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A few years ago, the specter of space tourism captivated the world. That
seems now, to say the least, a different planet.
This summer, leisure will be redefined across the globe from dreams of
exploring the cosmos to the prospect of muddy knees from an afternoon in the
garden. Adventures like a walk through the Alps, a Spanish pilgrimage, or an
evening at the softball park will replace cruises and Caribbean vacations
for people riding out the recession in places like Tokyo, Frankfurt, Paris,
London, and Atlanta.
Sure, Qatar is betting that tourists will buck the downturn and still flock
to its bejeweled hotels. But in many parts of the world, this summer marks a
season of lowered vacation expectations and forced time off (also called
unemployment). Yet it is also bringing hope among many people for the
curative balm of doing a lot of nothing, and even the return, especially for
work-obsessed Americans, to the kind of leisure that Thoreau said can
improve the іsoul№s estate.І
Indeed, the slowdown in cubicles is forcing many people to reevaluate their
hyper-drive lifestyles, a development that may even challenge government
policies around the work-life dynamic, inspiring the first mandatory
vacation bill to hit the US Congress since 1936. Moreover, scaled-back
vacations could help curb, in the US and abroad, a long-time trend away from
the great outdoors ­ and potentially force a new search for meaning in a
downsized life.
іThere№s a convergence we№re seeing right now with the economic downturn and
a long-simmering desire to simplify our lives,І says Colleen Carol Campbell,
a St. Louis-based writer who no longer checks e-mail on vacation. іPeople
are being forced to turn more to simple pleasures and focus on family where
there№s simply less ability to divert yourself with exotic vacations and
brand-new gadgets.І
John de Graaf concurs. іFrom what I№m seeing, this does seem to be a time
when people are open to rethinking things,І says the author of іAffluenza:
The all-consuming epidemic.І
Unfortunately for many workers, free time doesn№t pay all that well. Around
the world, time spent at work has declined, but so have paychecks. Life
satisfaction levels in countries ranging from Turkey to the US have
plummeted as workers face layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts, says Simon
Chapple, an economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).
In fact, with jobs so closely entwined with identity in some societies, the
prospect of unbidden time off is hardly seen as an opportunity.
іLeisure is terra incognito [for many modern workers], so we№re highly
reluctant to embrace the possibility of free time,І says Ben Hunnicutt, the
author of the upcoming book, іTime to Live: A lost kingdom and a forgotten
American dream.І іWe want to save our jobs, and I predict we will. We№ll get
back to work, and we№ll forget the possibility of leisure.І
Maybe in America, but not in many other parts of the world, where time off
is still sacrosanct. Consider this emphatic statement from Diane Elkabach, a
young secretary rushing home to her two children after a day№s work in
Paris. іAnglo-Saxons put too much importance on earning money,І she says. іI
don№t live for my job. I live for me and my family.І
That may not be a particularly surprising sentiment coming from someone from
France. After all, the French ­ rich and poor alike ­ value their leisure
time. They have long vacations ­ 37 days of paid annual leave and national
holidays. They are the developed world№s champions when it comes to sleeping
(an average of nine hours a night) and lingering over meals (two hours
devoted to eating a day).
Symbolically, at least, they retain the European Union№s only 35-hour work
week, though the conservative government of President Nicolas Sarkozy has
been systematically dismantling it. Companies now can negotiate longer hours
with their employees, for instance, and workers can more easily convert
their overtime into pay rather than time off.
Moreover, even before the changes, many people in white-collar jobs and
small businesses worked more than the 35 hours. In 2006, the real French
work week averaged out to 37 hours ­ longer than the German one.
Still, the French appreciate their time away from the keyboard and cash
register as much as anyone. Ms. Elkabach will be more modest with her
travels this year ­ but will be away from the relentless ring of the work
phone nonetheless. She is planning to spend half of her three-week summer
vacation in Paris, puttering around her apartment. She will spend the other
half in a campground in Brittany with her children and husband.
Others, too, are being far more money conscious with their time-off
itineraries. Frйdйric Pinard, a tobacconist in southeastern Paris, usually
spends three weeks in July at his parents№ house outside Clermont-Ferrand in
central France, using it as a base for camping and hiking trips with
friends. He closes his store for vacation, like many shopkeepers in Paris.
But this year, for the first time, he is looking for someone to run the
place while he is gone.
іI№ve got rent to pay whether I№m here or not, and I don№t want to give up
any income if I can help it,І says Mr. Pinard. іWho knows what the economy
is going to do?І
That№s a common refrain being heard around the world as wanderlust becomes
something closer to wanderbust. A recently published survey by the Ipsos
polling company told a sobering story in the US: Half of those who normally
go somewhere in July or August said that they would be staying home this
year.
In Britain, at least on weekends, that means many people spending more time
at the local library. Recent figures released by 118-118, the main
telephone-inquiry service in Britain, suggest that residents are spending
more of their weekend time indoors.
The number of callers seeking phone numbers for nightclubs, pubs,
restaurants, cinemas, and bowling alleys ­ one gauge of out-of-home leisure
activity ­ has fallen sharply over the past year. Yet inquiries about
take-home pizza outlets have surged 22 percent, and, striking even for the
land of Shakespeare, the number of inquiries about libraries has jumped 50
percent.
іThat might be one positive spin-off of the recession: Our rediscovery of
the joy of spending a damp Saturday in the book-borrowing haven that is a
free library,І writes Monitor correspondent Brendan O№Neill.
