foreign staycations

I think I am way past cabin fever. Let's call my condition something more like cabin flu, or the cabin pox, or maybe even the cabin blues. In short, I am bored out of my mind. Tuesday cannot come soon enough.
When I get into moods like this, where even exciting things don't sound fun, I get into this "I need to leave the country" mindset. It's sort of like an I-need-a-break-from-this-drab-and-humdrum-life idea. Anyway, I go online and look at pictures of places I want to go, and I read about these places, and I imagine myself there and enjoying life. It's like a vacation, but I am staying here.
I would never trade a real trip to, say, the islands of the Mediterranean, but my fantasy trips are pretty fun. If you just sit there and imagine you are somewhere else, it takes you away from your life and plops you somewhere new.
You might be laughing at me or thinking, how lame can one person be, but it really works. Especially if you have the right ambiance. This can come from authentic music.
So here is where I go off on a tangent, and then come back for the final lesson of the day. Try to follow.
Yesterday, I think it was yesterday, I went to Target with my brother and my dad. My dad was looking for I don't know what, and I think my brother wanted some new Lego set. That kid oughta work for Lego. Anyway, I had gone to Target the day before, and I bought that game Risk (the vintage version - not the over-commercialized and trite looking modern knockoffs) - which we played for the majority of today. I went over to the Lifescapes CD setup, because they have a nice little music player that plays selections from each of the CDs so you can see if you like it before you buy it. They aren't like rock and roll CDs though, they are almost like classical CDs that play different types of instrumental music. For example, they have relaxation music, ones like thunder, rain, ocean waves, etc. and they have world music, like "voices of Africa", "rhythm of Mexico", and "relaxing Greek islands". I decided to buy a $15 gift card so I could buy things online.
Today, after we wrapped up our rather long game of Risk, I decided to redeem the card online and choose 2 CDs. It's a pretty good deal, actually. I couldn't decide between all of the ones on my list, so I went to another computer and asked my sister to help me decide. We spent about an hour on the website listening to the samples and rating them. We went through all of the world music and listened to the amazing, the decent, and the pretty funny. They brought back memories of vacations at Marriott resorts, of pictures and movies we've seen, and of places we hoped to go. Each of the songs made me feel happy in a different way, whether the music was passionate, relaxing, carefree, or whimsical. It's interesting to see how music can differ from place to place, and how each can make you feel.
And after listening, you feel like you actually went to all these places. It's very cool. And I felt refreshed and new after listening to each of the unique melodies. It goes to show you hoe influential music is in cultures. Because when we go to visit other places, we go there for not just the food and the monuments, but for the atmosphere itself. The color, the people, the flavors, the smells - and the music!
If you feel like I did, tap into your creativity. If you can't get up and go travel somewhere right now, try a new foreign recipe to spice up your taste buds, or listen to foreign music to get a feel for a new place.
Sometimes we need a break from our lives. Sometimes they become a little monotonous and drab-ish. But that doesn't mean we have to leave the country right now (after all, foreign adventures do need a little bit of forethought). You can have a foreign staycation. And the benefits are endless - no jet lag, no airport security (that means no pat-downs!), no language barrier problems, no lost suitcases, and no exchange rates. Book your foreign staycation today. Profiter des aménagements de la maison!