Vacations: Getting "Away" or Getting "Noticed"?

This Article in the New York Times made me think about vacations and why we take them. It talks about New York Jetsetters, where they go for Winter Break...and why. It was interesting to me because the NY "in-crowd" flocks to many of the places that we (as in "our family") consider weekend getaways. Sun Valley, Idaho is owned by our friends and neighbors, the Holdings. Aspen is a hop-skip and jump away. Our christmas tree sports a dozen or so ornaments that we have picked up on our week-end visits to the places that New Yorkers consider "Winter Mecca". We, of course, would NEVER consider going there this time of the year. Why? Because it's TOO CROWDED! Yes, with those New Yorkers who are supposedly "Getting Away". In masse. With half their neighborhood!

Hubby and I were having a conversation the other night about where we might want to have a "vacation" home. It has always befuddled me that the people who bought our home in Sundance for a price nearing seven digits live 15 minutes away from their "vacation home"! Yes! They live in Provo! Why? Why would you pay THAT kind of money for a "vacation home" 15 minutes from your primary residence? I don't get it. I could see buying a condo--maybe. Just a little getaway so that you can spend the weekend up there without having to drive home at night. But a five bedroom home? I don't get it...

Today, I have had a dickens of a time finding playdates for the boys because everyone in our neighborhood is at their vacation homes in Park City or at Bear Lake. Except for the "M's", who are at their home in Mexico. I must say that having a condo close to our children's friends in Park City or at Bear Lake would be fun. However, if I were going to buy a HOUSE to get away to or if I were going to fly across the country on a "getaway", I would actually want to Get Away--To The Beach! To New Faces! I would want to see people whom I don't see every day at the busstop, but whose company I enjoy just the same. I am thinking Gulf Shores. Or Destin. Nothing terribly exotic. As the NYT article suggests, I do like to see people whom I know when I am away. But not the same people I see EVERY DAY! I see my friends here all the time. But my friends in the South? Hardly ever!

Yes, if I were going on a true Winter Break--spending tens of thousands of dollars to GET AWAY, I would want to TRULY GET AWAY! I'd be ready for the ocean--seafood--old friends. THAT's my idea of "Getting Away". So, tell me...What's YOUR idea of the Perfect Getaway? Would you rather follow your friends to favorite "hang outs". Would you go on a two week trip to Cambodia? Or would you go to the spot that sounds and smells like "Home"? Please do tell...