One of the things I really enjoy is travelling. I do a lot of it for work, but that is not the travel I am talking about. That travel gets lonely as I spend a lot of time away from my family. However, there are times when even time away from my family is mitigated by the fact that I am leaving the sub-zero Iowa weather and heading to much more temperate climates, but I digress. I am talking about leisure travel, particularly with my family.
I have had the opportunity to take Clara on some trips with me for work which has sent us to destinations around the world. We have been to a couple of tropical destinations, but our favorite was a trip to Europe two years ago. On this trip, we visited Prague, Rome, London, and Scotland. My work took us to Prague and we extended to the other destinations afterward. Clara tells me I am “type A.” and if it is true, I believe it comes in handy while traveling. Because of my control issues, I like to plan, and for this trip, plan we did. I can honestly say, and Clara would agree, that this was a dream trip, particularly the United Kingdom portion of it. We are repeating it next year with her parents.
Travel is obviously fun when it is just the two of us, but we also really enjoy travelling with our kids. I am not talking about loading them on a plane and flying them off to some magical destination. No, I am talking about a good old fashion road trip! We have made wonderful memories over the past several years as we have driven across the central and western part of the United States. We have been to Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Lake Powell. On each of these trips, we have a plan on where we want to end up at the end of each day, but it is a time to let loose and see what comes our way. This has allowed to see a campground outside of Mt. Rushmore that looks like home from the Flintstones, the worlds largest drug store in Wall, South Dakota, and a random Native American gift shop so we could eat fry bread tacos. I can’t forget staying the night in Roswell, New Mexico, sans alien encounter.
Sometimes things don’t always go as planned and we get sidetracked and roll into our hotel a lot later than expected, or after 14 hours in a car, someone throws up. That being said, we look back fondly on our road trips and look forward to the next one. One of these days, I might stop being cheap and actually fly my whole family to the island destination Clara and I have been fortunate to enjoy…someday.
-John
