But unfortunately there were two things he felt compelled to do during this six weeks of splendid isolation from the media and the fans.
First was to have his knee seen to. Rafter, the world No 3 and two-time US Open champion, had been prepared to undergo an arthroscope to fast-track a recovery from a knee injury which cut short his 1998 year in time for the big January tournaments in his home country, where he has yet to win an ATP Tour title. But a Brisbane specialist told him on Monday that surgery was not necessary after examining the second of two MRI scans taken at Holy Spirit Hospital.
Rafter, savouring his Queensland holiday while the elite eight-man field contest the ATP Finals in Germany, said he would now rest his body from tennis practice until after Christmas.
"There is inflammation behind the kneecap, which has been there for years," he said yesterday.
"I'll wait for a couple of weeks for the inflammation to settle down and then I can start to strengthen the muscles around the knee.
"All through the American summer and European winter, I was changing surfaces and it just got worse".
The second task was to repay an old debt. He felt he should do something to give some publicity to the Brisbance motor dealership which has lent him a luxury car whenever he has been at home for the past five years, through thick and thin.
He wasn't asked to do anything and by giving them publicity, he in effect was blowing his own cover.
But a sportsman who is prepared to give $300 000 to a children's charity, as Rafter did on his last Brisbane visit, is full of nice surprises.
Centenary Motors sales manager Robert Tucker looks happy enough about lending Rafter a $121 000 Mercedes E280. After all, Rafter who drives a mini Moke around his home base of Bermuda, has a clean driving record behind the wheel.
Perhaps Tucker should be more concerned about the sportsman seeing some bum on the streets on his way hiome and giving it away.
Outside the showrom, there is a 90% chance of rain, Rafter's worry was about Australia's ability of being able to beat both the England cricket team and the storms percolating towards the Gabba.
Inside, he knows that by giving yet another interview there is a 100% chance he will be asked to talk about Mark Philippoussis again, but if that's the price of looking after someone who was loyal to him, so be it.
The story of the car deal is a simple one, but symptomatic of the push and pull forces which exert themselves whenever the dual US Open champion enters Australian air space. This week, there is a fund-raising function for his sister Louise's Miss Queensland campaign.
"I'd love to go. I feel like I should, but.....", he trails off.
Later in his annual holiday, there is a charity function in Adelaide which he is attending as a favour to his friend, John Fitzgerald. But there are two best athlete awards which he will not attend, partly because he feels uneasy that he does not know all the elite Olympic athletes he runs into when he feels he ought to.
"I just don't like being in the spotlight, which is part of the job when I come to Australia", he said. "I'd have loved to have gone to the Gabba to watch the cricket, but there would have been so many people. I don't like to go outside like that these days. I like to stay indoors".
Not that the 25 year-old multi-millionaire is some sort of Antipodean Howard Hughes. Rafter frequents the resort golf courses on the Sunshine Coast or goes surfing with his brothers off coastal destinations like Peregian Beach, where the waves crash from a little too high for his liking.
"My nature is not to be so restrictive. I like to go out and have a
drink with my mates and relax like anyone else", he said. "It's harder
in Australia than when I'm on the tour." "Here, when you are sitting on
the bike, doing a workout and somone comes up
for a chat or an autograph because they recognise you, they aren't
being disrespectful - it's just the way Australians are. you have to look
at cultures. In Europe and America, they don't come up so much".
On the shark-school which is the international tennis tour, Rafter has
ruled the red pen through few names. "I give people second and third chances,
even if they burn me. When my tennis was down and I was getting a few injuries
(in
1995 and 1996) people were mostly pretty supportive, I didn't get many
bad articles about me", he said.
In a sense, the strategy of Rafter's business advisers to take advantage of the looks which have seen him become a regular on magazine "most sexy" lists, allied to his overseas success, have stimulated the interest in something other than his forehand volley and record on grass.
The bus-stops of his homeown carry a moody, shirt-off shot to endorse sunglasses. He can even be seen without a shirt in photographs promoting mobile phones.
"I don't mind the shirt-off ones. If that's the sort of image they want. But I've pretty much cut my losses when it comes to doing underwear shots though", he said.
Part of the Rafter newsworthiness quotient is his model girlfriend Lara Feltham, the brunette in grandstands captured by the cameras so often at the US Open in the role pioneered by Patti Connors and Bjorn Borg's former wife, Mariana.
Pressed on the future of that relationship, he offers: "I've still got a few more years on the tour. The future is something Lara and I don't discuss much. We are taking it as it comes."
Rafter figures who he settles down with will partly decide where he lives after retirement from the tour. "The (Sunshine) Coast is pretty good though. God's country," he said.