Here’s mine: North Carolina, or Hawaii with about 45 of my favorite family members. The week we would spend together is as close to heaven as I’ve imagined. What could be better than a quiet beach, a stack of books to read, dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins to hang out with, evening board game competitions, and a pantry that is always stocked with popcorn and M&Ms?
I had hoped, but never thought I’d be one of those people who traveled to exciting places in the world. I lived in Los Angeles, traveled the west coast and saw most of what there was to see in California. I’ve been to all but two states (driving around the country added some in that I probably never would have visited otherwise). My dad also took us to Mexico when we were kids and to Canada as adults on a family trip when Max was six weeks old.
I lucked out with three business trips to Europe while Ben was working on his MBA and for a software company. He asked me if I wanted to join him on his business school trip–in Europe! A year later he asked about Germany! Both trips lasted two weeks with fourteen days of school/work for him and exploring for me, with the other wives and on my own. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get to Europe again so I took advantage and saw as much as I could. From the Sound of Music tour to Neuschwanstein Castle, Austria, driving on the autobahn, seeing Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower, buying Crystal in Prague, riding trains, making new friends, seeing the Mona Lisa, eating croissants and wiener schnitzel, drinking apple juice from a beer mug at the Hofbrauhaus and visiting villages—all three trips were great adventures!
Traveling in Europe was an amazing experience that I captured on 45 rolls of film (I know it would have been better with a digital camera but I didn't have one of those at the time. lol). I loved walking on the cobble stone streets. I loved all the sights and smells and seeing how people lived. I loved seeing people riding bikes loaded with bundles. I loved trying new food, meeting new people, experiencing a new place. I bought a travel journal before I went. Everyday I wrote and glued things in it. The cover says: I AM NOT THE SAME HAVING SEEN THE MOON SHINE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD.
Ah, vacations. I was just dreaming the other night that someone offered to fly my whole family to Hawaii—lol. A getaway sounds heavenly: a beach, books, and fun family togetherness. I love any getaway that includes a beach and books. Some of my fondest vacation memories from my childhood include the times we stayed on a beach in Oregon. We walked and played on the beach, ate fresh crab, and slept in a cabin, all of us together, falling asleep to the sound of the surf. Ah, to be on the beach with a good book, my toes curled in the sand, listening to my boys laughing nearby.
