Common Sense Goes on Vacation

When we began planning our family vacation, we were concerned about our budget because of gas being so much higher. We tried to cut corners where we could, planning out meals and trying to get souvenirs that were more practical. We packed carefully, taking things that in the past we would have purchased after our arrival, hoping to save money by not paying the big tourist trap prices.

We got down to the beach and began enjoying our time. One night we went out to dinner and ordered our dinner and drinks. As we happily sipped our tropical umbrella drinks, hubby stopped and in a moment of clarity began laughing.

"What in the world are we worried about gas prices for? We just paid $11 for one drink!"

Hmmm. Good point. Where is the common sense in that???

In fact, most of what we do during our beach vacation each year seems to be flying in the face of reason:

1. We stay in a place that we want to make sure is spacious, clean and well air-conditioned- yet we purposefully go out to worship the 100+ degree sun and whine about the heat.


2. We insist that our dwelling place keeps out rodents, animals and bugs- yet we go outside, spraying ourselves with toxic chemicals to keep the bugs away.


3. We are pale-faced, pale-bodied blobs, who look like vampires out in the sun- yet we slather up with #50 sunscreen so we don't burn to a crisp out in the sun.


4. We work out at home trying to tame the fat and tone the muscles- yet we eat like it's our job on vacation, stuffing in all sorts of fattening, calorie-laden foods, until our stomachs ache and our zippers groan.


5. We scrimp and save our money at home in order to afford our much-anticipated vacation- yet we think nothing of spending money on ridiculously priced food, drinks and tacky souvenirs.

To top it all off, I have calculated that I've taken over 450 pictures with my digital camera since we've been here- yet, I will probably only actually print 20 - 25 of them.

Moral of the story, we have an incredibly well photo documentation of how we spent way too much on stupid stuff, slather up with sunscreen and bug spray to go out of our well-air conditioned, bug-free, sun-free homes, and sweat outside in the sun and the sand, fighting off bugs and trying to stay hydrated... All in the name of "vacation."

If a friend told me they were going to do this, in this context, I would sincerely wonder about their ability to make decisions. But, this is something we look forward to all year. This is something we set all of our lives aside to do.

Because, no matter how much it just makes no sense, the fact is, we get to spend a whole week of (relatively) uninterrupted time with the people who matter most to us in the world: our family.

It's true: we can push each others' buttons better than anyone else. We have the baggage of all the family history working against us.

But, in the end, our family makes us who we are. The adults enjoy watching the children learn and grow and laugh and play. We enjoy playing games- the competitive spirit still very much alive. And we feel it's important to pass down the traditions we have been passed down from our parents and grandparents. Bottom line: we love each other and love to be around each other and love that our kids enjoy each other.

So, it may not make sense, but we sure have a lot of fun together on our expensive, hot, bug-filled, sweaty, sun-burned, fun-filled, fun-in-the-sun vacation! And I look forward to it again next year!