Vacation is “free time” that we dedicate to ourselves

The most accredited research on vacations and the use of free time agrees on one central point:  if planned in too much detail, vacation and free time activities are less satisfying . It is clear that the presence of too many elements of rigidity  in the time we reserve for ourselves ends up undermining its  free nature .

And when you are on vacation, often the key to enjoying the limited but free time that we have available is  to live it  in an intense, varied and spontaneous way. Calendar and clock must therefore assume a dimension much less relevant than the one they have in our daily lives.

Not all territorial contexts can favor a quality choice  for the time we dedicate to ourselves on vacation . It is in fact an essential condition that the places we choose for our stay have a menu of opportunities as varied and complete as possible. We are aware that we cannot do everything that the menu offers us, but the variety of options on the field makes us feel not obliged to predefined paths and therefore not easily manageable by our personal will.

Without wanting to assign patents of exclusivity, it is easy to recognize that as a wealth of opportunities,  in  Salento  there is always so much to do and discover.

The two very different but also very close seas make possible a range of options that do not force us into the habit of sunbathing and a nice swim. You can relax on the nearest beautiful beach, but you can also decide to get to know the area in which we have decided to stay better. Few people want to grind out kilometers during their vacation. This is easier if you have small and medium-sized quality historical centers within reach. Or “fortified farms” capable of telling a story of life of a little-known community. At least ten of these are truly unmissable in the Nardò-Gallipoli area. Natural parks and protected areas of extraordinary beauty and originality, not immense in their territorial extension, but precisely for this reason easier for the visitor to get to know. Just think of Porto Selvaggio or Alimini or Ugento. In another section of this blog, the opportunities for trekking and cycling are indicated in more detail.

If you are close to a beautiful city rich in art and culture like Lecce or to jewels like the historic centres of Gallipoli, Otranto, Galatina and Nardò and others, you cannot help but want to spend half a day or a few hours in the evening there.

Gastronomy is finally the common thread that unites all these contexts. Whether you are on the beach or walking around parks or towns, local specialties are a delicious opportunity for a break dedicated to tasting food. From octopus to frisella, from vegetables to seasonal fruit, there is plenty to “indulge” in the tasting of flavors that tell us an important part of the world of Salento.

So if we want to make the most of our free time on vacation, we must be spontaneous and not depend on the calendar, the clock, the agenda. Let’s keep the menu of opportunities at hand so as to fully appreciate the quality of the territory we have chosen: Salento