The "Do Nothing" Vacation on Sanibel Island

By Susan Kelley

Sanibel Island is the perfect place to have a "Do Nothing" vacation. This is the type of vacation where you can come to this wonderful island and choose to do nothing. Now doing nothing to me means sitting on the beach in my awesome beach chair under my umbrella for the entire day. It means reading books, taking a walk and shelling to my heart's content.

Many people feel when they go on vacation that they have to do "stuff" all the time. I do believe there are trips that are "go go go" vacations and you must do a lot of things. For example, my husband and I went to London (check it out at www.ourlondonvacation.com) where we never stopped for six days. It was an unbelievable and wonderful trip.

But when you come to Sanibel you have the option of just relaxing and regrouping for the year to come. I look forward to coming to Sanibel Island and realizing that I am not obligated to do anything for my entire trip. I love to sit and read on the beach and my husband Fred loves to sleep (a lot) and ride his bike (from Finnimore's Bike Shop) all over the island. We each get to do what we need to revitalize.

This year will be the 14th year we have vacationed on Sanibel. I still get so excited as if it is the first time we are going. I look forward to packing and planning what we are bringing with us. This year will be different for me as I lost my job after 14 years due to the economy (real estate development). So I will not be as stressed as I usually am preparing to go on vacation and having to worry that all my work is covered. I am currently working on making this website bigger and better. I'm learning a new field and I really enjoy it. But I also am looking for work on a daily basis, not an easy thing to find another job that will last another 14 years!

Well, back to Sanibel. Sanibel Island has the ability to take away the pressure of having to do something. This island is a pressure reliever for sure. Everyday my husband and I look forward and plan where we are going to eat dinner for the night. Our big event of the day, eating out! Let me clarify that when I'm on vacation, I don't cook! Even though we have a full blown kitchen in our Sanibel condo, the last place I want to go is to the grocery store.

After dinner we usually go and bum at Winds, Mango Bay or CVS. It may not be the excitement of London but we love it. In previous years when the pressures of the job were so strong, Sanibel Island was my haven to totally get away from work and the daily stresses of my job. Everyone needs a place to go to relax and unwind. To "Do Nothing" for a week or even longer. The "even longer" is the hope for all of us who visit Sanibel Island, that the stay can continue just a few more days. I feel we are blessed to have found this place and we call it our home away from home. Because we always feel like we are going home when we go to Sanibel Island on vacation.

Many people ask us "how can you continue to go to the same vacation destination every year?" I say "because we love it and Sanibel never gets boring for us." There is always something new to see and we love checking out all the places we frequent. For many people they cannot continue to go to the same place year after year, but for us we love it. We've been to many ocean destinations but have always found the commercialism and traffic so bad that it just didn't appeal to us. Destin is the perfect example. Yes the beaches are beautiful but the crowds and traffic and thousands of high rise buildings are not what we are looking for. That is the charm and appeal of Sanibel, no stoplights, no high rise condos and no obnoxious tourist traps. That is the charm of this "little Hawaii of the East".

So if you are looking for that relaxing, do nothing but enjoy the scenery vacation, Sanibel Island is the place for you!

Articles on Sanibel Island