What would you do if you had a spare week with nothing to do?

Sleep, run errands, veg out, catch up on reading/tv/movies

Write.

My husband says he is going to learn a new computer language during his week off.

I would do exactly what I do every day. There is no such thing as a day off, a weekend, a holiday, or a vacation for a stay-at-home worker. The meals still need to be made, the dishes washed, the clothes washed and dried, the dog fed, the vacuuming (especially now that everyone tracks in leaves), and so on.

I alternate those tasks with sleeping as long as I want, staying up as long as I want, being on the computer most of the day, watching TV, and working on my crafts in between.

I would head for the beach, either Klipsan Beach, WA, or Cannon Beach, OR. I would sit by the fire with coffee, and a good book. I would bundle up and walk on the beach and enjoy the winter storms on the Pacific. I would marvel at the enormity of the ocean and the awesomeness of it’s waves. I would eat good seafood and chowder. I would have a bonfire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows. I would feed the seagulls. I would take morning strolls into town, to the bakery for pastry and more hot coffee.
I know this is what I would do, because this is what I have done so many times before.

I would clean out the basement and closets, paint the bathrooms, go to at least one movie every day, and eat out at a new restaurant each day. I would make plans to catch up with friends that I rarely have time to see, go to the dentist, hit the thrift stores, go to the art museum, and do some research for a project I’m working on.

I sleep when I don’t have anything to do… but I got bored this week and decided to venture out and try something new. Youtube videos inspired this—I decided I wanted to learn how to make sushi. I’ve been researching and went to Japantown today to get everything I need. Why don’t you look into finding a project that will take you a day or two?

I would just sit there and enjoy it. How often do you get such a great opportunity.

Get out of Dodge.

I would completely waste it by worrying about what I should be doing instead of enjoying it. That way when I went back to work, I could fully appreciate the fact that I had 10 days to do anything in the world and I ruined it =).

@anonini Wow-that is interesting! You wouldn’t believe how many vacations I have gone on where I spend the whole time thinking about how many days I have left instead of enjoying every minute. I have to consciously train myself not to think about (dread) the end of vacation and just enjoy the time I have away.

@Sweetpea That is exactly how I feel most of the time! But then again, sometimes it’s good to worry about that because otherwise you will come back from the vacation completely “carefree” and not want to get back to the grind. So occasionally that is a better choice I must say.

Netflix InstantPlay ALL WEEK while eating incredibly fatty and unhealthy foods. While hanging out with friends. That way, by the time I go back to work I will actually want to work to make up for all the time I wasted.

@albert_e Nice! I have some vacation time that lapses at the end of January if I don’t take it.

My first priority would be using the time to travel- are you sure you can’t do that? Even a mini road trip or something? But if I were definitely stuck at home during that time, I’d catch up on taking care of myself. If you have mandatory vacation time at the end of the year, that’s probably because you’ve been overworking yourself. Personally, I’ve been neglecting a lot of stuff because I’ve been working so hard. So I’d use the time to go to the gym, cook a few healthy, home-cooked meals, tackle big cleaning projects at home, do preventive maintenance on my car, and go to a few museums or plays. I’d read a lot and maybe go to the spa. If you’re religious, you could go to a few services.

Whenever I have time on my hands and nothing else to do, I write. I would work on my novel.

I nearly always have mandatory leave at the end of the year and I nearly always end up cramming a couple of weeks in March before I lose them. I managed to balance it out this year though.

Get in a few bicycle rides, study up on HTML5, and yeah probably play a little Warcraft.

spring cleaning… go see some of the shut inns from church or family shut inns… just take it easy and work on reading my Bible and Praying