The Art of the Ballpark Balance

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

When on a vacation, do you prefer to lounge and relax, or go out and explore?

It’s an interesting question, and one Veronica and I were discussing just the other day. She’s a “completionist” traveler—the kind of person who wants to fit as many activities as humanly possible into a single trip. As for me, I try to strike a nice balance between relaxing and sightseeing.

Take a city like Washington D.C., for example. It’s understandable why people flock to the White House or the Lincoln Memorial. But being a “baseball guy,” my internal compass always points toward the local Major League stadium.

I’ve been eyeing a “Mid-Atlantic Triple” for a couple of years now: Philadelphia, D.C., and Baltimore. I think this is the summer I finally pull the trigger. Whether I’m taking my son for a weekend or if Veronica and her son join the caravan, I’m approaching the planning the same way I’m approaching my relationship: taking everything as it comes.

Avoiding the “Vacation Job”

Vacations are supposed to be an escape, not a second job. I’ve found that if you over-schedule every minute, it starts feeling like a list of chores. If a flight is delayed or a museum is closed, the rigid traveler gets frustrated. I’d rather choose Option C—meeting in the middle. I don’t mind a few scheduled activities, but I refuse to turn my time off into a grind.

The middle ground for us? The ballpark.

Veronica loves the game almost as much as I do. In fact, between our combined tickets and a few solo trips, I’ve seen more MLB games this past year than in the last five years combined. There is a specific rhythm to a baseball game that offers a sense of relaxation I can’t find anywhere else. Within the four walls of a park like Comerica, the rest of the world’s noise just stops. It’s one of the few places where I can truly forget whatever is bothering me for a few hours.

Checking New Boxes

Of course, the “patriotic” pull of D.C. feels a bit different these days. Given the current administration, I’m not exactly feeling the urge to revisit the big monuments I’ve seen before. From a practical standpoint, the Washington Monument is still the Washington Monument; the Vietnam and WWII memorials haven’t changed. I’d rather spend my energy checking off the boxes I haven’t seen yet.

Philadelphia is the one I’m really looking forward to. With this being the 250th anniversary of the United States, I find myself drawn to Independence Hall. Despite my misgivings about the current state of things, I still want to see the history of where we started.

Whether it’s the history of Philly or the quiet hum of a night game in Baltimore, the goal remains the same: moving forward at my own pace, one inning at a time. For me, a relaxing vacation isn’t about doing nothing; it’s about doing the one thing that actually lets my brain turn off.

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Today’s post is inspired by the WordPress Daily Prompt. While I’ve taken the topic in my own direction for the Road to 1,000 Days, you can find more responses to today’s prompt HERE .

AI art created with Google Gemini

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