The Family Vacation
The family vacation, do we love it or hate it? The answers is "Yes!". Should we take trips as a family? Of course we should!
Think back to your childhood and I bet some of the best memories you have are times spent going places with your family.
Some of my earliest memories come from our family trips. I don't remember my age, but I remember learning to fish with my dad and grandpa in Rhineland Wisconsin. The town had the coolest local monster - the Hodag. I have not been back in decades, but I can still picture the Hodag and our little cabin. I don't know if what is in my memory is anything close to reality, but I would not trade what is in my head for anything.
The Hodag
I became a professional SCUBA instructor and purchased my first "real" business because of an experience on a family vacation. We drove to Vermont to visit an old college friend of my parents. He lived on a beautiful lake with his family and had all the water toys you could ever want. I was offered the chance to go SCUBA diving. I found the idea of trying to breath underwater terrifying but I was too embarrassed to admit it so I went. It was great, I loved it. Soon after I got home I started looking for places to get certified and eventually became an instructor and opened a dive shop with a friend.
One of our biggest family trips was spending 6 weeks traveling Europe with my parents and my Grandma. As a 12 year old, much of the trip was not appealing a the time. I did not want to room with my grandma, I did not want to be away from my friends and pets. I am sure that there were times when my parents wished that they would have left me home with Grandpa. I know that there were times that I wished that. Looking back, I realize how lucky that I was. I saw some beautiful places, ate unfamiliar foods, and experienced things that many people never will. Look for those "once in a lifetime" trips . Your kids may not want to go now, but they will thank you later.
As a kid, we took family trips every summer. As time passed, our trips gradually became less and less frequent. Eventually, we were skipping several years at a time. My goal is to reverse this trend. I already have my next family trip scheduled for this November. My parents don't know it yet, but when I see them again I am going to try to convince them to make our trips much more frequent. I would love it if we could get some of the aunts, uncles, cousins and friends to join us as well. We are not always going to be able to do things together. Time, money and and health concerns are always on the horizon and I don't want to look back and wish that I had spent more time together.
Keep Charting Memories
Drew