Effort-to-Fun Ratio, the Wild Coast and the Thrill of Victory

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My cousin Igor shared this term with me: What’s the effort-to-fun ratio?

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In other words, for the extra amount of effort you expend, will you have a proportionally greater amount of fun?

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Let me give you a practical example.

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For Caroline’s birthday, we finally decided to take an extended long weekend trip to Umngazi. Umngazi, that well-known but fundamentally elusive destination, tucked away near Port St. Johns on the Wild Coast.

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It’s a kid-friendly resort situated on a river close to the ocean, and you need to overcome several obstacles to get there.

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1. The trek: A 90-minute flight to East London from Cape Town, followed by a 5-hour plus drive through an area that lives up to its reputation as the Wild Coast both in terms of the state of the roads and the natural beauty.
2. Availability: You don’t simply book a stay at Umngazi. You either go during a relatively unpopular time period, or you embody your best ambulance chaser and hound families who are emigrating, have fallen on hard times, or feuding for their coveted slot during school holidays. And once you have it, you return year after year, thanking your gods for the privilege of access.
3. Reverse buyer’s remorse: My wife cried when we checked out. And my kids were impossible. Nobody… nobody… wanted to come home, to the point that Caroline asked me to do the math to see if we could afford to just move there full time.

The effort is substantial. The reward is exponential. It was a magical few days, and we found ourselves (among many other first-timers) extending by a day. It’s that good – from the service, the activities, the community, the magic… from kids to adults, we had a blast.

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And it comes back to this: Sometimes the extra effort is merited. Sometimes the trek, the hustle, the aggravation are all worth it because the reward is that much sweeter. Sometimes, of course, it’s not. But I daresay that these instances are the minority… we should all go a little further, do a little more, and enjoy exponential rewards.

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Oh, and don’t quit on the first go. We have been angling towards this particular getaway for a few years now, and our timing for our first go was perfect. Also, at the resort, in true Kellerman’s à la Dirty Dancing style, they offer activities for both kids and adults alike. We didn’t win our first go at the Quiz Night Championship… but we sure as hell cleaned up for the top spot the second time around. And we have the bottle of moderately priced red win to prove it.

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PG’s Pro Tip:

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary? Well, it’s that little bit extra…

Kind regards,

PG