by Liz Ferrell, Member, Family Enrichment Committee
Summer is just around the corner! Visions of lazy days stretch ahead into blissful eternity. But things get in the way, and next thing you know, summer vacation is over before you’ve had one.
Unless you make a plan to take a vacation together as a family, it won’t happen.
A family vacation is a commitment and an investment in time and money. It’s also an investment in each other and a lifetime of close relationships.
In 1970, when I was three, my family took a vacation to meet an aunt in Fargo, North Dakota. My parents cleared our calendar, saved pennies, invested in a station wagon and camping gear, plotted a route, made reservations at KOAs, and off we went. Our photo album shows hilarious pictures of us at various historic sites: my father “imprisoned” in a stockade, me and my siblings wading in the mouth of the Mississippi River wearing coonskin caps, Mom in a snowsuit sitting on a snowmobile, and all of us peeking out of a teepee. Trip stories are family lore.
In subsequent years we picnicked on day trips, camped on long weekends, and broadened the scope of places we visited as our interests and horizons grew. As a result of these family experiences, five very different people (and now, spouses and children) of very different tastes, interests and opinions, living across a large geographic area, remain close friends, stay in touch, and spend time together every chance we get. We are family.
A successful vacation plan contains activities but also allows for spontaneity and the fun of chasing trails. It takes precautions for safety and seasonal hazards but does not fear. It takes into account individual interests but encourages new experiences. It balances activity and rest and allows the freedom to change the agenda. It allows everyone to have a meal or activity of their choice, and it teaches the rewards of being considerate of each other’s wants and needs.
If you haven’t committed to the endeavor of day trips, weekend trips, and vacations together as a family, I encourage you to. Expensive? Yes. Squabbles and disagreements? Yes. Fun every minute? No. But overall – joy for a lifetime, and oh, so worth it.
