Class over, time for vacation?

Yep. I finished my grading yesterday. So it is that time of the year when I have time off. Contrary to popular opinion, professors do not take off during the Christmas break. For many of us it is an excellent time to do research and prepare for the coming semester. (Summers often work the same way).
But truth to be told I am going to see my family for a few days during the break. It is a "family" vacation. Family vacations are when one goes to be with family members. It is not the getting away from it all that the idea of vacation tends to denote. Do not get me wrong. I love my family. But if I was to go somewhere just to relax, Arizona is not where I would be going this winter (although that is better than the snow-bound northern states).
Then again I do get the opportunity to do a lot of travel with my job. I have been in most states in this country and generally it is because of business travel. On the one hand, it does afford me the opportunity to see things that I would not normally have seen, like Niagara Falls when I was in Buffalo on business. However, I am not there to truly relax. So that is not really a vacation either.
Makes me think about what is a vacation. Is a vacation something where we just get away and do whatever we want to do? When I do that I find myself thinking a lot about the work I left behind. Consequently it is hard for me to take a vacation for a long period of time where I do not bring work.
I guess it gets back to what is the purpose of a vacation. If it is to get away from work then it is hard for some of us to actually do that. We can leave work behind but it is still in our minds. If it is to see family and friends then family vacations work out well. If it is to build relationships then going with someone else is necessary for it to have meaning.
I have no strong pronouncements on vacations. I admit that this is an evolving concept in my mind. But being a sociologist I constantly have to use my sociological imagination to consider what we often take for granted. Yes being a sociologist is a blessing and a curse. Well anyway, have a good Christmas vacation everybody!!!

Sincerely,

Trouble-Maker