T is for Travel

While I will never truly understand wherever my parents were financially when I was little, I know that they tried to take us places as much as they could. We often did a Disney trip once a year or every two years. At least 4-5 times before I was 18-19, we drove along the east coast to go to Western NY, where my grandfather was from. The driving was the fun part; being able to see different states and scenery all along.

When we had kids, we didn’t have a ton of money and it didn’t feel like we had time to go on vacations. Our travel piggy-backed off Ash’s conferences and we’d get a hotel room for one or two nights after it ended. This was a really convenient way for the kids to get in some pool time and maybe a theme park or two, though I fully believe under a certain age, they can barely remember that stuff.

The past seven or so years, we have begun to take larger family trips. In 2018 we went to the Yucatan for my brother-in-law’s wedding. It was the first big trip we really took everyone on and internationally! The next year we all went out to Phoenix for another wedding. Covid hit and of course, travel became difficult due to to silly rules. But we took some trips even still: drove up to Ohio to visit Ash’s hometown of Perrysburg. We stopped along the way in states to see various things. The next summer we did it again, though with different objectives. Then we went to Chicago to see Ash’s brother and his new family. Last summer we flew to Phoenix and drove our way back, seeing a lot more of the Western United States.

I hope my children, now well-aware of the world around them, will cherish these trips and look back with fondness. I am always surprised when I meet people who haven’t left Tallahassee, or Florida in general. I don’t know if it’s money that holds them back or a lack of desire to see other places. For me, I dislike the travel part but enjoy seeing new stuff. I loved driving up into the mountains as we left Phoenix and headed towards Flagstaff. Colorado was a sight to behold as well; so very different than here! I know I will always remember these family trips, even if we did have moments where the kids acted up or we were all a bit run ragged from the constant movement.

I am really thankful we’ve been able to take these trips and even though this summer includes some different plans – RAGBRAI (but that’s work, not fun), California for my husband and middle child – I hope maybe we can keep doing family trips even as my oldest starts his life here in a bit. I’m glad we’ve been able to make them work and look forward to many more trips in the future.