A Fistful of Loonies

Going on vacation is a pretty standard thing for people to do. Most people, generally, take a trip every year or every other year off to some far away place, or not so far away place, and get away from their familiar surroundings. My wife and I hadn't taken a vacation since 2002, so when we decided that we were taking a trip to Canada, it was a big deal.

This trip was interesting because it was the first time we had packed up our family of four and taken an extended trip away from home. Going to a foreign country made it that much more challenging. (Every parent that's reading this post who has had to get a passport for their child is nodding their head in agreement right now.)

The cherry on the "this is going to be an interesting trip" sundae was the fact that we decided to drive. It would allow us to set up a flexible schedule, give us a lot more freedom, and spare anyone else traveling with our family in an airplane for a few hours any sort of negative reaction my kids could have to flying. We checked everything twice, packed it carefully, and went on the trip.


Always travel with your wingman

We took our time getting to Canada by stopping in New Jersey and upstate New York to see friends and family. We paid for it, literally, because of all of the tolls we had to pay along the route. Ay carumba! Eventually, we crossed the border and arrived in Canada.

The biggest letdown of the trip is that we were unable to spend time with Katitude. Apparently, this was the wrong trip to try to see her, so we'll have to arrange to get together the next time we head up North. It was a real downer and it's not something I'd like to experience again if possible.

Otherwise, this trip was one of the best I've ever taken. We decided against being tourists and instead focused on spending time with our friends and meeting new people. That was the smartest decision we made and it definitely made the trip absolutely wonderful.

Generally, when meeting people for the first time, especially in groups, there's a "breaking in" period where everyone gets to know everyone else and things are a bit awkward and/or uneasy until everyone gets comfortable.

That never happened on our trip.

It's amazing to meet people who welcome you with open arms like you're returning home from a journey instead of entering their lives for the first time. It's a wonderful gift that I've been given in my lifetime and every time it happens it's awesome. We were invited to birthday parties, asked to dinner at people's houses, and had help offered whenever we needed it. It was incredible and I'm honored to know each and every person we met. Meeting people on a level where it's already assumed that you're a good person and friendly is a wonderfully refreshing experience and I hope it happens to me again in the future.

At this point, I'm quite sure there are some people who are asking various questions such as What did they see on the trip? or Where did they go? But, honestly, I just described that. We went on the trip to see our friends and meet their friends. So, that's what we did. We attended barbecues, went to a pool party, took our kids to a park, chatted through all hours of the day and night, and spent time with people.

That's the point of any gathering, really. It's meeting in one place to spend time together in person. It's not going to see a specific place or meeting at a certain time. It's all about being around the people who go to the gathering. Everything else is details.