We have never taken a vacation of this magnitude before. As a kid, I never took vacations with my parents. Living on a farm, there just wasn't "free time" for my parents to be able to make it happen. However, my godparents took me on a few trips, and I think watching the way their family bonded on those vacations, made me want that for my own family. I LOVE to travel. I love seeing new things and meeting new people. Coming off of a difficult school year, I was looking forward to disappearing for a little bit and focusing my attention on the people that I love the most, but who have gotten the least of me lately. It was just the refreshing change of pace that we all needed. So, after a 2 week road trip, we're already anticipating our next travel adventure. Here are 5 things I learned for next time.
1. We might like driving more than flying. As much as we loved having a week of relaxing at the beach, the week spent driving out and back was just as much fun. Had we flown, we would have missed so many of the parts that we loved about this trip.
2. Meals in are better than meals out. We packed a cooler and stayed in hotels that offered continental breakfast. We only ate out for dinner. This was a huge money and time saver. We usually ate lunch in the car as we drove, which passed the time in the car much quicker, and the girls loved guessing what the next "course" would be of their 4 course meal. (Sandwich, fruit, cracker/chip, dessert). It was also a nice alternative to the same 4 choices that tend to be on the kids menu at restaurants.
3. Five people living out of a suitcase can be frustrating. Packing by day proved more efficient than packing by person. I tended to pack by color as well so that I made sure I had enough days for everyone and could decipher what was clean and what had already been worn. Plus, packing by day meant we only had to bring in one bag at each stop instead of everyone schlepping in their own suitcase.
4. When you have kids, a planned trip is more relaxing than a spontaneous trip. We planned the drive out to the coast pretty meticulously. We knew all of the stops, the hotels were confirmed, and we had fun guessing games on where we were stopping next. We planned nothing on the leg back. The "do what we want, when we want" mentality led to far less economical restaurants/hotels, more restlessness among the girls and more work for Mark and I. Both were equally fun, but the way out was far more relaxing.
5. Magic is what you make. We loved our Disney trip a few years ago, but when we returned, everyone who had visited Disney before kept asking, "Wasn't it magical?" It was, but why wouldn't it be?! It's a week away from responsibility and worry, where your children get every ounce of your attention so they are all happy all the time. This trip was just as magical, only it was half the price and twice the length. Most days our biggest worry was if we should go to the beach or to the pool.
I was worried before we left that two weeks would be too long, and 35 hours in the car would test our sanity. However, the magic traveled with us and we're already planning our next cross-country road trip. Watch out west coast...we're coming for you!
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