It’s Okay to do Nothing

One of the weirdest things I’ve noticed about living in Beijing is that I feel pressure to never waste a day. If I tell someone that I sat in my apartment and watched YouTube videos all day, they’d look at me like something was wrong. It’d be like saying my cat died.

But sometimes, I’m not given that chance to recharge because of that pressure to always do something. Always be on the move, always be around people. You don’t want to waste the time you’re in another country. Take the time to explore it! Hearing that can be difficult after working overtime for weeks because of various reasons.

When I finally get the chance to take a vacation of my own, I don’t hesitate to get on a plane and go back home. To nothing.

On any map of Michigan, you can see Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Traverse City. There’s a huge part of Northern Michigan where there’s nothing. No dots showing different cities, no mountain ranges. Nothing. Except for a river and a couple lakes. I’m from the area with the lakes in that big patch of nothing.

Anyone that’s into hunting, fishing, or camping would find it to be a sort of paradise. There are some parts of Northern Michigan where it’s difficult to get a cell phone signal. Some places are true dead-zones. Around the hunting season, any Home Depot will sell you a freezer by saying how many deer fit in it. It’s…