Americans, as a group, are not known globally as a vacation-loving culture, unlike in Europe and other parts of the world where it’s expected for the work pace to slow down, to take weeks or even months off and then breeze back into the office in late August with a tan and the smell of seaside in your hair.
Growing up in southern Russia, summer was serious business for my family. Every summer, since the year I was born until the age of 13, was spent at a resort in the Black Sea that my grandfather managed. Imagine a Soviet version of the White Lotus experience: greeting guests, handing out towels, taking them on tours to see the waterfalls. Every child’s dream.
