Last month, I stayed at the JW Marriott Khao Lak in Thailand. For context, the resort is about 90 minutes north of Phuket Airport. For further context, this was my 5th time visiting the resort. It is more than any other place I’ve been for pleasure travel. I talked more about it here.

In retrospect, the trip in general poses for me the question of whether vacations should be spent seeking new adventures, or relaxing. Perhaps it is ironic that a trip that was planned to be relaxing ended up being an adventure in itself. But that’s not really the point.

After that experience, aside from the slight bit of trepidation of trying new food, I’m also left with the question of whether I’m really balancing adventure and relaxation. I think I posed the question of whether traveling halfway around the world to relax was worthwhile a month or so ago.

Planning next year

I’m a planner. I think it drives my wife crazy, yet, as we get closer to a trip, it puts her at ease. I’ve already got trips planned to Tahiti, Australia, Whistler, and Charlotte. I’m trying to build in a trip to one of the Hyatt Zilara’s (Hyatt’s new All Inclusive, Adult only resorts in Jamaica and Cancun). We have a list of places we’d like to visit in 2015, they include Portugal, Oktoberfest, South Africa (for a Safari), Petra, Jordan, Vienna, Helsinki and others. But I still am left with the concern that we’re not building in enough “relaxation” into our travel schedule. I’m beyond going to Thailand to relax. I could just as easily go to Florida, Mexico, or Costa Rica to relax. In theory, I could probably even just go to New York’s Long Island to relax (my old stomping grounds).

So what’s the answer?

I am certain I don’t have the answer, but I’m curious of you, the reader. What do you think the right balance is, between adventure and Relaxation is?