week in the life: a monday on vacation
I’ve been so impressed by Daria‘s Italy recaps that I decided to take a swing and try and recap my wild week. We have our family vacation to New Hampshire from Monday through Thursday and then on Saturday I’m actually going away by myself to Maine, which is a trial run or precursor to my first ever solo vacation this fall.
Our energy is a little hectic coming off a week where we were trying to do a big computer swap that just left us only with our work computers and smartphones and Lil Mama having some wild antics. But, I have hope that this vacation can chill us out and make some memories, and hopefully be an overall win.
Here’s how I prepped:
I admitted that I’m feeling a lot of feels
For almost my entire life, but especially the last 5 to 10 years, I’ve spent every vacation or day away worrying about my parents. Things always just seem to happen when I was away and it’s led to a lot of anxiety around being away. This is my first one since losing both of them and I both feel a lot of relief, as well as a lot of guilt. I’m really hoping to have fun but I know it’ll be a little weird this go around.
I brought what I need
I always try to pack light but end up not bringing something that would make me so much more comfortable. Not this time! I have my pillow and my conditioner and I tried on all my outfits and I brought my books. It seems so simple but it makes such a difference. Edited to add: I forgot pajamas and sunscreen and bug spray, but luckily we got a Target on the way up!
I named what mattered
There’s always bumpy moments during these trips. Someone gets hangry, someone gets hurt, we all get a little exhausted. But, when I thought about this from a Lazy Genius perspective, what’s important to me for this vacation is that we do things we don’t usually do (see waterfalls, order new foods, etc.) and that we do them together. It’s ok to throw a tech break in here and there or give up on an activity, but I really want to stay true to why we are here.
Day 1
We drove up and stopped at Sabbaday Falls on the Kancamagus highway (aka “the Kanc”), which was a lovely half mile walk through the woods and up to some waterfalls.
From there, we went to Zeb’s General Store in North Conway and each picked 4 snacks and one soda for the week. (Last year, we overdid it and had so much candy to bring home that we wanted some boundaries this year.). Here’s what I got:
From there we checked into our hotel over by Mount Cranmore and then headed to dinner at the Sea Dog Brewing Company. I’m trying to try some new foods this trip so I got seared tuna sashimi and a side of fries - delicious!
We then headed back to the hotel. The Mr and Lil Momma went swimming and I caught up on the CBBC read and did this. Once they get back, we are going to make some “snackuterie” plates with our Zeb’s and watch the Olympics until bedtime.
Tomorrow, we are doing a redemption activity from when we had to leave early last year by taking a train up Mount Washington, playing some mini golf, and then hopefully having a fun dinner.
Are you an early or late dinner type on vacation? We always eat early to beat the crowds but then have some snacks later wherever we are staying…
Good times! I think that a balance of doing things and kicking back and relaxing (read: tech breaks) is the key to a great vacation. We just got back from ours.
ReplyDeleteWe're mostly early eaters on vacation...oh who am I kidding, we're pretty much early eaters all the time.
We are early eaters, too! Even more so on vacation. I’ve accepted this about myself. I can’t imagine waiting till 7 or 8 (that would be a second dinner, haha)…
DeleteLove this recap and agree that while I adore packing light...I always manage to forget something.
ReplyDeleteNaming what matters is SUCH A GREAT APPROACH. I've been trying to incorporate that stance in life more and more. Another thing I reflect on regularly - especially on vacation - is Laura Vanderkam's advice to just make a few good memories. There is no way everyone is going to be happy all the time or that everything is going to go smoothly. A fun event will be rained out. A train will be missed. A kid will fall and skin their knee. If our expectation is perfection, we will ALWAYS be let down. But if we go in to a vacation hoping for a few good moments/memories, then we can celebrate when those things happen and I feel like it relieves a lot of pressure on me?
That is such a good echo from Lauren, Elisabeth! I sometimes get caught up in trying to make everything memorable or finding those moments that “should” be the point of something, but my favorite parts are always little moments like a random aside one of us says or a silly joke or the dinner somewhere that’s surprisingly amazing… I’m a little things person and I just need to let the rest be what it’s going to be more. (Easier said than done, haha!)
DeleteHappy to see that the vacation got off to a great start! We have a trip planned for LA next week and it's been tough to plan and get ready for it. It doesn't help that my dog had an accident on the carpet and now we need a little help from the local carpet cleaner haha But I'll try to follow your lead here too and name what matters most!
ReplyDeleteI feel like there can be so many emotions going into a vacation - you want it to be fun and memorable, but what happens when things go awry?! So I love the idea of naming what matters and making sure you remember that throughout the trip.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually a late dinner gal! My preference is around 7pm but you're right - that means more crowds than not!
I'm laughing at how you were determined not to forget things that make you more comfortable, but then forgot your pajamas. Well, and bug spray and sunscreen! You would definitely have been uncomfortable without those things. Target has saved our family on many vacations.
ReplyDeleteSounds like it's off to a good start- heading over to read day #2.
Oh, I understand the mixed feelings about going on vacation now that your parents have passed... but at the same time, you deserve to go and "not worry", so I hope you could embrace this. It sounds like a good start!
ReplyDeleteLindsay, thank you for this. I was on my mini-vacation I think the same week? And I took the same approach. For me, naming what was important was recognizing that this was the very first vacation I've taken...um, ever? when it's just been me. There has always been someone else. So what was important was what was going to work for me. That looked like taking All The Food in the car, knowing that I wouldn't want to spend money or time getting every meal out. I also committed to ice cream every day, because, duh, ice cream. :) I hope you love love love your solo vacation. I have a feeling you and I would travel well together, my early-eating, food-toting, take whatever you need friend. <3
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