Introduction
When you go on vacation, something changes. It’s not just your location, but your mindset as well. You look up more, notice textures, colors, smells, eventually walking a little slower, savoring details. You are more present.
This is the vacation mindset: a shift from inward rumination to outward attention. And it’s not just a pleasant side effect of travel. It’s a way of being that writer Aldous Huxley believed was fundamental to clear perception and, ultimately, to freedom.
In a lesser known Huxley work, regarding vision, The Art of Seeing (1942), later collected in The Doors of Perception, Huxley argues that much of what we “see” is determined not by our eyes but by our mental habits. He warns that those habits are, most of the time, turned inward. This ultimately acts in our detriment.
What is Vacation Mindset?
The vacation mindset would be a psychological posture that favors attention over analysis. Last year, I finished a two and a half year spout of research on Vacation Architecture in Nonseasonal Places. I was trying to reverse engineer the experience of being in timeless spaces. More recently, I started correlating the experience not with the places and spaces, but with the mindset induced by being in a different environment. This means:
- Looking outward instead of obsessing inward
- Reclaiming wonder and childlike curiosity
- Observing without immediately judging or categorizing
This mindset shouldn’t be reserved only for holidays. It represents an attentional shift that we can train. Huxley believed this kind of seeing was the key to deeper, more joyful living.
Aldous Huxley’s Take on Perception
Huxley recounts his own journey of partially restoring his vision, impaired since youth. The technique was an ineffective method called the Bates Method. More importantly, the book is a meditation on how our minds distort our sensory experience.
Key takeaways from the book
“The more powerful the mind, the more it gets in the way.”
Huxley notes that highly intellectual people often see the least. Their mental filters are too thick. They don’t see the world for what it is. They interpret it automatically.
“Perception is active, not passive.”
Seeing clearly requires a mindful effort. “Visual education is the education of attention.”
“We see what we expect to see.”
Huxley describes countless experiments and examples where people miss what’s in front of them because they’re locked into habitual ways of seeing. The inward filter clouds the outward truth. There is no truth.
It’s as if the brain classifies incoming sensory information to match past templates. This explains why the vacation mindset can feel so liberating. You remove the filter by being in a new environment, free of the mental tags you assign to your regular life.
Why does it matter?
This current generation is addicted to productivity, introspection, and constant self-optimization. As such, the vacation mindset is a radical act, even self indulgent. Vacation mindset is not a call for disengagement. The idea is to actually re-engage with the richness of the world beyond the self.
We can consider the following:
- Anxiety often thrives in closed loops of internal thought.
- Inspiration often arises from external stimuli. This can range from books or movies to simple things such as a tree in motion, a stranger’s gesture, the ambient sounds of a cafe.
- Creativity doesn’t come from more self analysis, but from mixing novel inputs.
Huxley’s message is simple: see more, think less. At least at first. Let the world in before you try to interpret it, without attributing judgement.
How to practice Vacation Mindset at Home
- Go on a 30-minute walk without headphones. Notice three things you’d normally ignore.
- Describe what you see aloud. This activates visual attention (a technique Huxley recommended).
- Visit an unfamiliar place in your city. Let your senses lead instead of your plans.
- Take five deep breaths and ask yourself: What haven’t I noticed yet?
These are small but powerful acts of reclaiming perception.
Conclusion
Aldous Huxley’s exploration of sight was never just about the eyes. It was about the freedom to perceive without filters.
It’s important to mention that Huxley’s thoughts, as he expresses them in Perception, are the result of a series of psychological therapy sessions conducted under the influence of mescaline. After conducting these experiments, he reached several thought provoking conclusions that some would disagree with. Perhaps the hottest take is the fact that artwork, such as paintings and sculptures, are inexpressive, lack meaning and are the pinnacle of humanity’s self indulgence to internalize and depict their own perception on a topic. During one of the sessions, he compares an oil canvas painting with a vase of flowers, the latter being far more stimulating than the restrictive imagery of the painting.
Returning to the concept of vacation mindset, one could perceive it as an act of rebellion, against numbness and the mental autopilot we enforce upon ourselves. A rebellion against the ego.
Sources
Huxley, Aldous. The Art of Seeing. Chatto & Windus, 1942.
Huxley, Aldous. The Doors of Perception. Chatto & Windus, 1954.
Scarpa, Tiziano. Venice is a Fish: A Sensual Guide. Serpent’s Tail, 2008.