Vacation: All You Ever Wanted??

The concept of vacations makes me laugh. We go on vacations to escape the real world and spend time relaxing and enjoying ourselves in ways we cannot at home. This is a great idea in theory, but in actuality, I think the majority of people spend more time stressing out about their vacations than they ever do stressing out about their everyday life. Where do we go on vacation? Where do we stay when we get there? What do we do when we get there? Do I need to buy tickets ahead of time or wait until we get there? If we are breaking up our trip into two segments, do we book a hotel ahead of time or just try and find one when we stop? How much do we put on the credit card? How much cash should we carry? How are the kids going to do? Should we bring their personal DVD players or do we want to try and make them talk to us? These are just the questions that affect the whole family. Then there are the questions the affect each individual. For men, do I bring my wallet or scale back to just a money clip so I can keep it in my front pocket? Do I take the GPS and listen to it tell me directions or do I print off the directions for my wife to bark them at me on the interstate? At what time can I hit big city traffic in which both my wife and kids will be asleep, so they won’t freak out on me? Is it really not okay to wear socks with sandals? For women, how many pairs of shoes should I bring? What about make up? Should I bring the straightener and all the products I need to wear my hair curly? What kind of clothes should I bring? What do I do with my jewelry? What about purses? Did I pack enough for the kids? Is my husband seriously wearing socks with his sandals? All of these questions lead to more stress. In addition to trying to answer all of these questions, people must figure out what they should and should not do once they reach their location. Do we allow the kids to do things on their own or do we stress the importance of spending time together as a family? Do I eat unhealthy the whole time or do I throw in a few salads to make myself feel better? Am I really going to use the gym at the hotel (which leads to the do I or do I not pack work out clothes debate before the trip)? Do we need to buy the picture from the amusement park? Yes, I know we’ll probably only be here once, but do I really need to pay $50 for a picture in which my son looks like someone has shoved bees up his nose? All of this leads to a stressful time which negates the purpose of going on a vacation. I realize that not everyone’s vacation goes like this, but enough people’s vacations do that I think it is worth considering the value of a staycation.