Time's a tickin' down. We leave for the Jersey shore on Monday. Vacationing with a child is so different than vacationing as childfree adults. I was at the grocery store shopping today -- trying to find foods that would work for a nearly 1 year old infant in a B&B setting (i.e., no microwave, no stove). I think she's going to be eating a lot of cheese cubes (and a lot of peaches to counteract the cheese!). It started me trying to distill for myself what, exactly, makes a vacation.
Having come to no satisfactory answer, I'm coming to you all.
For you, what makes the perfect vacation? Traveling? Staying home? Is it seeing new things or visiting familiar places? Is it resting or recreating or accomplishing things you can't during work/school times? Is it eating good food, drinking good wine? Would you have your kids with you? Your spouse? Friends? Or would you prefer solitude? Is the setting important or could you be anywhere?
Now, here's another question... How close are your vacations to your ideal?
8 comments:
To the Shore!? WOW!!! I sure do miss that trip...You get off the Parkway and begin to smell the salt of the ocean and life is so good! The Twins were 4 when we made out last excursion and we had lots of juice packs, water bottles and canned tuna...We were always starving after dinner and those packets of mayonaise and rellish we had collected sure came in handy! LOL! Who would think that I would miss " THE SHORE"? Have a great time! Send me a cheesy post card! OH and some salt water taffy, oh and some Nathan's Hotdogs and and some sand, too!
Our "Shore" was Lake Erie. LOL I've never seen the ocean.
Food ideas for an almost year old baby: cottage cheese, banana(mashed), applesauce, yogurt. From your plate anything soft. Scrambled egg, mashed tater. We think Ben lived on cottage cheese, yogurt and bananas when we went out west in '79 he wasn't even a year old yet. LOL
We lucked out. My mom and dad's house is a 5 minute walk from one of the nicest beaches in the country. So we get the beach, but we also get built in babysitting and unrestricted access to food and food preparation facilities and laundry. AJ's now 5 and he's never vacationed anywhere else, although now that he's bigger, we're definitely planning some other trips. Still, it takes us a couple of days to drive down there. Meanwhile, we live on yogurt, applesauce in single serving cups and string cheese. I hope you have a lovely time.
I never did get a chance to say have a great vacation! I didn't have any wise words of wisdom for taking a 1 year old on vacation either. We never did that when Aaron was small. He didn't eat and he was too sickly to take anywhere.
I sure hope you all had a wonderful week though! Can't wait to hear all about it!!
Vacations for me... it all depends on the theme of the trip. This month we are going on a fishing trip, which will include a lot of sitting around a house, relaxing, reading, and fishing in the mornings. Next month we're going to Chicago for a wedding, and that vacation will be a nice hotel stay, lots of restaurants and a trip to a museum. I love both types of trips for different reasons. I think I most enjoy being with Dan and Gayle, with some periods of being alone here and there.
How close are my vacations to my ideal? There is always something that isn't quite what I thought it would be, but for the most part I'm just looking to get away, so any time we leave town at least that part is fulfilled!
Hmm... dunno if I've ever given it much thought.
Ideal Vacation: Just getting out of the house is Step One. Beyond that, I try not to get overly picky. Alone time is nice, family time is nice (when we aren't at each other's throats, at any rate), so long as you aren't stuck doing one when you'd rather be doing the other. Having a nice place to stay is nice, too. I prefer vacations far enough from civilization that people aren't piled on top of each other, though it's nice to be close enough for indoor plumbing, not to mention within driving distance of a town for a grocery store run and the obligatory diner breakfast/meal before you head home. (Or are we the only ones who do that?)
Real Vacation: Usually something like this: http://www.brightdreamer.com/osvac1.htm .
I am SO late in responding, and you are probably there and back by now, but I have been thinking about your questions.
Buddy would only eat yogurt at a year of age, but eventually moved on to crackers, ham, turkey, cereal, etc... by the time we went on a trip around 15 months.
As for vacations, they mean not visiting anyone. Staying home and getting out more as a family, or going to a new location. We always have plans for accommodations, but no plans for what we will do each day. We wake up every morning and discuss what we feel like doing that day and we always have a couple extra options incase we can't find our original choice. A lot of times, we find something much cooler along the way.
Hope your vacation was a good one :-)
I'm sorry I didn't really answer you the first time.
I think the last real vacation was this year when George and I went to DC. Every other vacation has been used to travel to Toledo which isn't really a vacation...not really. So traveling to DC with my hubby was most enjoyable. It was great with just the two of us. It was a bonding moment and we didn't worry about much of anything.
Vacations away from home should be to see new places. And coming home shouldn't be stressful as it can be sometimes if you are away by yourself. Then coming home is almost punishment for having a good time.
George wants to take the transcanada rail trip someday.
So many beautiul places God has created to see, so little time and money to see them all.
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