At a luxury resort last weekend, I observed a peculiar ritual: Guests spending 18 hours, methodically checking boxes off an invisible “relaxation checklist.”
The four days I was there, I watched the same sequence repeat. It never varied: Check in. Photograph the room. Rush to scenic spots for selfies. Eat three mandatory meals. Watch the same TV channels they watched at home. Check out.
These visitors – I think of them as “relaxation speedrunners” – drove ninety minutes through traffic to essentially relocate their living room to a more expensive location. They traded their couch for a premium mattress, their home TV for a resort TV, but their habits remained unchanged. The only difference? They could now tag themselves at an “exclusive getaway” on social media.
My approach to unwinding is different. I’ve learned to embrace empty time – hours with no agenda, no checklist, no social media updates.
When I plan a resort stay now, I exclude travel days entirely from the count. Those hectic bookends of packing, driving, and checking in don’t qualify as vacation; they’re just logistics.
Watching these guests, I wondered if they found what they were looking for in their 18-hour stays.
For me, real unwinding isn’t about what I do –
it’s about what I allow myself not to do.