Everybody needs a little time away.
By: Steve Feitl
My cell phone was locked in a safe for most of last week.
If you sent me an e-mail anytime after Dec. 5, the earliest I would have read it would have been this past Monday, Dec. 13.
And if you asked me what the weather was like in New Jersey last week, I wouldn’t have a clue.
Yes, I was very much away last week. I wasn’t even in the country. I was on a weeklong getaway to British Columbia for skiing at the Whistler Blackcomb Resort.
The two mountains, flush with slopes of varying degrees of difficulty, were an incredible setting for a week of skiing. Many consider this to be the premier ski resort in North America and after my first experience there, I would be hard-pressed to argue.
But as good as the skiing was and it really was it wasn’t the only reason I so enjoyed my weeklong getaway. As I referenced at the top of this piece, I was truly away on vacation.
High-priced roaming charges meant my cell phone got put away in the hotel safe. I was only in front of a computer a handful of times partially because the business center was unexpectedly closed at the Whistler Village Resort, but also because I didn’t want much contact with my normal life.
Instead, I wanted to relax, or at least relax as much as possible when you’re up early, out late and exerting a lot of physical energy in between. But I found the isolation invigorating.
The mountains were fairly empty with it being so early in the ski season and there were many times I would pull over to the side of a slope, pop the skis and just sit in the snow looking out onto the snowcapped trees below. It was beautiful and peaceful. The only sounds were the wind howling and occasional skis carving through the powder. My only concerns were which trails I would do next and what time I would end up in the hotel hot tub.
There were no thoughts of bills, jobs, deadlines, relationships, chores, holiday shopping, gas prices, steroid scandals or even whether my car would start when I got back. And it felt great.
Granted, there were no illusions as to whether these concerns would be there when I got back to New Jersey. That is exactly my point. I knew they would be there, so there was no harm in putting them on the backburner for seven days.
I highly suggest it. While I recommend Whistler, it doesn’t have to be skiing. There are plenty of different trips you can take to get away and relax, whether it’s a cruise to a tropical island or a hiking excursion in a forest.
And it doesn’t have to be anything as elaborate as that. You don’t have to leave the country to ski and you don’t have to sail to find a beach. No matter how far or how long, find some time to slip away. It will refresh you and put you in a better place to handle all of life’s daily problems.
Trust me, I know. After all, I was back in New Jersey for all of 15 minutes Sunday when I learned the airline lost my luggage.
Steve Feitl is the managing editor of The Lawrence Ledger. His luggage was recovered early Monday. He can be reached here.

