Leisure and Shoveling

After I wrote my first post, I spent the next hour shoveling six inches of snow off our driveway with my husband and son.  About halfway through, my back was getting far too comfortable at a 90 degree angle and it hurt to stand up straight.  Ethan, my ten-year old son, asked "How much longer until we're done?"  I kept trying to estimate how many minutes it would take for us to complete the task, and reminded him that I was cold and wet too.   As usual, manual labor takes much longer than we think it will.  Frustration was starting to build. 

Instead of another optimistic estimate, I tried another approach. I told Ethan that being on vacation makes me want to work hard when I get home.  Coming from an entire week of no dishes, no chores and complete leisure and amusement actually created this drive in me to shovel with some gusto!  I don't know if it was much of a pep talk for him, but I had a wintery epiphany.  Regular cycles of work and rest are important for happiness!  Too much relaxation makes us lazy and too much work makes us grumpy, and our bodies know when it's time to return to work and back to our normal schedule.

Case in point: Last Friday, after three days at the parks we offered the kids another day in the Magic Kingdom or we could leave and go home to see their cousins.  Guess what they chose?  Yup, their cousins.  Sometimes the daily grind is more exciting than Dumbo.

Sometimes it takes a blizzard to start a blog.

I've been putting off writing a travel blog until I had a day that required nothing of me, when no one asked me for a meal, for help tying a shoe, or for completing a to-do list.  That day was not today, but the fact that we are in the middle of a blizzard has made TV watching paramount and I'm upstairs at the computer unnoticed!  How long can I get away with this?  Well, the length of my first post will answer that question!

I love to travel, whether it's a road trip to see family in Tennessee or a trip to Europe or a family vacation in Disney World which we just returned from three days ago. I like going to new places or returning to familiar destinations, and the journey is just as exciting as the destination.  Packing snacks, DVDs, and activity bags for the kids give me a rush of adreneline like nothing else.  I'm a people person and usually don't like prolonged alone time, but something in me comes alive when I'm in a new place where no one knows me and I can talk to strangers and make friends faster than I ever would at home.  I stay up late, get up early, and pack as much as I can into those days of un-ordinary because I know that daily life resumes too quickly. 

As I said, I am just returning from a trip with my life partner in state-hopping, Mark, and our four sight-seeing apprentices.  I'm surrounded by laundry, half-opened mail, mis-matched shoes and some very delicious Christmas cookies.  I should be cleaning, sorting and filing, but I'm still reveling in the memories of our Disney trip and trying to relive each moment.  What I love so much about a great trip is that I can't stop myself from mentally planning the next trip to that same destination even before I've unpacked.  I improve each aspect of the lodging, food, activities and transportation in my mind and want to cement those plans with a hard core date and time when we will return. Not much could be improved on this last trip, though.  I'll talk about more in future posts, but it was nearly perfect thanks to my parents who watched our tiniest tourist so we could focus on the older ones and experience all Disney World had to offer for the holidays.  Thanks, Nana! 

I know that the purpose of my blog and what I talk about will emerge and take form as I add more posts, but for now, I want to share some of my favorite travel memories from various perspectives:  a lover of travel, a travel agent, a mom and a travel partner.  The title of my blog, Still Wishing... comes from my Facebook page Wishing Star Vacations and from the fact that, no matter how many trips I take, I'm still wishing for the next adventure, the next excursion, the next getaway. 

One of my favorite Christmas presents was from my sister-in-law and her family.  They gifted us with a certificate toward a night at a lodge at one of Indiana's six state parks.  I have already decided that I want to visit the Potawatomi Inn in Angola, IN.  A huge beach on Lake James, hiking and biking trails, craft centers for the kids, two pools, a restaurant...sounds perfect to me!  After we get back from the trip, I'll review it and let you know what I think of Potawatomi Inn for a family overnight destination.  See, the blog is aleady writing itself...

 

So until next time, Happy Traveling!  Oops!  I mean, Happy Being Snowed In!