Ultimate Blog Challenge - Do you like to be at home or out in the world?

Welcome back to Day 11 of October's Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Today's prompt is

Do you like to be at home or out in the world?

The question might just as well be "are you an introvert or extrovert?" 

To which the answer is "it depends / both".

According to Myers-Briggs I am a protector: ISFJ: introvert sensing feeling judging

When it comes to stay at home or venture out, my preferences seem to come in waves. After being sick and weak for several weeks early this year, I pledged to thoroughly enjoy spring, which I did. 

Even though summer was too hot for me, I still went places. Same for fall.

The more hectic things are at work, however, the more I crave quiet time, and vice versa.

At my first real job I was underwhelmed and bored. The hours were dragging on, and for lunch hour I would enjoy going out, meeting people for a quick bite or visiting my favorite clothing stores. I distinctly remember going to the mall or IKEA on Saturdays even though I didn't need anything. Was I crazy? 

These days, I would not do this if you paid me! Courtesy of having a part-time job I have the luxury of running my errands at off-times and avoid the crowds. 

Since the pandemic I have become quite crowd-intolerant.

Take yesterday, for example. We were out exploring the old town of a city about an hour away, and I suggested to visit the nearby pumpkin patch. I had been there earlier this season, and I consider it a happy place.

Whoa, the fact that the parking lot was full, should have told me everything I needed to know. Instead we circled around the area and found a spot further away. On our way to the farm we passed families with littles kids, strollers, tricycles, you get the picture. When we arrived, or actually even before, we heard what we call "public swimming pool sounds": shrieking and whining toddlers. Lots of them. 

This picture looks as if there were no people. Guess what, you have to wait patiently to catch the two seconds where nobody photo bombs your shot!

Deep breaths. We share this planet with all walk of life. 

Speaking of walk. The walk in the heat (well, 24°C = 75°F, in October, mind you) had made us thirsty. I wanted to quickly grab some of the bottled apple juice from the lovely farm store. What I encountered, was unreal: people were waiting in line with trays full of food, all three cashiers were open, and customer's queues reached until the back of the store. I had never seen such a thing! 

And it was around 2:30pm, so way past lunch time. I didn't want to know what the situation must have been like at noon!

I was back out again immediately. We quickly looked at the pretty pumpkin displays and made our way back to the car and to the closest gas station convenience store. 

This was a classic case of too many people for me. I have a lot of respect for the staff. They have to keep smiling, be patient and courteous, and I am sure they were absolutely exhausted by the end of their shift. 

Unless they thrive on this buzz, I guess?

October has been incredible, weather and temperature-wise. Good for business. Outdoor patios that are usually long closed at this time of year around here, still serve customers, which is great of course. 

However, this will end by this weekend. A drop in temperatures and precipitations are in the forecast, and I'm secretly happy about it. 

Time to cozy up at home. Or in our case, head to an away hockey game ;-)

So tell me, do you like to be at home or out in the world?