By Emily

Grade: A, probably

August in New York City. Prime time to get reservations at fancy restaurants, baby, cause everyone who’s anyone (including B) has fled this town. Me? Oh, I’m holding down the fort. It’s the first vacationless summer of my life.

Via office small talk I have heard a lot about how great other people’s vacations were. This has only exacerbated my desire to vacation, potentially forever. The real question here is, if the country (beach, mountain) is so great, why don’t we just go live there all the time? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself with alarming frequency lately. Usually late at night, in a tone that’s more like “why, WHY???”

Okay, here is why: For one thing, the city is where you go to Make It Big. Also, you never have to worry about drunk driving, or, for that matter, driving. There is unsurpassed access to comestibles of every description, whether your tastes run to fast food or organic soy yogurt. Some of the architecture is very grandiose and pretty. The skyline is nice, especially on a clear day. Also, the faded advertisements painted on the sides of old buildings never cease to thrill me for some reason.

But then there are the downsides of the city. The chief one is the other people who live there, many of whom are loud, obnoxious, ugly, smelly and depressing. Others are quiet, beautiful, impeccably dressed, and depressing. Other downsides include: commuting, pollution, expensiveness, implicit danger lurking around every corner, and unavoidably running into people you don't like/once loved.

So we escape to the country, get our hands dirty, perhaps begin some sort of organic farming venture. Maybe we take up Reiki or glass-bead blowing. And even though no one can see it, we will be living a perfectly happy life. If we are living a perfectly happy life in the forest, does it still count? Or would we find ourselves missing the crowded avenues, the dungeony bars, the everyday D-list celebrity sightings, the little perks that enable us to convince ourselves that we still want to be here, want to be a part of it? Sigh. New York City vs. Perpetual Vacation Elsewhere: the lifestyle choice to end all lifestyle choices.