Sure Cure For The Rat Race

Are you tired of the rat race?  Here’s my suggestion.

Get away.  Take a week (or two) and leave the race completely.  It puts things in perspective. 

I just spent part of my family vacation off the grid.  Which is how I met Rick and Jenni. 

Rick and Jenni decided to get out of the race.  Permanently. After tiring of their fast-paced lives in Chicago, they left their careers and purchased a small group of cottages on Michigan’s far western shores of Lake Superior.  Now, they spend their summers renting lodging to families (like mine) who are trying to get away.

No mobile coverage.  No stores.  No hospitals.  No restaurants.  No people.  No Starbucks. 

It was novel at first (except the Starbucks part).

After a couple of days, I tried to imagine my family in Rick and Jenni’s shoes.  In the mountains.  In a town of several hundred people.  We could have our own rental lodge and reside right on property to save money. My husband would be in charge of maintenance (which I guess would put me in charge of cleaning and laundry).  Our kids could learn about wildlife firsthand – spending their summers on kayaks and winters on snowmobiles.  I could spend my days writing (in between cleaning toilets) and I’d just have to buy an espresso machine and appropriate supplies.

But then my vision turned sour.  I could see high-maintenance city folk knocking on my door at midnight because of a leaky toilet.  After cooking the 40th meal in a row and scrubbing the 140th toilet I’d be screaming, “Where are the restaurants!” and “Where is my cleaning lady?”  I’d be driving my kids 50 miles for play dates and 120 miles to the nearest movie theater.  And what would we do without our cell phones?

Maybe getting off the grid isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  I’m a city girl.  I actually like people.  And truth be told, I even like the rat race.  I just need to get away every once in awhile to help remember. 

When's the last time you got off the grid?