Sam's Blog
Helping you, helps me
In my last post I said that I was going to explain why this trip to Guatemala is a vacation. But before I do that let me explain why some people don't see this as a vacation. For starters I am not going to a 5 star hotel with a sandy beach. Nor am I going to Colorado to ski the beautiful snow that I am sure is falling as I type this. There will be few luxuries or amenities. No basketball or beach volley ball. No swimming or shuffle board. To quote Gilligan's Island, "not a single luxury".
So if I'm not doing all those wonderful things what will I be doing on this so called vacation. Well, I will be erecting a rather large building. I will be sleeping in something far less than a 5 star hotel and there's a very good chance my shower will be cold. On my last missions trip I slept with a cockroach that had to be every bit of 2 inches long. The days will be dusty and filled with sweat. The land is different. And I will maybe understand one in 5 words of their language.
Where is the vacation you ask? It's right there! Don't you see it? I am paying thousands of dollars to build a school I won't learn in, speak a language I don't understand, for a people I don't know. I am taking a vacation not only from my cell phone, pager and email, but I'm taking a vacation from my own selfishness! I'm taking a vacation from my consumer minded, marketing driven, lavish lifestyle to help people that I don't know and who don't know me. Can you think of a better vacation? Me neither!
Once you've seen how someone in a third world lives it's hard to be anxious about paying the cable bill or worrying about how you are going to afford the new Lexus so you can keep up with the neighbors. According to George Bray, PHD, volunteering decreases anxiety and stress. Isn't that what vacation is all about?
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