I will really give it a think. Thank you for sharing your story and I hope it helps me come to a decision... I just went out to grab some things from Chinatown, about a 30 minute subway ride away. I realized how stressed I was getting even on a routine ride - with the trains, with the loud kids getting out of school, everything.
Of course it comes down to options and where I would go or could go, that would be truly relaxing for me.
I'll speak to my boss about his island. He goes there every summer. I wonder if he would mind if I stayed with him for three months. That's a good solid break isn't it? And the island doesn't even have electricity - "living like pygmies and running around in loincloths" as a friend put it. Wonderful (genuinely wonderful, not sarcastic!)