The summer is winding down. We just wrapped up a vacation. My biggest little kid is officially back in school. The weather is getting cooler.
Haha. Just kidding. It’s still hotter than the devil himself in a tanning bed here in Indiana.
But let’s go back to vacations. Everyone’s favorite part of the summer. Except mine.
What the what?
Yep. You read correctly. I despise vacations, and I am fully aware that I’m probably the lone holder of the vacation-hater title.
It’s not that I don’t like seeing the world outside of my bubble – I’m not a total Debbie-downer. I actually always have a really great time exploring new places. It’s just everything else that goes along with the vacation that makes me end up saying I’ll never leave my home again.
Let me lay it all out here:
- PACKING. I can never get it right. I either take way too much or not enough. And I never have the right outfits. Too many casual, not enough nice. Too many sweaters, not enough tees. What’s a cold-natured-leggings-wearing girl to do? Plus, with a husband and two kids and a dog, I have like 4 extra bodies to pack for (the dog stays with family or in a kennel when we travel). I feel like I may as well just rent a truck and move to wherever we’re going.
Basically what happens when I pack to go anywhere.
- TRAVEL. Fly or drive? Driving is obviously easier with all of our kid gear. And cheaper. But damn if it doesn’t cut way too much time out of actually enjoying the place we’re going to. Flying is so much faster. Maybe the speed of getting there is worth the headache of lugging our crap around an airport, checking (and the possibility of losing) baggage, and the cost? I still haven’t figured this one out. But, it does bring me to my next point.
- FLYING. Faster, yes. Cheap, HELL NO. Unless you want 5 layovers with barely enough time to get off the plane and make it to your next one. And I don’t. Plus, who wants to deal with TSA and removing half their clothing just to get through the security line? Don’t get me started on the liquids in the plastic bags either. The last flight I took, I got pulled aside and my bags searched because I had diaper cream in my liquids bag. DIAPER CREAM. The only thing I can figure is that they needed it because they’re all such big as…and let’s talk about:
- MONEY. The cost of traveling anywhere is crazy-expensive. First, you have the actual travel. Then, the lodging. Not to mention the food. Want to actually see the sights of the place you’ve visited? Be prepared to fork over the $$$$$$. I can be a bit of a tightwad, I admit. I have financial goals for myself, and so far, I’m unwilling to cut into my coffee budget to allow for traveling. Coffee > Travel
- EXHAUSTION. I know I’m not the only person who feels this because every time someone comes back from a vacation I hear, “I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!” The physical act of traveling from one location to another is exhausting. Add kids into the mix, and you may as well just go ahead and dig my grave because it’s unlikely that I’m going to wake up once I get home and fall asleep.
Maybe it’s just because my family never took even one vacation when I was a kid, and I’m just too old to change my ways at 21 (which is the age I pretend to be now). Or maybe it’s because I’m such an introverty-introvert, and I like holing away in my house in my leggings and socks and Antarctic-weather sweaters with a pot of coffee and the latest episode of My Little Pony. Maybe, I’ll be more prone to travel once I’m not lugging around kidlins and all their gear.
There’s something to be said about seeing the world around you for sure. I would love to give my girls the gift of travel and the experience of other cultures. But, right now, in this season of my life, I’m happy to say that I’m the president of the Vacation Haters Club, and I’m looking for members.
