Reflections from a Family Vacation

I have been back for almost a week from an idyllic, out-of-a-movie place, where goats prance in green pastures, and majestic snowpeaks reign over valleys zigzagged with crystalline rivers. Well.. that's not entirely true. I didn't see any actual goats. But, I did eat fresh, local goat cheese, and I imagine that it must have come from goats who pranced in green pastures. A girl can dream right?
Being blessed as I am to be here, I had the opportunity to go on vacation with the Bokias to the Alps. They picked the chic station of Megeve, which is renowned for its beauty, expensive hotels, old time charm, and magnificent runs. It's located on French territory, but it's an hour from Geneva in Switzerland, and another hour from Italy on the other side. Megeve is also well known for its vibrant nightlife, which I was lucky to experience with some of the locals, as I befriended a few of the staff in the hotel, amongst them two argentinian servers who have been living the life, skiing at day, serving at night, and dancing until dawn.

The week, needless to say, was a happy occassion all around. There were only two days where it snowed, but even then, the village looked more charming than ever, with its year-round Christmas lights displays, tiny creperies, and horse carriages clopping their way through the cobbled streets. I felt like I was in a magical Disney movie. The rest of the time, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the snow was perfect for skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing. The hotel was charming, and I was lucky enough to have my own room, where I took full advantage of the complimentary terry cloth bathrobes, slippers and free l'Occitane products. I was able to spend some quality time with the whole family, playing in the snow, strolling through the village, and enjoying cheese fondue at night.

There are two very distinct cultures in Megeve. The first one is that of the glamourized tourists, bronzed from their days on the hills, who are willing to pay 600 euros for a hotel room. The latter content themselves with skiing, shopping at the local Carolina Herrera boutique in the afternoon, and then dining at a 100 euro menu restaurant at night. They're the ones that keep the economy in this little village going.
Then, there are the people who make everything happen. Those who scurry after the tourists, putting away their snowboots in the equipment room, keeping the wine flowing during dinner, and responding to their every whimsical command. These are the real lifeblood of Megeve, like any other tourist destination. They mingle with the tourist crowds at the local live jazz club, paying half for drinks (because they worked there last season), and whizz by them in the ski runs during their days, before heading down to change their snowpants for black slacks. It's not a lifestyle everyone would choose, as there is only seasonal work available, the friends you made during this season will be gone in 4 months, and there are times where I'm sure you get sick of the snow. But, it is a lifestyle that liberates some from our modern day need to be slaves to our job all day, every day. I was so in love with this place, that I actually made arrangements to come back 3 days later than the family did, and I was able to experience some more of what life in a tourist hub in the Swiss-French Alps was like.

I have to admit that coming back to Nice, I've been able to come to some conclusions that I had not expected to arrive to after 10 days in higher altitudes. For the first time in my 8 months away, I'm considering staying a little longer. I think a side of me that has been slowly surfacing during my sejourn was fully awoken by the call of the mountain (I guess Julie Andrews was right after all: The hills are alive with the sound of music). One of the beauties of being here is that I have been able to discover things about myself that I didn't know before. If you ask anyone in my life, I'm a control freak, I need to have every situation under my control at all times, and have everything planned out for hours, days, months, and years. Yet, the idea of letting go a little, venturing to an unknown side, and experimenting with life's surprises is becoming increasingly more appealing to me. I consider myself to have already achieved a lot in my short 25 years on this earth, and I think I could afford to take off some more time to not particularly make any notches in my "successes" belt, but to release some of that grip on life's details and let myself get carried away.

In our day and age, we are tied to details and plans from when we wake up to our cell phones' alarms, to the "martini night" invitations on our facebooks to which we must RSVP, to our e-agendas bursting with dentist's appointments, meetings with your power-people group to take over the world, and lunch with your family to fill them in on what your 5 year plan looks like. It's exhausting! No wonder we develop stress disorders, have back problems and start dieing our hair at 22 because we have grey hairs. I think I've just come to realize (and this is not the first time that I write about this) that ambition is good, but life is not about getting to your goals at no matter what price. It's about the process that gets you there. There is no one right way to live this life, no one right way to find happiness.

So here's to the next few weeks... where I'll be tossing in my head whether my way to find happiness for the next year lies in Vancouver with my family, friends, and career; or if it lies hidden in a rocky cranny in the middle of the Alps. Wish me luck.