your destination, something nice is going to happen. You're going to do an activity you enjoy, or you're going to eat some nice food, or you're going to get back to your accommodation and relax for a while.
Conversely, while I was walking down the aforementioned foresty paths on the Common, I knew that when I reached my destination I was going to have to get in my car, fight the traffic just to turn around and get back home, and then when I was back at home I'd have to go to bed at a reasonable time so I can be up in a timely manner for work in the morning. I mean, none of that is especially bad — particularly as I enjoy my work now, obviously — but still, that simple addition of commitments, however seemingly minor, means that you're not free to just "enjoy".
Perhaps it's a matter of having a different mindset; enjoying things in the moment, rather than thinking about what comes next. It's usually not an issue for me while I'm, say, enjoying a game — so while I'm out and about I should just try and concentrate on the pleasant sensations of being among the trees and nothing else. I'll work on it!
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