Travel. Discover. Explore. Get lost. Find yourself.
Demands of the school year make it difficult [or should I say impossible] to take significant time off, what with my son’s increasing student duties and activity in travel sports and my husband’s ever-chaotic work schedule. Only in the middle of summer are we free to run away from home and leave everything behind without guilt.
TRAVEL Every year [other than 2012 when I battled breast cancer] our little family heads somewhere – anywhere – to enjoy a change of scenery and pace. Sometimes we select places my husband and I have been so our son can witness it, too. Others, we choose a new location so we may all experience it for the first time, together. Although unintentional, we are on a path to see all of the lower states before our son turns 18.
DISCOVER & EXPLORE My son has become quite adept at travel and open to adventure. He is learning to be cautious when necessary, social whenever possible, and embrace the unknown. He has gained compassion, confidence, independence, and ingenuity. He has gazed in awe and respect at nature’s beauty and wrath. He has appreciated the sacrifice and history of those who have come before. After seeing many parts of the country – some well-known, some not – he has an acute sense of where he might later attend college, build a career, and perhaps raise a family. He will be far better prepared for this world than I was at his age [I hope].
GET LOST & FIND US Countless hours in the car spark conversations we might never have otherwise. For the sake of sounding trite, we bond. We leave in anticipation of what we might see and return in wonder and amazement of each other. These moments strengthen us as a family. They replenish what has been emptied from work and deadlines and schedules. Once home, we carry our own memories and feel refreshed and prepared for the new challenges thrown our way.
And the best part is: we are not done yet! There is one more road trip – our annual visit to family – providing a chance to reconnect with the past, share dreams for the future, and laugh with those who know us best and love us anyway.
I am ready. I have found my joy. I hope you do, too…
LaPalm Books 