Meet David Campbell’s alter ego
When morning television co-host David Campbell wakes up on the first day of a holiday, he finds that his personality has been snatched during the night by someone else.
Stellar
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My wife loves me. I know this because I am an extremely needy person and I ask her every day. However, she loves one specific part of me more than anything else.
The joy she has when she knows it’s coming is palpable.
Now, get your minds out of the gutter. It’s definitely not what you think.
She loves Holiday Dave.
Let me preface this by saying that we both have jobs, we juggle kids and now also a puppy. Our household has a strict schedule which we try to adhere to — otherwise it quickly descends into anarchy.
Kids get out of sleep patterns. Washing piles up to the point of no return and the puppy chews anything her little baby teeth desire.
Our work-life balance is always on a knife edge. So I maintain routines, as that is where I channel my addictive personality. Get up. Help the kids get ready. Shower. Shave. Have a protein shake. Go to work. Rinse. Repeat.
Then there is Holiday Dave. He telegraphs his entry to our lives. It begins when I stop shaving the last day of work before our holiday. I roll over in bed and say “I am not setting my alarm” then pass out.
When I wake I am no longer me. My personality has been snatched during the night by Dave.
He gets up lazily. Puts on a Hawaiian shirt from his collection. He puts cartoons on for the children (on a weekday!). He goes out and brings back coffees. Wears Havaianas to match his favourite shorts, or if it’s a special day... jorts.
The family love this guy. He doesn’t stress. He trains, but doesn’t do portion control. Never wears suits. Has time to play with the kids without looking at a clock. I can see why he’s so alluring.
I have to admit, I’m fond of letting Holi-Dave take the wheel. It’s like Fight Club... but with no fights. “HD” has got this.
Pizza for dinner? You bet. Want to go to a movie during the day on a Monday? He buys you choc tops.
Which makes it so much harder when he has to say goodbye. (Done with a wink and finger guns.)
On a Sunday night, Holiday-D sets an alarm and places out new razors for me. He folds his shirts and puts them back in the wardrobe, where I look after them until he next appears.
I wake up Monday morning feeling myself again. Was he even here?
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I keep choosing the wrong guy. How do I change?
We all have this version of ourselves. The better angels of our personalities who lay there waiting to shake off the shackles of our 9 to 5s. Isn’t there a way to bring them more into our everyday?
This is something that plays on my mind when I see memories pop up on my Facebook. Memories where I am happier, hairier and less harried.
I confess, when life grinds at me, I want to play ‘Escape (The Piña Colada Song)’, grab a loud shirt and be Holiday Dave.
Bring him into my day-to-day more often. Would it be so bad? I don’t want to relinquish control to him completely, but Holi-Dave teaches me that I don’t have to be so stressed all the time.
To be fair, I can’t just look like Magnum P.I. and expect life to take me seriously. Maybe, though, there is a compromise.
A little place the two of us can find where we can hang out with our family. A perfect place. Our Kokomo.
David co-hosts Today Extra, 9am Monday–Wednesday, and Weekend Today, 7am weekends, on the Nine Network.