Vacationing is something we did some as a family while I was growing up like regular trip to Chicago to visit family and friends and grandma and grandpa in the white mountains, but that was about it for the most part. We did do Washington DC one year. My wife really introduced me to vacationing on a regular basis and to different places. And I am blessed because of it.
BUT
Vacations, to me, are both good and bad.
I hate planning vacations. I like coming up with an idea of somewhere to go, and maybe looking into a couple things regarding that place, but overall I hate the planning. I want to go somewhere. I don’t want to plan it all out in gory detail. I realize there are good things about planning things out in detail, but I also like having the freedom to try something on a whim, just seeing what happens, or getting advice from someone once there.
I love seeing new places. I love getting to experience that new location for the first time, and if it is a place that I end up liking then going back there over and over again. I know some people just want to always try new things and never go back to places they have been, but that is not me at all. If I find somewhere I like I will go back.
There are many different types of trips in my opinion and I will lay out each of them below and talk about my likes and dislikes about each.
Road trips:
This is the best kind of vacation. I love to drive and therefore I love trips that involve driving. I enjoy seeing the countryside as you travel. I like being able to stop somewhere that looks interesting. I like being able to go somewhere that may be out of the way and not on the normal route. When my family takes road trips, we tend to take our Toyota 4Runner. This is great because it has 4-wheel drive and that allows us the ability to go places that others may not be able to. Or to venture to areas less seen. Or get you out of a National Park when a unexpected flood occurs (just saying…). I get to listen to music or audiobooks while driving. I enjoy talking with my family along the way as well. Talking about what we have seen and what we did. We get that together time. Of course, there are downsides. The big one is time. It takes longer to drive somewhere than to fly somewhere. I think that is the biggest downside. But I tend to look at the drive as part of the trip so maybe it isn’t a downside. If someone gets carsick that is also a downside because there isn’t much one can do about it since the trip is planned around being in the car.
Foreign Countries:
I enjoy visiting foreign countries. That is something that before I got married I never really thought much about. I had been to a few countries (Japan, Germany and Mexico), but I never really thought much about going other places like that. My wife had other plans, and am I very glad she did. We have enjoyed going to many countries (Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Iceland, Ireland, France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Canada). Getting to experience the culture, food, people and more in those countries has been a blast. These trips tend to require more planning beforehand, and that means less fun in my opinion, but it makes for a more seamless trip. I don’t like flying so getting to most of these places isn’t as much fun either. Another downside to me is travel once you are in the country. Most of the time you are relient on the public transportation in the area, and not growing up with it, is sometimes annoying. There are many countries that have very good public transportation, and in those countries things are good. In some of those countries we have rented cars and I got to drive there (and sink a car in a flood, yes another unexpected flood).
Culture/Regional History:
I have been to some great museums and cultural areas around the world. The Louver, The British Museum, The Field Museum, Chaco Culture Center, Aboriginal Centers, are just a few places I have been. And the truth is, as I get older, I am tired of them. I don’t care about another building full of paintings, or another talk about a culture. I have seen really cool stuff, and I want my kids to see that stuff too so I am sure we will continue to do these things, but if I were on my own, or just with my wife, then I would opt not to do them. This even applies to culture that is directly related to me and my family history, religious history, country history. None of it interested me enough to WANT to go to them. I will go, see and learn, but enjoy… probably not that much.
Hiking:
These are some of the best vacations. I love the outdoors. I love seeing large vistas, mountains, valleys, fields of wildflowers, waterfalls, rivers, and more. I enjoy hiking to those locations (within reason). I think some of it has to do with the fact that typically I get to drive to those locations to start the hike, and as mentioned I love to drive. I get to start to experience the location before the hike even starts. I enjoy setting off on a trail that has a destination of some kind. I have hiked in a lot of national parks around the western US, and it is always fun to see what is around the next corner, what the area will look like when I get to the top of the next ridge, or determining what that sound is I am hearing up ahead. Being surrounded by God’s creation is amazing that way for me. At the same time, I can’t stand camping that much which I think is funny in some ways. I would think that camping would allow me to be more “in” God’s creation, but it is all the other camping stuff that takes that away from me: setting up and tearing down a tent, eating food made in a fire or over a camp stove that is good, but not great (usually, my wife has made some great food while camping). I think it would be better if it could last longer. Then the put up/tear down may not be that bad, but then there is so much more you have to prepare for beforehand and bring with you (food, water, etc.).
But back to hiking. I have hiked in some amazing areas like Glacier NP, Yosemite, Grand Teton, and Havasupai to name a few. They are all beautiful places that I enjoy time and again. I have been to all more than once and would gladly go back again to all of them. I get this sense of peace that I don’t get at home when I am hiking in places like these. Hiking with my family has also been fun. My wife and kids are great hikers as well, and we always seem to have a good time hiking. I like experiencing new things with them while hiking. That is another fun part of hiking is that new things always seem to happen. I have been the highest point in New Mexico with my wife. I have hiked to snow in Montana on the fourth of July with my entire family. I even remember wading through I think it was waist deep (or maybe deeper) water in the Sedona area with my church high school group on a hike. There are memories from hiking that I tend to remember more than a lot of the other vacation styles listed above, and I think that is another reason I love them so much.
I am looking forward to more adventures while vacationing in the future. Hopefully years of vacation with my family and then someday again with just my wife and I (once the kids leave the house). I don’t see vacations leaving my life anytime. Whether it is a trip to somewhere close in the state or some far off country around the world. I am blessed to be able to do this.