When was the last time you took a vacation? If you had to think too hard, it's time. Plan a weekend getaway or a day trip.
Here are a few photos to encourage you to have a little fun.
A vacation should be relaxing, enjoyable, and fun. When you
travel with a mindset of joy you are prepared for your journey. There is no
need to stress over what souvenirs to purchase for friends or family. The best souvenir
is a good story.
Let me share my experience through tips and stories.
3 Travel Tips
1.
Don’t track time, live in the moment. There is
no need to rush from one activity to another, breathe, and enjoy each step of
the journey. Speaking of steps…
On a recent trip, my family and I decided
to walk to our destination. My son entered the address in his GPS, He announced
to us, “It’s only six minutes from where we are.”
We walked, window shopped, and browsed
inside a couple of stores. We continued our walk, navigating our way around crowded
sidewalks. My feet led me up inclines, over a bridge, and finally to a store
for a restroom stop.
After about twenty minutes I said, “Are we almost
there?”
My son looked at his phone and said, “Oh
yeah, I realized I had the GPS set to driving time.”
Our six-minute destination turned out to be
over thirty minutes. However, we rested near a fountain, enjoyed viewing the architectural
structures around us, and collected memories.
2.
Take photos. Capture your memories through
photos. Let your hair down, take candid pictures, goofy ones, playful ones. I
came across a quote that I like, it said, “A journey is best measured in smiles
not miles.”
3.
Try at least one local food. One day we tried
the Chicago deep dish pizza. Another day we dined at Gordon Ramsay Burger.
During our Uber ride my son said, “Ma, you know who Gordon Ramsay is don’t you?”
“Yes, he’s the guy who wrote Rich Dad, Poor
Dad, and he does motivational speaking.”
“No. You’re thinking about Dave Ramsey and
he’s a finance guy. He may have written a book, but not the one you’re talking
about. That’s a different guy.”
The food at Gordon Ramsay Burger was
delicious, and we shared a good laugh at my expense. Of course I took a photo
of the food. Well, I got a photo of my son’s burger; my salad was half eaten
when I thought about taking a photo.
With our palates pleased and our bellies
fun we headed back to our accommodations, played a few card games, then off to
bed for me.
As I close out this blog post while sitting
at the train station, I hear an announcer over the intercom say, “Train 452 to…has
been cancelled. We will secure buses to get everyone to their destination.”
Every trip adds another chapter to your
story. And now I must follow my own advice and travel with a mindset of joy. I
will not stress over the small things; besides I brought a book to read, and it’s
pretty good.
Bonus tip…pack your patience.
What is one thing about your last vacation that
made you smile?
My son took one comedy class with me…well two; Now he’s Mr. Funny Man every chance he gets. I make one slip of the tongue, verbal blunder, mental hiccup, and he leaps on the opportunity. His eyes bulge and he blares out, “What!?”
He used that one word as a declarative statement, a full sentence. My son fired off joke after joke after joke like fireworks on Independence Day. Let me tell you my story.
I was scheduled to perform comedy in a city two hours from home. My friend and her significant other, I’ll call him Joe went with me for support. Joe drove for us, as he has done several times.
Before I left home I was telling my son about the show, “Carla and Joe are going to the show with me tonight. I need to grab $20 to give Joe for gas.”
My son stopped what he was doing, glared me, and said, “WHAT?!”
“Ma, you’re going to give a grown
man twenty dollars to drive you four hours to a sundown town, to listen to you
talk about menopause? Twenty dollars will get him four gallons of gas. You’re
hilarious.”
His rant continued, “You put Ms. Carla in a bad spot. Now she’s gonna have to rub his feet, scratch his back, cook dinner; All because he’s helping her friend. You think an Andrew Jackson goes a long way.”
I let him get all the words out of his head and into the atmosphere. “You offered me that same twenty dollars to cut the grass, paint the screen door, and repair a hole in the wall.”
When my son finally paused I said, “Well, that twenty dollars for you was just a love offering, you can complete the tasks for free. No need to worry, when I go to your house I will be sure to leave a trail of shoes, clothes, and dishes throughout each room.”
I chuckled. You would have thought we were in sone kind of roast battle. No winner was declared. I strolled off as I said, “And I WILL be giving Joe more than $20.”
Each day my son displays more evidence that he truly has my DNA. In addition to his sense of humor, he has my temperament, my allergies…and my Adam’s apple.
I must not leave out my other son; he’s the real DNA winner. He has my mustache…my chin hairs…and my chest hairs. Just kidding, he doesn’t have chest hairs.”
What is something funny that your child or someone else’s child has said to you?
