Have you ever tasted the inside of a dragon fruit? I doubt you've tasted the outside, but in case you haven't experienced either, it is a good example of something that seems cool on the outside but is a letdown when you look within. Vacations can be like dragon fruit. More specifically, vacations that look adventurous on the Internet but hide the fact that they were experienced through the screen of a phone. A phocation? Yes, that's a word now.

It's a common sight nowadays: Imagine a beautiful beach. Sunny weather, calm waves and the moist smell of salt in the air. And in the midst of its beauty, slaves. Yes, they still exist, but in their modern form: grown men who are forced to take photos of their girlfriends posing in the water. You know what I'm talking about. It's not the couple of snapshots that serve as a memory capture that are problematic. The man (for it is always a man) tries his best. From every angle. With a 45° bend in his knees and a hunched forward position. Vertical. Horizontal. More beach. More ocean. But no, babes, it's not good enough. Eventually, it's the girl who gives up. It looked different on her Pinterest board.

The worst part isn't the validation-seeking photo shoot. It's that it is on the fucking beach. More and more, I notice how people seek escape from the very thing they paid good money for to experience. As I mentioned in a previous blog, what is the real purpose of an experience? And does that phone serve the experience?

I just returned from Gran Canaria. And if you ignore the aches and bruises I got from being an amateur surfer, it was a really nice trip. We were there for a week, saw dolphins, rode jet skis, explored the bottom of the ocean in a submarine and ate some really freaking good garlic bread by the beach. (God, how do they make it so fluffy and crispy at the same time?) But despite all the adventures and the coastal breeze, what made this trip feel like a vacation was the fact that I was barely on my phone. My girlfriend, for the first time, left her phone at home and we relied on mine for boarding passes and directions. There were a couple of indulgent Google searches here and there, but the vast majority of screen time was spent with vacation-related stuff, like booking tickets or comparing prices from different watersports operators. When we weren't doing anything specific, we were either reading a book, talking to each other or simply looking at the ocean. The best part about this: While being away from your usual environment and being by big bodies of water does make it easier, this type of mental vacation can be done anytime and anywhere.

Stressed by work? Lie in bed or on the couch in the evening for 1-2 hours doing nothing and feel how much more relaxed you'll feel after that, compared to entertaining yourself. Is it difficult and boring? Of course, that's the point! When your brain receives fewer stimuli and has the chance to truly get bored (and not just bored waiting for the bus, but really get bored for an extended period of time), it has the chance to relax and remove all the mental clutter. Try it out just one time. Just one evening doing absolutely nothing for 1 hour. After 10 minutes, you'll feel like you want to do this more often. At 30, the urge to stop gets strong. And after an hour, it becomes unbearable. But stick with it and notice how much lighter you'll feel. Try it out, just once. The hour will pass anyway.

And before your next trip, ask yourself what the true purpose of this vacation is. What is it really that you want to get out of it? Rest or distraction? A time off, or on(line)? Messages can be left unread and your mom will forgive you for not sending photos. Choose wisely and your vacation will taste a lot better than dragon fruit.

Thank you, for reading.

PS: A dragon fruit tastes like slightly sweet mushy water, btw