Take a Vacation

I have three words for you: take a vacation.

Let me explain.

My family and I, which is my husband and our five kids, just returned from a two-week long road trip where we drove from Texas to Niagara Falls and back again. It is by far our longest vacation, but by no means our first. We have been taking a vacation every year since we were first married, and it is probably one of the most important things we do each year.

Taking a vacation has not always been easy, and at times, we have had to be very creative and flexible. Most of our vacations early on were to the beach. To me, this was the picture perfect idea for families. I had the notion I would lie out in the sun, I would listen to the waves crashing in the distance, while my sweet kids would play peacefully in the sand next to me. What really happened was my husband would be charged with lugging the ridiculous amount of food and equipment I had prepared. I would have a kid on the hip, another by the hand, and another would lag far behind. The sand was hot and the walk seemed forever to where we would set up for the day. No sooner would we take everything out before a kid got sand in their mouths, or sand in their eyes, or had a dirty diaper, or needed to go to the bathroom, or cried to go in, or cried to stay out there longer. At some point, my husband said yes, we will go on vacation, but no, we will no longer go to the beach every year (he’s a smart man).

One year we visited Washington, D.C. and we were fortunate enough to stay at my sister’s house. This was great because we were able to spend time with family and stay within our vacation budget. One year we visited Yellowstone National Park and we were fortunate enough to stay with friends of my husband’s. This was a stretch for us at the time because my husband had become friends with this couple through work but we had never met them. They graciously offered our family of seven the opportunity to stay at their home near Yellowstone. At the time, it was the only way we could have ever been able to afford to go so far and to stay so long. Their offer was invaluable and we all quickly became family friends.

There was another time we left to go on vacation but we made it only 20 miles from home when our big SUV broke down. We had it towed and I was ready to cancel our trip. My husband said, nope, we will drive our smaller SUV. He said repack your bag with only what will fit into the seven-passenger Highlander. He told us if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t come, you have 20 minutes. Lo and behold, 20 minutes later we were back on the road with only what would fit, and we never missed any of the things we didn’t get to pack!

There was also the year, okay two years actually, that we couldn’t afford to travel so we had a “staycation.” We had just moved to a new town and took the opportunity to see and do things as if we were tourists. We did our best to reserve that week as if we were on vacation by having the same meals and itineraries we would as if we were on a trip…basically all junk food and no chores!

Taking vacations always means some sort of sacrifice throughout the year. There were many years my husband or I would teach summer school, or I was a club sponsor, or I helped with cheerleading just so we would have the money to go. Every year we know that there will be many times we have to say “no” so that when we take our trip we have the opportunity to say “yes” while we are gone. Our kids rarely have the latest and greatest, and we almost never go out to eat or pay for entertainment. But they know when we go on vacation, we will go and do and make the most we can out of every single day!

So what’s the payoff? What’s the big deal? 

To me, it’s like family team building. It’s the one chance I have to focus on nothing other than my husband and my kids and the fun things we can see and experience together. We have seen beaches and mountains, we have hiked and we have biked, we have ridden go-karts in the setting sun, and we have collected tiny crabs by flashlight. We have persevered through ridiculously long car trips and we have seen some of the most magnificent natural wonders. We have inside jokes and memories only we share with one another. I have watched my kids skip rocks and clamor across large boulders. We have seen some of the places and things monumental to where and how our country first began. We have dug for diamonds and we have swam in Great Lakes. These things we share with one another and each of us has stories to tell!

I remember once when I was in eighth grade, for whatever reason, my science teacher asked us, “What did you do last Tuesday?” We all tried hard to remember and some could and some could not. He then asked something along the lines of “When was the last time you went to an amusement park?” We could all remember and began excitedly sharing our personal stories with one another.

This is what I am talking about. Giving our family the memories. Giving ourselves something we will never forget. I knew then, in eighth grade, I wanted my family to have experiences they wanted to remember. 

Now, there’s a catch. Taking a vacation does involve both time and money. Some may say I only have one or the other or I have neither. I say, so what. 

Vacations do not have to be about what you do or where you go, just that you do it. We love going to National Parks because for little-to-no money plus the cost of a picnic lunch, our day is full! If you can’t afford to go anywhere, vacation where you live. Find free museums, lakes or creeks, free evening events or outdoor concerts. Commit to going on a picnic, feeding the ducks, or going fishing. Set up a tent in the backyard or set it up in the living room, either way is a lot of fun! You can watch a movie and have a special food or snack to go with it. I am telling you, if you make the time you can find ways to fill it. Ways that are special and memorable. There’s nothing saying it has to cost a dime. I promise, it is setting aside the time that will mean the most!

And time is something we need to think about. It is the one thing none of us can make more of or save up for later. The truth is, no matter what we do, no matter how much money we earn, time will always be finite. The truth is, we have a choice how we will spend that time and how we can make it count, and how we can make it memorable. 

Yes, we sacrifice so we can take a trip. Yes, it is difficult to make the long car rides with five children. Yes, I could think of many other ways to spend that money. But I will tell you this, that time with those kids and the memories that we make are invaluable. There will never come a time where I say, “I regret taking that vacation. I wish we hadn’t spent all of that time together.” I don’t know that anyone would.

So please, write out that bucket list, figure out where you want to go, figure out what you want to do, figure out how you want to spend your time, figure out what memories you want with your family. If you think about it, we only have 18 summers from the time our children are born until they are grown. That is 18 chances to make the memories that we hope will last a lifetime. The truth is, you should do it! The truth is, it is always worth it! The truth is, we have the chance to make it count!