Here's how it works for me.

There is the prep from home for the trip, interruptions from neighbors fascinated by the concept...talk talk talk... I'm thinking "Would you please shut up and go away!!! I'll be back in a few weeks and we can talk then".

Then there is the drive and the visits with friends up north before putting in along with last minute items... as maybe an out of state fishing license.

Then there is the morning of the put in, and getting beyond the crowds.  My mind is still rushing just like it does every day.  As the first two three days steal by... no more political views, no more this or that celebrity had an affair, no more "Let's impeach the president" no more this client needs me to do this, or I need to do that to insure the happy continuation of this or that relationship.  No more gotta pay the mortgage today...Everything drops away.  I get the news I need from the sky, the wind and the waves.

I've left home and returned to find loved ones had died that were healthy upon departure.  I've left to find we are in the midst of some new battle or crisis upon returning.  But while I was gone... that was all gone, out of sight, out of mind... yet it takes me a few days to get there.  A few days for the voices of everyday to be silenced and for my mind to become still like the water on a windless evening.  Only then is my mind and soul open to the zen of the north.  Only then.

k