Vacation, all I ever wanted
Vacation, had to get away
Vacation, meant to be spent all alone—The Go-Go’s
For more than a year, Nina and I have managed to share two stories per week through The Grateful Nuts blog. While you guys may find inspiration or humor in what we write, you miss out on the late-night hours and rush to make the next deadline. Sometimes my writing gets sloppy, and when we see the published article the next morning, realize some major edits were necessary. At least once, we decided to publish a post without pictures so that we would not miss a publication deadline. Don’t get me wrong, we love what we do. It takes me back to my days as a journalist, and there is always a joy that comes from reading comments. Still, we need a vacation. Not in the Forrest Gump definition. We will be back. We just need a break.
In the past, we have kept the blogging right through our vacations. We stayed in touch when we went to the beach and when we spent two weeks in Ireland. Even in tough times, personally and professionally, we made sure to keep readers up to date and kept new posts ready for each week. Some of our friends, (looking at you Peter) wrote a story that picked up where I slacked off. However, time and again, we have proven that we can get the job done no matter what. That makes it even more difficult to realize that taking a break from the blog is our only option. We need a vacation.
The Grateful Nuts in Ireland
Lately, with the on-going home renovation, work and our work on college degrees, we have barely had time to think. During a typical summer, we have been to the beach at least once to recharge and think of new ideas for the blog by now. This summer, we have barely been able to leave the house. The renovation, which we had intended to be a small, two-week project, grew to a 10-week and counting necessity. When we are not working, the renovation has kept us busy every waking moment.
The time we normally set aside to write and discuss ideas for The Grateful Nuts has been squeezed to a few hours the day before a post is due. I haven’t even had time or brain power to write jokes for our Facebook page. Just three short months ago, I wrote jokes without a thought. The creativity in my writing has drastically fallen, which hurts my pride a little. But, that’s not why we are going to take a brief pause. Get this.
We are going to Greenland!
Yes! We are leaving the 90+ degree South Georgia heat to spend some time in the Arctic air. The last I checked, we will enjoy temperatures between 30 and 40 degrees everywhere we plan to stay. I am totally excited for the trip and the chance to see the ice sheet and glaciers in the middle of summer.
I have dreamed of going to Greenland since I was in second grade. That’s when I first read stories of the Vikings traveling to Greenland on the way to North America. My father, who turned 90 in May, came up with the trip idea while we were flying home from Ireland. He scanned the map tracking our flight path, and said maybe we should go there next summer. He has been many places in the world, but Greenland is not one of them. It may sound like a nutty place for a summer vacation, but we are Grateful Nuts.
After months of planning the trip, we will take off for Greenland just as our newly renovated bedroom is useable. Not the timing we had planned at all, but no one paces up the chance to foot in Greenland. For us, the trip will be a much welcomed chance to unplug and finally relax.
Fortunately, Greenland makes unplugging and enjoying the surroundings simple. There are not a wealth of stable internet connections or wireless service providers. While that will keep us focused on the joys of being in an Arctic environment, it does have a downside. For the first time since we started, The Grateful Nuts will go more than a week without new content. Our home renovation and the trip were set on a course much like the Titanic and its fated iceberg. We have not had time to get ahead in our writing. And, the collision in our case means that we won’t have a new post until July 19th.
While we won’t be able to post new content, and we regret any inconvenience this may cause, the trip will be a much needed mental health break. We know how much mental health matters, and we try our best to make our mental and physical health a priority. In the meantime, if you have not caught up on all we have written, take a look through our archives. There are some good stories there, at least that is what readers have told us. We will be back in full force after this break, and hopefully, we will be happier and nuttier than ever.
