Now What???

I’m almost out of vacation days as September nears an end and time slips quietly into Autumn, and I find myself wondering what I can do next. Normally this doesn’t happen until the new year when I tend to reflect back; project forward. Now, though, it seems to be naturally occurring for me much earlier in the year. And, this reflection seems to be intricately tied to my vacation time. It’s nearly done for the year, and somehow, I think that has become the triggering event for my current train of thought.

Granted, life in Ohio isn’t bad, it’s just…..not very exciting. I tend to get that from going Elsewhere. But now that I’m almost out of vacation time, it feels as though my Personal Excitement Potential has dwindled to near-zero.

So, I’ve started thinking of other ways I can get my groove on, while being in a comfortable, genteel village in Ohio. One thing I was initially jazzed about was taking flying lessons. I’ve made a few inquiries to places that purport to be ‘flying schools’, but they’re either not really in that business or not interested in increasing their business from interested parties. Another option is skydiving but unfortunately that’s a few and far-between event here, and even worse, advertised at the same flight training places that don’t bother to return genuine interest phone calls.

There’s an equestrian center for the university nearby, but on last inquiry it required student status to use. Or a horse. I was planning to resume my MBA this September, but my vacation plans spanned over the period of course startup, so that will have to wait. And, no – I will not tolerate any comments about my priorities being mixed up; I will always place an Adventure in Another Country over starting something routine and otherwise mundane, any day.

So I find myself on a drizzly Saturday, confounded by my own “What Next?” dilemma, and fighting the onset of a cold. The only cure is to pour myself into efforts of interest, and see what shakes out. Vacation come-down sucks.