Vacation always starts with big plans. Everyone talks about lazy mornings, long afternoons on the water, sunset boat rides, and finally getting a chance to relax. Then somebody asks what everyone wants for dinner, and suddenly the vacation turns into work.
I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count. A family spends months planning a lake trip, arrives excited to unwind, and within twenty-four hours somebody is standing in a crowded grocery store wondering how they became responsible for feeding fourteen people they’ve known their entire lives.
The truth is, most people don’t mind cooking. What they mind is cooking on vacation.
The Grocery Store Trap
It usually starts with one quick grocery run. You grab a cart, pick up a few things for dinner, and tell yourself you’ll be back at the lake in thirty minutes. An hour later you’re still wandering the aisles because somebody forgot to make a list, nobody can agree on what they want to eat, and you’re trying to figure out how fourteen people can consume that many bags of chips in a single weekend.
Then somebody remembers the ice. Someone else forgot the hamburger buns. The kids suddenly need snacks.
Before you know it, you’ve spent half the afternoon doing errands instead of enjoying the reason you came to the lake in the first place.
Everybody Loves Dinner. Nobody Loves Planning It.
Cooking for your family at home is easy because you know the routine.
Vacation is different. You’re working in a kitchen you’ve never seen before, using cookware that may or may not have survived the previous renters, and trying to feed a group that somehow includes a picky eater, a health nut, a teenager, and your uncle who thinks every meal should involve smoked meat.
Dinner starts feeling less like hospitality and more like event management. The funny part is that nobody remembers how much work went into pulling it all together. They just show up hungry.
The Cleanup Always Finds a Volunteer
Eventually, dinner hits the table and everyone settles in. The food disappears, the stories get better, and somebody inevitably mentions how nice it is to finally relax. Then the plates start stacking up. It’s amazing how quickly a group of people can disappear when cleanup enters the conversation.
While everyone else heads for the dock, the fire pit, or another round of drinks, one person is left negotiating with a sink full of dishes and a refrigerator full of leftovers. Vacation may be in full swing for everyone else, but kitchen duty is still clocked in.
Vacation Should Feel Like Vacation
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying nobody should ever cook on vacation. Some of my favorite lake weekends have involved a grill, a cooler, and a group of people with absolutely nowhere to be. The difference is that those meals felt like part of the vacation instead of a responsibility attached to it.
Nobody comes back from vacation wishing they had spent more time making shopping lists or loading the dishwasher. What people want is more time on the water, another hour around the fire pit, one more boat ride, or one more morning drinking coffee on the deck before the day begins.
That’s the real luxury of vacation. It’s not doing more. It’s finally having the chance to do less.
Want to enjoy a delicious meal? Hire The Rogue Chef in Branson, Missouri to make the perfect meal for you. Contact us at www.TheRogueChef.com.
Do you have other culinary questions? Email The Rogue Chef directly at [email protected] to get an answer.
If you want to learn more about the culinary world, consider reading:
- How to Hire a Private Chef
- Why You Should Hire A Private Chef
- Which Private Chef Service is Right for You?
- Culinary Lingo
- How to Support a Local Business Without Spending Any Money
- Fancy Words for Common Foods
- Table Etiquette, What You Need to Know
- How to Know Your Holiday Dinner was NOT Catered by a Private Chef