We call it vacation but every where else in the world it is referred to as on holiday.  This brought about the following thought.  Why do we call it vacation?  The root of this word is vacate, or in other words emptying something.  Vacation is then the process of vacating.

This description begs the question as to what are we vacating?  Perhaps it is our workplace.  My desk, provided they didn’t get rid of me in my absence, is certainly empty.  Or maybe it is our stress filled lives that have been vacated.  Either way, the thought of emptying something doesn’t really sound all that cheerful.

Holiday, on the other hand, interests me. A holiday is something to celebrate.  It is in most walks of life a day off and not something you must earn, if not actually beg to get off.  My apologies to those of you who work through holidays routinely.  When they tell me they are on holiday it somehow seems so much more interesting.  As a result, I am officially on holiday.  I have even named it.  It is the holiday of the week I owed myself, WIOM from now on.

Unfortunately, even holidays come to an end and this one ends tomorrow at noon Dominican time. Until then I will be on holiday and tonight is the eve of the last day of the Week I Owed Myself.

Thank you Dominican Republic for giving me a place to celebrate..