The Art of Turning Your Family Vacation into an Adventure
There are a couple of ways that families set off on a vacation. Some look it like another form of work – the drudgery of loading up bags or packing up a car and driving or flying long distances with one clear–cut focus…your destination. Perhaps, there is more to a vacation than the finality of a destination. Perhaps, the vacation’s success lies not in getting there, but more, how you got there or as the saying goes….in the journey.
Buy a Map
Yes they still sell them. I realize in the days of navigational devices and mapquest, maps have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Use the internet to research locations along your route that could be fun or educational – every state has them, then buy a map and some crayons and mark up a path with dotted lines. Color code a legend where each family member has their own color to illustrate their part of the path that detours to a locale of their interest. This is your vacation, make that map evidence of your journeys.
Get Some Costumes
Okay, do not get too crazy with this one. It is hard to steer a car with Mickey Mouse gloves and it is hard to see the road through a gorilla mask but there are little things you can do, to help bond your family. If your kids are young, where pirate hats – let them where eye patches. Talk in pirate talk. If the kids are older – go out and pick out the most outrageous hats you can get away with to wear on the trip. Bring binoculars or some telescopes to see the sights from the car window. Dress up and make it a theme by reading factual books about pirates or cowboys or period fashions or whatever your kids are into. Share their interests and be amazed by what they may share with you. You may actually learn what is going on with your teenagers.
Adopt an A.K.A.
Go by assumed names while on vacations. Who is to say you can not be someone else for a week. If you want to be, Fellow Axlberry, and your daughter wants to be, Mazzy Heatherborn, for a week – go for it. Create histories for your characters, make them original or be someone real and research their historical relevance to your trip – just have fun with it. It is your vacation! It is your time! Do not feel bound by modern conventions to do what everyone else does. Cookies that were made with molds may look great, but remember the messiest cookies taste best.
This is not a guideline on how you should spend your week in the summer. It is not an instruction booklet that you should follow by the numbers. It is a call to use your imagination. Do not be scared to make a fool out of yourself. Let yourself go. Remember that this is not only their childhood; it is a chance for you to have your second childhood. Good times are contagious, so spread them around wherever and whenever you can. Litter laughter down the highway on your journey to make your destinations, their smiles.
Written by Derrick Bracey
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