There is no doubt that we are living in an increasingly digital world, and the pandemic has only accelerated this trend.  Sometimes I muse about whether kids in the future will even feel the need to shop at stores, dine at restaurants, attend college, or watch movies in person. For starters, we can do most of our shopping on Amazon.  And why spend time waiting for a table at a restaurant when you can have the meal delivered in less than 30 minutes via Uber Eats or DoorDash?  Then there's movies. No need to trek to the theater when you can save a few bucks by waiting a month or two for the movie to be made available on Amazon Prime or Netflix.  College students needn't leave their homes in order to get a college education as many institutions of higher learning now offer fully online degrees.  And a growing number of employers are now allowing their employees to work from home -- a trend that isn't necessarily going away post-pandemic.  Chances are there's a...

Without even realizing it, some people get into the hard-to-shake habit of always trying to find something to nitpick about their lives. They could have the kind of life others can only dream of -- a bank account flush with cash, a loving spouse, sterling health, wonderful kids, a capacious house, an enviable career. But it's just never enough. They need the latest iPhone. They feel compelled to whip up drama in their relationship once they go too long without having an argument with their partner. They grow bored of every job after six months, despite the fact they're paid handsomely and have nothing to complain about in the workplace. These hard-to-please individuals will be perpetually dissatisfied until the day they realize that life isn't about having the most or best of everything, but about making the most of what one has.  That's not to say that one can't strive to achieve goals and better their station in life. After all, whether we wish to lau...

I'm happy to say I achieved two feats over the last week: (1) I visited New York City for the first time in my life! You're probably asking, "What took you so long, dude?" Well, I'd never been big on traveling until now, not to mention the fact that my wife and I chose to save up for a while in order to have the wherewithal to go on these trips. (Much like our trip to Boston last summer, vacationing in the Big Apple costs a pretty penny.) What's more, it wasn't until just a few years ago that I morphed into the biggest history nerd on the planet. Now I have a valid excuse to explore historic cities big and small, from New York City to Washington D.C. Museums, anyone? (2) Just as my plane was landing in New York, I finished reading Ron Chernow's behemoth 730-page biography Alexander Hamilton , which inspired the hit Broadway musical .  It was fitting that I completed the book when I did, for Alexander Hamilton, immigrant-turned-Founding-Father a...

That is, if your goal is to become (1) rich in knowledge (2) rich in laughter (3) rich in health (4) rich in family (5) rich in love, and   (6) rich in experiences. Does money buy comfort? Yes. Does it buy security? Yes. Does it buy long-lasting happiness? It could, but that's not always a given. If it were, you wouldn't have wealthy celebrities battling drug and depression problems. Life is about more than money. Material possessions can only bring us so much happiness. Nine times out of ten, I get more enjoyment out of learning new things through a great book, compelling documentary, or visit to the museum than I do buying shirts, household appliances, and other stuff I might not even need. There are so many great things money can't buy. You can't put a price tag on the love shared between friends and family. You can't monetize laughter, especially not the kind that makes tears come out of your eyes. And you certainly can't appraise simple, every...

Mashable.com recently published an article about a guy who made an unexpected find while traveling near Santa Cristina, Italy. It is there that he stumbled upon a familiar sight: the very view that he had set as his picture background on his phone. The picture is of Langkofel and Plattkofel in the Dolomites mountain range in Northeastern Italy. He says he originally set it as his background picture because he was looking for beautiful towns to visit while in Italy. Coincidental, isn't it? I can only imagine the guy's reaction upon beholding the mountains in person: "Hey, that looks familiar..." If you think that's an odd story, you haven't heard about my trip to Walt Disney World one year. I took a plethora of pictures as I always do while on vacation. Upon close inspection of one of the pictures, I noticed that an old friend from elementary school (who lived in the same city as me at the time) appeared in the background!  I didn't even know sh...

Is there anything harder than going back to work following a weeklong vacation? Of course there is, but most people would concede that doing so is no easy task. I went on a trip to Boston with my wife last week and had a great time. So great, in fact, that I dreaded having to go back to the office today. It was a miracle I was even able to get up on time! No, it's not that I disdain my job. Sure, there are things about it I wish I could change, but I like certain aspects of it. It's just difficult to get back in a working groove again after having spent several days sightseeing and soaking up as much history possible. And it isn't as though my brain was on vacation during the trip; I spent a great deal of time reading descriptions on exhibits and buildings. The bottom line is that most of us would gladly prefer sauntering around a city and hitting up popular sites and attractions to being holed up in a cubicle for eight hours every day. Somehow, though, we...

If Monday is July 4th, that can only mean one thing: a long weekend draws near! It doesn't feel like the last long weekend we had -- Memorial Day weekend -- was that long ago. Time flies! One of the best things about a long weekend is the fact that things begin to get a whole lot calmer around Thursday. Suddenly, you start noticing people taking days off or leaving earlier. It is for this reason that I actually enjoy going to work on Fridays that precede long weekends. Because there are fewer people around to interrupt and distract you, you can usually do more of whatever it is you intend to do, whether it's lollygag or actual work.  Indeed, I find the best days to take off are those where everyone is at work -- except me. But if several people are out, I just don't get the same satisfaction from being out of the office. I become especially disgruntled when I request a day off, only to discover that my boss won't be in that day either.  Anyhow, I wa...

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...

Do you prefer taking a weeklong vacation (5+ consecutive days), or would you rather take your days sporadically -- say, five back-to-back Mondays? If I'm going out of town, I suppose the first option is best. However, I strongly prefer the second alternative, and here's why. Everyone knows that five straight days of vacation go by in a flash. As if that weren't enough, the sting that comes from having to go back to work seems more potent when you've been off five or more successive days. On the other hand, the pangs that accompany having to return to the office don't seem nearly as strong when you take days off here and there. After all, you've only had one day off (or as many as three if the day precedes or follows the weekend). Thus, you don't feel like you've been away from the work grind for too long. With the second option, you're basically enjoying your days over a wider stretch of time. It's almost like eating a meal more slowly so...

It's Friday. For some of us, it's pay day. And, best of all,  a 3-day weekend awaits us. Triple jackpot! I posted earlier this week about how great it would be if employees had the option to work four-day weeks, thereby giving them three days off in which to rest, have fun, handle errands, etc. Since this choice is available to hardly anyone, all we can do is look forward to the next holiday that falls on a Friday or Monday. For those in the U.S., that would be Memorial Day, which is celebrated this year on Monday, May 25. While some people like using three-day weekends to go on vacation, I like staying close to home and hitting up the movies and restaurants, as well as squeezing in a concert or ballgame if we're able to book the tickets on time. Normally, I do nothing on Sundays but stay home relax, watch TV, and catch up on bills. When I know I'll have Monday off, however, Sunday becomes a "Saturday, continued" and Monday, the day before we have to r...

Full-time professionals in the U.S. work at least 40 hours a day, five days a week. A five-day work week (Monday-Friday) consists of 120 hours, meaning that we spend at least 33% of our time in the office. To put it another way, on average, we work 22 out of 30 days each month. And that doesn't even include the time we spend driving to and from work. Needless to say, when you consider how many of our waking hours are spent at work compared to the time we have off on the weekends, it's easy to see that we give away a hefty chunk of our lives to our employers. Save for the few vacations, if any, we take each year, weekends are usually our only time to: Relax Get more sleep Run errands we don't have time to do in the week Enjoy dining and entertainment with our partners, friends or families Do groceries Pay bills Mow the lawn and handle other home maintenance And more Let's face it: We don't have time to do all of the above every weekend. Just like wit...