Local woman Karen Johnson thought she had it all figured out. After years of using her precious vacation days to do absolutely nothing but laze around and watch Netflix, she decided to spice things up and embark on a real adventure. She booked a trip to Europe and spent weeks planning every detail – from the flights to the hotels to the tourist attractions. But little did she know, Karen was in for a rude awakening.
Her first clue that things weren't going as planned was on the flight over. Despite spending a small fortune on her ticket, Karen found herself crammed in the back row of the plane, sandwiched between two snoring passengers. The flight attendants were not particularly friendly or helpful, and there was nothing but stale crusts for dinner.
But Karen didn't let the less-than-stellar flight dampen her spirits. She arrived in Paris bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to take on the City of Light. However, things quickly went downhill when she checked into her hotel – a tiny, dingy room with no air conditioning and a bathroom the size of a closet. And the "continental breakfast" consisted of a stale croissant and some orange juice that tasted suspiciously like tap water.
Feeling a bit deflated, Karen decided to take in some of the famous Parisian sights. But the crowds were overwhelming, the lines were long, and everything was expensive. The Eiffel Tower, which she had been dreaming of seeing for years, was underwhelming – just a big metal structure with a bunch of sweaty tourists taking selfies.
After a few more days of subpar hotels, disappointing meals, and overpriced souvenirs, Karen had had enough. She was feeling more stressed and exhausted than she ever did at work, and she couldn't wait to get back to her boring old routine of doing nothing.
As she sat in her cramped airplane seat on the way back home, Karen couldn't help but feel a sense of regret. Why had she wasted her precious vacation days on this stressful and unenjoyable experience? She should have just stayed home, binge-watched some more Netflix, and taken some lazy naps. At least that would have been relaxing.
Lesson learned, Karen promised herself that the next time she had some time off, she wouldn't bother with travel. She was perfectly content just doing nothing – and that was perfectly okay.
