I write this month’s column not from Belmont, but from Germany. My wife is German, and part of the “deal” in our relationship is that we spend every “urlaub” (vacation) in Germany visiting with her family. That nearly always includes one week at the North Sea, where my in-laws have a “ferienwohnung” (holiday apartment).
Vacationing at the North Sea is not for the faint of heart. My family has spent a week in Sankt Peter-Ording (SPO), a small tourist village between Hamburg and the German-Danish border, every summer for 16 years. This year, like most years, the temperature never crept over 70 degrees. We saw the sun only once in our seven days there, and the wind was frequently so strong that running into it felt like what I imagine Heartbreak Hill feels like in the Boston Marathon. SPO is certainly not what most Americans envision when they imagine a “beach vacation.”
Despite the challenging weather, I’ve come to truly enjoy these annual trips. I like a good change of scenery for vacation. At the North Sea, I love going the entire week without setting foot in a car – everywhere I want to visit is accessible by walking or biking via a network of dedicated paths. Breakfast every morning consists of fresh “brötchen” (literally, “little bread”) from the bakery around the corner, complemented with a variety of cheeses, jellies, and local honey. Quite a contrast from the hastily scarfed cereal that constitutes my usual weekday breakfast at home.
And with all due respect to my wonderful friends and neighbors in Belmont, I sometimes just need to get away from people in general. Despite my many activities around town, I am a fundamentally introverted person. It’s not that I don’t like people, but social interaction tires me out. SPO is a great place to get away from people and recharge my social battery. For the past several years, I’ve started every day of our North Sea week with an early morning two-kilometer run to an isolated beach, where I go for a quick dip before running back. At this time of the morning, I am usually the only person on the beach for as far as I can see. It’s an introvert’s dream. No obligation to interact with anyone. It’s just me and the sea.
When I committed to spending all my vacations in Germany 20 years ago, I did not anticipate that our week at this little seaside town would become such an important part of my year. German doctors have been sending patients with respiratory illnesses to SPO for over a century for sea-air therapy, and though fortunately I don’t suffer from any such illness, the air does leave me feeling rejuvenated. Clean sea air, no cars, few people, and fresh bread for breakfast. Now that’s a vacation.
Eric J. Perkins writes about Gen X for The Belmont Voice. When he’s not writing, he’s the Director of Transformation at Addgene, a life sciences nonprofit in Watertown.