If you were to come up with one word to describe your ideal life, what would it be? If several come to mind, try to winnow them down to the one word that best captures what you would consider the perfect life. Words like "rich" and "wealthy" didn't even cross my mind, for I am the farthest thing from materialistic. I think the best things in life tend to be free -- love, knowledge, laughter, companionship. For me, no word encapsulates the ideal life quite like simple . A self-proclaimed minimalist, I try to reduce as much clutter in my life -- both mental and physical -- as I possibly can. I respect those who find great fulfillment in owning the biggest houses, roomiest cars, and shiniest baubles. But that's just not me. I am much easier to please, finding satisfaction in the simplest things -- like reading a great book, taking a relaxing walk around the park, or watching an interesting documentary on TV. You're probably wondering whether ...

Several of my high school colleagues are popping out babies as if it were a competition. Even a good number of my co-workers have a bun in the oven. I've never seen so many pregnant women at the same time. There must be something in the water! This is in stark contrast to all the reports I come across about the birthrate going down and how people are waiting longer to start a family. My wife and I definitely fall into such a group. We want to spend a couple more years traveling and enjoying our marriage before we contemplate having one of our own. Indeed, having kids is a life changer, and for the time being at least, we're trying to make the most out of living sans children. A friend and ex co-worker of mine, who had her daughter 14 months ago, told me a few weeks back that raising a child is far more taxing than she'd ever imagined. To my surprise, she sent me a text about two weeks ago inviting me to yet another baby shower -- this time for a boy that's due ...

Can you think of something that's simultaneously fun and stressful? At first blush, those two words may seem all but contradictory. While many of us might point to parenthood, school, or our jobs, there's one thing I'm in the midst of doing that might also make the list for many of you: travel planning.  My wife and I are currently planning a trip to Boston.  As you probably know, there's a plethora of things to do and see in Beantown, from walking along the 2.5-mile stretch known as the Freedom Trail to taking a tour of Fenway Park to visiting a wide array of colleges and universities in the area, most notably Harvard and MIT. As a history nerd, the thought of soaking up so much of it is highly stimulating, not to mention orienting myself with a city I've only seen up to now in pictures, books, and movies.  But as any avid traveler would note, planning a vacation takes some time and effort. For example, you have to be mindful of the busine...

I've noticed that every time I request a couple of days off, one of my co-workers immediately asks, "So where are you going?" They assume that if a person plans to be out for three or four days, they must be planning a vacation. While that's always a possibility, what happened to requesting time off just to relax? I've done this on several occasions over the years. Reality check: Some of us actually like using the free time to:  Sleep in  Binge-watch Netflix in our underwear or  pajamas  Catch up on our reading  Watch a movie at the local theater  Hit up a nearby beach  Do things around the house, like clean,  organize, or renovate Traveling can be fun, but it can also be awfully draining. Between planning, packing, walking, and hailing cabs, it can often feel like work in itself. In other words, people sometimes take time off to travel and end up feeling as tired -- if not more so -- when they come back home than if they had go...

Our lifestyles are a direct reflection of various factors, including our personalities, jobs, and responsibilities at home. Parents' lives are presumably much busier and more stressful than those of the child-free. Teachers will lead much different lives than doctors, cops face a much different set of pressures than, say, couriers and chefs.  Some of us have more active social lives than our peers. While I have only three really close friends in my life, some people would need more than two hands to count all their buddies.  There are those who embrace a busy, strenuous life, and then there are people like me who prefer a more relaxed, deliberate pace. Neither is necessarily better than the other. We are each wired differently and derive stimulation from disparate sources -- the more introverted among us from reading, writing and other solitary activities, and the rest from social engagements like parties. Some of us go to church, others to sports games.  So...

What's your preferred way of traveling? Would you rather travel to places in person, or in your head? For certain people, the latter seems more up their alley. The reasons for this are varied. It may be that they're: Afraid of airplanes Hesistant to deal with the stress that comes from travel Strapped for cash Uncomfortable with the thought of being away from home for days in an unfamiliar place Perfectly content traveling vicariously -- through videos, books, documentaries, and other sources I think I can be a little of both. It all depends on the mood I'm in. Sometimes I would rather spend the weekend at home learning about a city -- say, Paris or Honolulu --- via travel books or videos than by actually traveling there.  Every once in a while, though, I do get the itch to venture beyond the comfy confines of my condo and explore museums, mountains, and other attractions that glossy magazine photos don't do justice to. Some people might argue ...

Most of us seem to engage in linear thinking when mulling over how we think our lives will play out. We presume we'll work until our mid to late 60s, retire, and then live another 20 to 30 years. In the meantime, we try to "live life to the fullest" by staying as busy as we possibly can -- doing everything from traveling to having more kids to working multiple jobs. The fact is, none of us really know how long we'll be on this earth. We'd all like to think we'll live to be 90 or 100, but none of us can see into the future to know for sure. Without getting too morbid here, I'd like to go straight to my central point in this post: Is a good life necessarily one where you're so busy that you can't even stop to enjoy the music? How many people do you know who still stay home on the weekends just watching movies or reading books? Do you know anyone who actually does his or her best to slow it down as opposed to getting caught up doing a million...