Far Away Vacations

Some years ago, it became quite clear to me that most of my surgery and anesthesiology colleagues went on vacation to far away destinations not because they necessarily enjoyed going to those places, but because they wanted to talk and brag about their vacation to their colleagues when they got back!

The banter in my operating theatre for example, would rise to a false crescendo as my anesthesiology colleague would tell his resident about the exotic Hawaiian island he had visited - where he had no doubt climbed hills, snorkelled, sailed and eaten all kinds of very expensive, very unhealthy, instant-atheroma-fine-cuisine and met the nicest people! The nurses were almost always silent as this childish prattle droned on and on, and I was never able to discern what they were actually thinking - were they envious, bemused, contemptuous, admiring, disgusted? Or simply bored?

No sooner had I finished operating, my gown untied and removed, my gloves discarded, than I would make my way to the lounge for a coffee and a rest. As I approached the lounge, the noises would blend and rise and fall in an amalgam, so that it was not possible to know what exactly was being discussed. And then, as I drew nearer, the words and phrases and sentences would become clearer, discernible - “the flight was okay - but man (!) when we got there it was paradise;” “I saw all kinds of creatures when snorkelling - and almost touched a shark;” “did you know that Mt. Everest is actually shrinking?” “It was a balmy 26 degrees in Greece - you should go” etc. etc. In time, I learned that the neighbouring lounge, popular with housekeepers and technicians, would be a more welcoming place, with authentic conversations about family, children, the local politicians and the local weather!

Of course I don’t deny that surgeons and anesthesiologists believe that they need to “unwind” and relax and that “getting away” and far away from the cauldron that is a large hospital is regarded as essential to their physical and mental well being. But it was not always so! Nor is it apparently working - since the rate of “burn out” in the medical profession has never been higher!

Frequent (too frequent?) air travel is supposed to contribute to climate change (whilst the global predators travel in luxury private jets!). But there is no doubt that for the price of being packed like sardines into an overcrowded aircraft and being made to feel like an amphibian whilst the airplane soars into the skies - you may be deposited in a far away destination that our forefathers only read and dreamed about, but could never actually visit. And here I must ask the question - are the places of our imagination in fact more salubrious, more exotic, more enchanting, more poetic than the places themselves? I must admit that the fact that my family could not afford expensive vacations (although my father was also a surgeon) was a true blessing. In my mind’s eye, as a child, I could see the great nations of the world, plains and mountains, oceans and firmaments - so that I could truly say, with John Keats:

“Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,

And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;

Round many western islands have I been

Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.”

There is no evidence that the greatest scientist of all, Mr. Isaac Newton took any “vacation” at all - which is not to say that he did not rest from his labours from time to time. He divided his life between London and Cambridge (where most of his monumental work was done) - but even if he could, I doubt he would have boarded a ship on the stormy seas to “unwind.” And “unwound”, he would probably never have discovered and given us an account of light, lenses, gravity, thermodynamics, the calculus - and the movements of the planets!

Nor indeed can we excuse the modern, pip-squeak politician (Boris Johnson, for example), who sends unwanted social media photographs to the world from his latest vacation on the beach! About two hundred years ago, William Pitt The Younger was prime minister of Britain. He restored England’s finances, made speeches in parliament (including those opposing slavery) that are literary treasures, worked with his friend William Wilberforce to end the slave trade, worked tirelessly for Catholic emancipation and established the prime minister’s office as one of service to the people. He ruled for a total of 19 years. He never set foot in Scotland or Ireland - and most of England was unknown to him.

Although his plays have settings in Italy, France, Greece, Rome, Denmark, Africa and Asia, that greatest of all poets and that greatest of all dramatists, Mr. William Shakespeare did not travel anywhere away from England at all! There is no evidence that he wished to give his wife and children “experiences” in far away lands (although he probably could have afforded travelling to them). His rest and rejuvenations were probably in the fens, fields, hills and valleys around Stratford and in the inns and pubs of London (which is quite near Stratford). His productivity was not impaired by not taking “vacations.” He would probably never have written his magical lines if he had spent time (and money) traveling the world. And as my essay pointed out, modern conveniences (including air travel), if they had been available to Shakespeare, would likely have deprived the world of most of his miraculous work.

The Lord God Himself, when he had finished His work of creation took rest upon the seventh day. So we, who are created in His image must also require rest.

But how about resting nearer home? How about doing our bit for the environment (please note I did not say “climate change”) by not burning the miles in the clouds? So let’s go ahead - and follow our instincts (and our hearts) and take our holidays nearer home.

“He leadeth me beside the still waters” proclaims the psalmist (psalm 23 in the Bible). The still waters to which He leads us are in our souls - “He restoreth my soul.”

The rest that Christ gives is found within - and not thousands of miles away from home. “Come unto me” the Saviour says, “all ye that labour and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest.”

It could also be said that there can be no rest apart from God. Or, as St. Augustine wrote, “the heart is restless, until it finds its rest in Thee.”