The Journey of Six Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Week Staycation
The Journey of Six Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Week Staycation
In 2014, we decided to save money on our yearly adults-only vacation. Well, we really didn't "decide" to save money, it was more like we spent thousands of dollars on a dying dog the entire previous year and had literally no vacation money. So instead of enjoying a beautiful, restful, week in Mexico, like the two previous years, in steps the glorious stay-cation. Now I'm sorry if you hate that word and are ready to quit reading right now because of it. But I don't know how else you sum up sending the kids (not the dogs) to the parents for an entire week and staying home. Together. With just the dogs. And 3000 projects none of which you intend to start but have listed on a notebook with little boxes for checking at completion. In retrospect stay-cation is really the nicest way to say, "we over estimated our ability to do nothing with each other for such a long time in our quiet, dilapidated house." Sure, we went to movies and ate out and watched PG-13 rated television during the day. But that stuff can only take you so far. By mid-week we were losing steam and gaining weight. It was now glaringly obvious that all those home improvement projects were not going to get started let alone finished. We had had A LOT of screen time. And we were all caught up on conversation. So naturally I was ready to plan the 2015 summer vacation.
Our modus-operandi had been to take a week in the hills as a family followed by a week of adults only in Mexico. Having been to Mexico the past two years I wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to go back. Plus we'd gone to the hills four years in a row. There had to be some other arrangement. Once Jason caught on to what I was doing, he was adamant that we were not going back to the hills for a fifth straight year.Then Jason started in on his dream to buy a camper and live on the road for a year, home schooling, working remotely, and seeing all of America. Well hold up ONE MOMENT. I AM NOT homeschooling our children. Not in a house. And certainly not in a camper. And speaking of the house, what are we going to do, rent it out for a year? And throw the dogs in as an added... well I'd sell it as a bonus, but let's be real. I was not having the say dream and proceeded to stomp all over his.
But. I did like the idea of seeing the country. What if we just went for the summer (no home-schooling)? That's still too long a commitment for somebody to take the dogs and care for the house. We went to bed.
What did not go to bed was the crazy seed that had been planted in my head. And the planning I had started as I drifted off to sleep. We could do 30 days. Just a month. Jason could even take the time off so we won't have to worry about him working all the time on the road. Hmmm. This could work. I brought it up again (remember, we were out of things to talk about). Gave the hypothetical of a one month trip. Then we started talking about all the great places we'd want to see. And the things we wanted to share with the kids. I'm pretty sure Jason was still in dream land, but I had moved on. This was now happening for me. My parents could watch the dogs. Jellis could check on the house. I wouldn't plant anything that needed water. Oooo. What kind of camper could we get!? (Yeah. We don't own-and never have owned-a camper at this point.) We continued to talk about the trip in a dreamy way for the rest of the stay-cation.
Then, once Jason went back to work, I spent my days mapping out a route, started researching activities and campgrounds, and put a massive spreadsheet together with a projected timeline. My friends (and husband, and family) will tell you that I'm a bit of an impulsive person. And here it was. All of my impulsiveness on stage! Never mind that we did not own a camper. Or that Jason wasn't sure if he could take the time off work. Or how much this little adventure would cost. I was ready to book campgrounds! My excitement was rising out of control. I decided I'd better let Jason know so that we could cross the first hurdle of getting the time off. Turns out he was more than receptive. Now we were both ready to plan the trip of a lifetime!
Our modus-operandi had been to take a week in the hills as a family followed by a week of adults only in Mexico. Having been to Mexico the past two years I wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to go back. Plus we'd gone to the hills four years in a row. There had to be some other arrangement. Once Jason caught on to what I was doing, he was adamant that we were not going back to the hills for a fifth straight year.Then Jason started in on his dream to buy a camper and live on the road for a year, home schooling, working remotely, and seeing all of America. Well hold up ONE MOMENT. I AM NOT homeschooling our children. Not in a house. And certainly not in a camper. And speaking of the house, what are we going to do, rent it out for a year? And throw the dogs in as an added... well I'd sell it as a bonus, but let's be real. I was not having the say dream and proceeded to stomp all over his.
But. I did like the idea of seeing the country. What if we just went for the summer (no home-schooling)? That's still too long a commitment for somebody to take the dogs and care for the house. We went to bed.
What did not go to bed was the crazy seed that had been planted in my head. And the planning I had started as I drifted off to sleep. We could do 30 days. Just a month. Jason could even take the time off so we won't have to worry about him working all the time on the road. Hmmm. This could work. I brought it up again (remember, we were out of things to talk about). Gave the hypothetical of a one month trip. Then we started talking about all the great places we'd want to see. And the things we wanted to share with the kids. I'm pretty sure Jason was still in dream land, but I had moved on. This was now happening for me. My parents could watch the dogs. Jellis could check on the house. I wouldn't plant anything that needed water. Oooo. What kind of camper could we get!? (Yeah. We don't own-and never have owned-a camper at this point.) We continued to talk about the trip in a dreamy way for the rest of the stay-cation.
Then, once Jason went back to work, I spent my days mapping out a route, started researching activities and campgrounds, and put a massive spreadsheet together with a projected timeline. My friends (and husband, and family) will tell you that I'm a bit of an impulsive person. And here it was. All of my impulsiveness on stage! Never mind that we did not own a camper. Or that Jason wasn't sure if he could take the time off work. Or how much this little adventure would cost. I was ready to book campgrounds! My excitement was rising out of control. I decided I'd better let Jason know so that we could cross the first hurdle of getting the time off. Turns out he was more than receptive. Now we were both ready to plan the trip of a lifetime!
No comments:
Post a Comment