Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend....vacation season in the United States. For school-age children, teachers and other school employees, summer marks a generic time of "vacation" since the obligation to be at school during the week is suspended for a couple of months. Is merely being out from school or off work really vacation? If you take a "vacation" week off from work to paint your house, is that really vacation? I don't think so. So, let's agree that, for discussion purposes, being out of school or being off from work does not in and of itself constitute vacation. I think to truly be a vacation you must leave home and go somewhere...even if it is just to go to Grandma's house.
Here's my take on vacation.
You need to go somewhere other than where you normally come home to eat and sleep. Distance does not matter nor must you be gone for a particular number of days. Just go somewhere. Growing up, I don't remember that we took a lot of vacations during the year but, we always had at least one vacation that was memorable.
1. Go see something. If you are an American, you are blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Sightseeing is a very popular vacation activity. As the song says- "from the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam" ...yes! God Bless America. There is so much to see. Both natural and man-made wonders. From the Grand Canyon to the Golden Gate Bridge. From the Outer Banks to Hoover Dam. From the Great Lakes to the Empire State Building. From glaciers to historic buildings. Mountains, lakes, oceans, forests, seashores, gardens. Photographs of the Grand Canyon are impressive...hiking into the canyon and watching a sunset at the rim is breathtaking. Go see this beauty that is all around us.
2. Go learn something. When we homeschooled our kids, our curriculum only covered 170 of the required 180 days. We used field trips to complete the other 10 days. What that meant was a Toomey family vacation would include at least a day or two of each vacation week that were designated as "learning days." A trip to Williamsburg, Virginia was not just a casual sightseeing tour. We wanted to learn about our country's history. And the kids were required to write a paper on a related topic. A trip to Stone Mountain, Georgia was an opportunity to learn about geology...or sculpture (sculpture on a large scale!) A trip to Cherokee, North Carolina was a chance to learn the history and culture of these native Americans. Vacations are a wonderful opportunity to learn about something or to learn how to do something. Every vacation does not have to be an educational experience but why not use our vacation time not only to relax, but, to broaden our minds?
3. Go do something. This is where vacation truly becomes an action verb. Go fishing, hunting, snorkeling, roller-coaster riding, hiking, zip-lining, swimming, cruising, skiing, horseback riding, water sliding, bike riding, golfing, climbing, tubing, eating/tasting, racing, kayaking, skating, and on and on and on. (Some, usually those of the female persuasion, would argue that "shopping" should be included in this list of the "ing's" of vacation...I would not agree but I may be outnumbered.)
You could even go somewhere and serve others. Rebuild a house, plant a garden, dig a well, teach a child to read, share your faith. Help victims of a tornado, hurricane, flood, poverty. (Might be the best vacation you'll ever have.)
4. Go be with people you love. Getting away as a family and/or going to be with family has value that is hard to quantify. Getting away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to spend time with family and close friends is, as the MasterCard commercial used to say...Priceless. As a kid, we would often spend most of the summer at my grandmother's house. Since we were a military family who moved a lot, her house always felt like home. That time I was privileged and blessed to be loved on and to learn from my sweet grandmother was like gold to me. One of the favorite things about being on vacation with my kids was just being together. My family will tell you that when we go on vacation together, I morph into some strange, goofy person that seems to perpetually have this weird expression on his face. When Jessica was a little girl she picked up on this and once described it as "Daddy's got on his vacation teeth." Well, that stuck. I still put on my vacation teeth when I get to be with my family on vacation.
Our lives are busy. It is easy to drift away from each other and just get bone tired. I cherish vacation time. I have known people that bragged that they never use their employer provided/paid vacation time. They would proudly boast " I get 3 weeks of vacation each year but I never use it." That's nothing to brag about. I think it is downright dumb.
Summer is here. Go take some vacation time.
What's the best vacation you've ever had?
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