Accepting the Unexpected Journey

When I was a kid, my uncle started using the phrase, “We can’t be late, we’re on vacation.” I’m sure […]

You are about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. After months of convincing Mom and Dad that this is a good idea, planning out everything you want to see and do, and working every shift possible during the summer, you are ready. You think you know the impact this will have on your life, but take comfort in knowing that you don’t know anything, and that will make the next three months so much better. This journey will change you and set you on a path that is even better than the life you are imagining for yourself right now, the memories and the lessons sticking with you long after you return to the States.

We looked across the expanse of sand and the kids took off down the dune, ready to explore the next one. We shortened the dogs’ leashes and let them take off after the kids, both of them happily running through the sand to protect their people. We spent the next hour waiting for the sunset, climbing to the top of the next dune and then sitting at the top while we watched our kids play and roll in the sand.

With that, I planned a trip to Arches National Park and back. So what has the last six months of planning looked like?

This past spring, as I made plans for our summer vacation and waited to see how much time and money we would have left to have our own vacation, all the while struggling to find a location for just the two of us that we could both agree on, I finally had an epiphany: We were still allowed to have our own new experiences that didn’t involve our kids.

We were standing in the gift shop of the Badlands National Park visitor center when my husband picked up a […]