Friday, September 11, 2009

Love of Vacationing....the beginnings.

I love to travel.  I enjoy photography.  My career is neither of those things, not even close.  I spend hours dreaming and planning for trips, wondering where we'll go next.  How many days can we take off - what destination will we visit next?  How will I learn about it? 

I don't remember exactly when this started.  This passion for travelling.  I don't just vacation - I truly have a passion for it.  Growing up we went on a family vacation every summer. Faithfully.  I don't think we ever missed one and they were not exotic, but my parents made sure they were special.  Each one was unique and usually to a different destination each year.  I think maybe that started my desire to go to new countries and cities.  We camped a lot so we could to to new places.  This was more affordable.  We went up and down the East Coast - from Nova Scotia and Bar Harbor, Maine one summer to the Skyline Drive in Virginia another summer.  We were always camping.  Camping in a tent, and driving in a car to get there.  The station wagon loaded up with a week or two week's worth of camping gear.  My parents and my brother and I.  Long before the age of portable DVD players and handheld video games.  That was vacationing!    As the years went on, we began going 'down the shore' for a week.  We got older and brought our friends.  But still the family vacation was a given every summer. 

When I got married, we knew our honeymoon would be one of our first things to plan!  K and I had been to the Bahamas twice and we'd been living a long distance relationship with me in Miami and him up north, but we'd been bitten by the tropical bug.  We had become Caribbean vacationers.  Just take us to a beach with clear blue waters and give us a beautiful sunset and we were hooked!  So our first big trip together was our Honeymoon to Barbados and we vowed then, along with our wedding vows before the Honeymoon, to try to go to a different island every year for as long as we could! 

We've done well....we've travelled to many islands, and to various parts of Central America.  We've been to many parts of the United States as well.  K has been to France with school and we have many trips on the horizon! 

My horizon seems to have to be filled with a current trip and one that is in the future or I feel antsy.  I feel like I'm not myself if I don't have a vacation planned.  It doesn't even seem right to call it a vacation when it feels like the vacation is really what's a part of me, what keeps me who I am.  It keeps me grounded.

I hope to share here my experiences in finding those perfect destinations and my travel journals as well.  My pictures are what gets me through to the next vacation - I get to take a piece of each location home with me in my photography.  And in between the trips and pics, some tales of my crazy life.

2 comments:

  1. Oh me too, me too! If I don't have something in the works, I am FORLORN!

    And you know, our family didn't TAKE vacations. I can remember one time, we drove about 100 miles and stayed overnight. My parents owned a grocery store, were very tied to it, and my Father wasn't in good health much of the time.

    I thought THAT was the reason for this passion, but you have the opposite experience.

    Isn't it weird. . .I have friends/know people who NEVER go anywhere and don't care to. They could afford it way better than us, but don't. I just can't fathom. . .!!!!! I think it is a little like alcohol is for other people--something of an addiction for me! And you, too.

    Keep up the good work! Jill

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  2. Thanks Jill! I can't imagine not travelling, to me it's what get's me through the days - knowing I have that next trip planned! There's so many things I should be doing with the money I spend - hmmmm...do I have kids who will have to go to college? Oops?

    But somehow, the travel bug seems to get me and the trip planning starts - I've always got something in the works. Right now I'm planning Costa Rica in the spring, although the hubby isn't sure about that and my "when we can afford it" trip is Galapagos!!

    Shell

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