Vacation alert - Do nothing for once...

Have you noticed how annoying the ads on the desktop version of websites have become? You'll be happily reading about the latest scandal to hit the movie industry and suddenly a huge ad will be plastered on the screen with a minuscule 'cross' hidden in the corner somewhere. Do they really think I'm reading the ad while I'm trying to find that pesky little cross?

No sir, I'm not. I'm just annoyed as hell as you didn't let me read the intricate juicy gossip of why Chitrangada Singh is single again and what she looks for in a man.

Anyway, with that out of my system, I wanted to tell you about a trip we're planning to go to next weekend. Have you seen that out of the sea of nonsense passing off as 'taglines', 'Unique Selling Propositions' and 'customer promises', sometimes, someone gets it just right. And that's what this company has done - Linger.

It promises a holiday where you do nothing. That's right, the USP of this holiday is to do nothing at all. No sunrise-viewing places, no adventure sports, no water puppet shows, no cruise ship to catch, no artisan villages to visit, no movie filming sites to go to, no cathedrals to inspect, no cycling groups to peddle along with. Instead, what Linger says is that you can come to our estate, sleep in, curl up with a book, or just lie down looking out at the wonders of nature.

I know that for some people this is the exact opposite of what they would want.

"But what did you DO?"
"Did you see any interesting places? Do you have selfies?"
"Did you experience something 'new'?"

...would be the questions they would throw out. I hear them, but I need to provide you with some context.

AV and I may not agree on many things, but we do agree that the two best vacations we've been to have been to Goa and Bali. Now the innocent reader may deduce from these beach locations that we are both water-babies who like nothing more than to spend hours and hours frolicking in the ocean. The other not-so-innocent reader may deduce that we are both party animals always on the lookout for the next hotspot where we can enthrall the crowd with our fancy dance moves and copious appetite for shots. Both the readers would be wrong. We can't swim, and let's not even talk about dancing and shots.

The highlight of both the vacations for us was the ability to turn on the Do Not Disturb sign and sleep till 11 or 12 every morning. This was followed by two people in their pyjamas walking groggily to the dining table and getting served with copious amounts of food, followed by another nap, before finally gently walking to the beach and staying at the shacks till the wee hours before trudging back to bed.

We were told, by many well wishers, about all the places we did not visit during these vacations. We gently smiled.

So it seems to me that the 'do nothing' vacation would be right up our alley. And I'm looking forward to it so much!