In times of economics crisis, it is true that people tend to rediscover
hobbies and leisure pursuits that have long been forgotten. Many, too, tilt
more toward іvalues vacationsІ ­ trips that, if you have to spend money,
take on more meaning.
Consider Wolfgang Nordmyer. He is among a booming number of Germans
participating in the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
in Galicia, Spain, where, tradition has it, the remains of the apostle Saint
James are buried. Thousands of people make their way, on foot or by bicycle
­ sometimes also on horseback ­ along the ancient byways.
Similarly, another German, who identifies himself only as Vec, says he is
now abandoning his days of exotic adventure travel. He used to backpack in
South America and visit Greenland№s glaciers. This summer, he intends to go
hiking with his family and a donkey in Southern France.
іWe№re hoping to find each other in a positive way, to discover something
together,І he says.
His choice echoes a decided move away from the іstatusІ vacation that many
pursued in more flush times.
іWhat matters isn№t to be able to say, ?Look I just spent five weeks in the
Caribbean№ anymore,І says Martina Peters of the Foundation for Future
Questions in Hamburg. іPeople long for inner peace, for a type of vacation
that brings serenity. They look for ways to find themselves.І
For many Russians, that inner peace may come from growing beets. According
to Komkon, a private Moscow-based consumer monitoring company, 73 percent of
Russians described themselves in April as іcutting backІ on major leisure
and travel expenses. Around 60 percent said they have begun economizing on
smaller diversions, such as cinema and restaurants, as well.
Those trends will probably translate into more Russians headed to their
dachas this summer, for more intensive bouts of gardening. In the recent
boom times, Russians turned away from growing foodstuffs ­ potatoes,
tomatoes, cucumbers, berries, beets ­ and instead harvested decorative
plants and flowers. Now, in the balky economy, they№re spading rows of
vegetables again. Studies have shown that, in hard times, Russians grow as
much as one third of their own food.
іLast year I didn№t know anyone who was growing potatoes,І says Andrei
Tumanov, editor of a Moscow-based magazine, Vashi 6 Sotok, that provides
advice for dacha owners. іBut this year, they№re growing a lot more
vegetables. Sales of vegetable seeds are up by 40 percent.І
Yelena Illinguina, for one, intends to spend her entire summer at the dacha
this year. іTraveling outside of Russia was something we only recently began
to experience, and now it№s becoming more difficult again,І says the
pensioner. іBut the dacha is always there; it№s the place to escape to.І
Some governments, however, aren№t comfortable with citizens giving up travel
­ at least not domestically. The Japanese are usually among those who can be
found, sophisticated cameras in hand, on the streets of Hamburg or the
beaches of Hawaii. Not so much this year.
Many are rediscovering the road trip, with the aid of the government, which
has slashed tolls on major expressways to help boost the economy. The
reductions can add up to a saving of $80 or more on long trips. For
Yoshihito Kobori and his family, it will be a group outing.
іThis summer, we will head off to the western part of the country to see my
father in Mie,І says Mr. Kobori, who lives in Shizuoka in central Japan. іMy
relatives and our family, 10 of us, will go together in three cars.І
There№s only one problem with all the cars on the asphalt: Even more of the
country№s legendary traffic jams. During Japan№s Golden Week holiday, in
early May, the government set up hundreds of temporary toilets for drivers
in congested areas and even handed out disposable car potties. (No more
description needed.)
Australians are taking advantage of government breaks for leisure as well.
Pensioners received a $1,000 check this year as part of a government
stimulus package. Eventually, all taxpayers received a $900 reimbursement.
Goran Andersson, a Swedish expatriate living in Sydney, used some of that
windfall to take his wife, Marie, on a charter flight to Australia№s wine
country, where they spent a week on a іbudget holiday.І What№s more, the
stimulus check covered half of Mr. Andersson№s ticket to his summer vacation
spot: A quaint island fishing village in Sweden.
іIt№s like a small village from the olden days,І he says. іThe modern
infrastructure is missing. Pump your own own water. No electricity. It takes
you back to basic living and it works.І
Such idyllic ideas captivated American thinkers in the 19th and early 20th
centuries, іwhen leisure was centrally important in the discourse about
politics and the economy,І says Mr. Hunnicut, the author. The Great
Depression changed all that and gave birth to the 40-hour work week.
Now the fear among many workers is that the current recession will erode
Americans№ leisure time even more.
іToday, Americans are worried about being able to retain jobs, so I think,
unfortunately, at times like these, leisure time with family is sacrificed
first,І says Monika Stodolska, a leisure expert at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. іWhat I№m hearing is that we like the European
model ­ who wouldn№t? ­ but that we can№t afford to follow the European
model.І
We can№t? Whitney Crawford, a recent graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, has been
reading up on Finnish cottage culture to see how Scandinavians relax. She
says the Finns go to rural escapes to help іcalm down and take stock of
life.І In that same spirit, even though bereft of vacation money herself,
she№s discovering the leafy joys of Atlanta№s Piedmont Park and a pair of
Rollerblades, as well as cheap dinners at home with roommates..
іI think this economy is tougher on my parents№ generation, because they№re
used to creature comforts,І she says. іFor me, cutting back means I№m
appreciating my friends more, just knowing that everybody is in the same
boat.І
And if that№s not appealing enough, Virgin Atlantic just announced it should
be ready to begin its space tourism program ­ in two years.