Permanent Vacation?

It’s happened.

We got in line to board a plane for Shanghai and, for the first time in the past four months, I did not feel like we are on vacation. 

Up until this day, I have been a little disappointed in myself, honestly. The endless summer parade of fun, friends, beachfronts, and barbecues is not what I pictured when we set out to explore the world. Whew, I sound spoiled! Well, that’s just the problem, really. 

We have been atop mountains (okay, we attempted to summit a few, but I think we only actually made it atop Mt. Baldy), swimming in oceans (well, one ocean—the Pacific), through snow on some of the highest peaks of the Rockies (that’s true) and the thick heat waves of Death Valley—the lowest place on in the US. We went to a broadway show in Chicago, river rafted in Glacier National Park, helicoptered over the badlands (for NINE whole minutes!), slept in a covered wagon on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s homestead, and even sent the kids to a week of theatrical summer camp in Prescott, Arizona. It’s been a heck of a summer!

After a run like that, it feels like we ought to be headed home. 

BAM! It hit me with an ironical giggle today at the airport. There is no home. This is not a vacation. It’s my life. 

Vacation means you might spend a little more, eat and drink a bit more, exercise and sleep a lot less, and work as close to zero as possible. But you can’t live that way! We realized somewhere along the way that we have to be on constant alert if we are to stay functional, or even healthy. 

Not only that, a forever-vacation mindset can wreak havoc on fulfilling long term goals.

We set out with the mission to learn about the world inside and outside ourselves so that we may live more thoughtfully. Well, I confess to losing sight of that goal somewhere in the past month or so. Maybe it was laziness? The result of being in the all-too-familiar United States up to this point? One-too-many comfy beds with no deadlines over our heads? Never too late to get back on track, though. I’ve got the next several hours of white-noise, padded-room, airplane-seat experience to reflect and share some things we discovered so far:

There is nothing like an old childhood friend. 

Just a little bit of [insert something I’m striving to do consistently here, like exercise, read to the kids, write, study] every day is all it takes. 

Our country has an astounding amount of unpopulated space, as well as overwhelmingly congested cities. I don’t think either is for me. 

It’s lovely not having closets full of clothes and bags and gadgets and shoes and shampoos. Those are best experienced in small, manageable doses!

Not all campgrounds are created equal.

Sharing one’s family with another is an incredible gift.

Parenting is next to politics and religion in the list of touchy topics here in the United States. (I hope to discover that folks in other countries know how to talk about the juicy stuff more freely).

I’m eager to speak out for environmental conscience, hope that I may do so gracefully, and aim to be a good role model in that light for my children.

I want my husband to continue to fall in love with me every day.

There are many more thoughts recorded in my first journal—already filled one and sent it back to Virginia. Is it ridiculous to muse a bit on the struggle between living and vacationing? Maybe you are hoping for more packing tips or gems of travel advice. We are casting ourselves far away today. What is it we can share about the world out there to help you on your journey?