There may be a million reasons for this, fewer concerns, fewer responsibilities, no need to work or drive during rush hours! But none of these were the case just a week ago when I took a road trip with my daughter. The reality is way more simple.
Vacations always sounds great, especially when you are planning them during your workday, and trying to set a time when you can escape from the routine. The problem comes when it is time to leave for this vacation. Then the relaxing time momentarily becomes a to-do-list before you can leave your house; did you pack everything you need? Do you have your car keys? Where is the dog? Did you lock the house?...better check again, etc., and all this is even before you start going.
In this particular case, I had a five hours and five minutes trip ahead, with who knows how many stops in between. Nevertheless, the little voice behind me kept sounding more and more excited about the trip. To her eyes, all was ready. She had her favorite stuffy at her side; the iPad was charged, and she got the promise of a drink at our first stop. What was the problem?
So we started our drive.
It was in the middle of the day, so I can’t complain about traffic... or can I? I mean. Have you driven around? I’m convinced 90% of the human’s misery comes from driving and the perspective doing so! Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the open road, but when does this happen? Then again, the little voice behind me started talking about the plans she had. I have to clarify; we have never been to this place before, and have no itinerary.
“Mom, if we get there early we can swim before we eat, but if we get late, we can eat and then swim. But if the pool is closed, we can walk around the place, or check the room, or we can do both! It’s going to be great! I can’t wait.”
I’m lucky, she never asks “how long is left!”
The last day, she called her dad from the car and told him everything:
“It was amazing, dad! We ate at this super cool place, and the fish fry was delicious! I could take the ferry again just to try it. And then, I got to sit in the front seat while we were on the island because mommy said there weren’t too many cars. We couldn’t get the lavender bucket but we found a store full of treasures! And our room is an entire house! It has a kitchen and a dining table with a porch! We could live here, dad!
The pool was amazing! Even mom got in it and said it wasn’t cold. I thought it was like a hot tub! It was great! Then it rained a little, but not too much, just one of my socks got wet while we played mini golf... I lost an orange ball, and I was sad, but I got another one, but I got a hole in one!
And they have this Christmas house! With millions of Christmas stuff. I think we paid a fortune, like $20 or something! The best was a stray cat in a restaurant! My mom found it on our walk, looking for cherries. We also ate fish and soup and it was outside, but we didn’t get wet though and the cat was part of the scavenger hunt! I even petted her! It was amazing, dad!”
This is what I saw. The first “restaurant” on the island was the outside of an old house with some old benches around it. They served the fish and fries in paper bags. It was good, though, I’ll give her that. The lavender farm was already harvested, so we missed all the blossoms, and the “store with treasures” was attached to a gas station.
The room was big and in great shape. The pool was warm and outside, so the sun helped a lot until it got cloudy. It poured rain for a while, so we had to drive instead of taking many hikes, and my last source of entertainment was mini golf.
All was truth about the Christmas store, especially the cost shh!!! and we ate on the covered patio of an Irish pub, and they indeed had a stray cat (check the picture).
If you had asked me before the phone call, I would have said we had an ok time, but it wasn’t the best. The weather didn’t help and we couldn’t do much. But in her eyes, it was a complete adventure, and she loved every minute of it. The first day of school, she even wrote three whole paragraphs about it!
Children’s expectations aren’t based on what the future holds, but on what they can get from what it is in front of them. Sure, the trip could have been better. However, she didn’t look at the missing opportunities like me. She only saw what it was offered to her day. Maybe our days will improve if we change our perspective, just a little.