I recently returned from a short vacation to Kauai, Hawaii. Kauai is a beautiful island complete with lush greenery, soothing waves, and breathtaking cliffs. That being said, most things on the island were quite expensive (especially food) and we found ourselves spending more time in the car than I would’ve liked (there was so much to see). One day, while sitting on the beach, I asked myself: “What would my ideal vacation look like?”. I started jotting down some ideas.

Criteria Link to heading

What follows is my personalized list of tenets for a great vacation. This experience would be somewhat niche and wouldn’t likely be everyone’s cup of tea. Most folks use vacation as means of escaping the grind of daily life and make idle relaxation their focus. In my opinion, however, being idle quickly loses its luster and I realize that I’d rather be working on all of the exciting hobby projects in my backlog.

In no particular order:

  1. An overall 50/50 split of focused project work and everything else. Other festivities would include exploring the area, going on hikes, and eating at local restaurants. The project work would likely take place at…
  2. A cozy lounge area with plenty of tables and a nice view. If a spot was guaranteed, that’d be a plus!
  3. Good food, drinks, and coffee at the focus area. Having a variety of plant-based options would be nice, too.
  4. A quiet and focused atmosphere without too much background noise. Low chatter is fine and I’m sure I’d be chatting, too, if any friends went with me.
  5. A decent internet connection. It doesn’t have to be amazing: just good enough to support reading docs and pushing commits.
  6. Great hiking options nearby. Trails with a variety of obstacles: length, altitude, steps, etc. Maybe with some waterfalls and / or scenic vistas along the way?
  7. No cars required for getting around the area. All navigation would be either on foot or via public transit.
  8. A culture of acceptance for all people. This way ALL of my friends can join me without having to worry about angry stares or hateful comments.
  9. Can be located in a climate that is warm OR cold. It doesn’t really matter to me: beaches aren’t required and I’m okay with hiking in the snow.
  10. A bearable amount of travel. Travelling to and from Hawaii was long. So much time spent in a plane and waiting on layovers. I’d love a place that was reasonably close to the midwest. I’m fine with driving if the spot isn’t too far away.

Conclusion Link to heading

This list is wishful but I don’t think that it would be impossible to satisfy. No individual item stands out as being difficult to achieve but finding the intersection of all of them could be difficult. I’ll do some research as time goes on but if you already know of somewhere that satisfies my criteria, please let me know!