I wonder if the author is missing an opportunity to step further away by learning physics on this vacation. I usually follow the same playbook- little phone use, slow vacation, hiking in nature, phyical books (carefully selected beforehand- nothing work related, nothing technical), even used to spend a fair bit of time selecting the music i was going to listen to while driving to avoid radio or incar spotify. If lucky, i get these moments of inspiration. if not i return refreshed with slightly altered goals. Like everyone i have a chimp on my shoulder questioning me: could i have been more productive, maybe learn something useful?