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The gift of travel
For me, travel and gift-giving are and always have been inextricably linked. What is a vacation or a trip, after all, but a gift a family gives itself?
Now I know, some travel seems to be routine and obligatory. The annual eight-hour trek to the grandparents for a family reunion, for example. Something like this may seem more of a chore than a chance for fun.
Maybe. I believe it depends on your attitude. Even though a journey may seem routine, it is another opportunity to build memories. One more chance to look for the little something different, unusual or unexpected that will transform the ordinary outing into an extraordinary memory.
“It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.”
That was an observation of Robert Louis Stevenson. True, he may not have had three cranky kids in the backseat to deal with, but no matter.
Stevenson seems to be saying that trips are more about the journey than the destination. And if you pull back a few more steps and start to view life itself as one continuous journey . . . . Well, then—the world becomes your playground.
If you train your mind to accept that we are always journeying, then you will see infinitely more opportunities to exercise ways of thinking and acting that you may have previously reserved as vacation-only behavior. No, I’m not saying that everyday is a playday.
And yes, I understand that part of what makes vacations precious is that they are special—outside the parameters of workaday living. All I’m saying is that if you deliberately blur the lines a little, you and your family will find a lot more fun in the routine outings of life. And often splashing that attitude onto other families is just as much fun as applying it to your own.
An example
Last summer good friends of ours with two small children were planning a camping vacation to Ontario. We decided to add a little something they didn’t expect: A Vacation Box. It was our own invention and a thinly veiled excuse to participate vicariously in their adventure.
We found two small gift bags in the basement. (Believe me, we have hundreds.) These were for the girls, and we filled them with trinkets from the Dollar Store and candy we had in the house.
We filled the rest of the cavities in the partitioned box with simple treats and surprises—matches, safety pins, a little flashlight, boxes of raisins, snack bars, homemade cookies. You get the idea. Partitioned boxes are great for this sort of thing because each new compartment is another surprise.
We made sure each person had at least one little “gift” that was wrapped. To top it off, we made some “coupons” for the parents to use when they got home. One of these was for an evening of free babysitting. Another was for brunch at our place.
We delivered it with a typed list of cryptic guidelines that only added to their excitement and curiosity: Keep out of the sun. Keep away from the dog. Do not open until you’re on the road. . . .
You can write the ending for this as well as I. They were blown away, and they’re still talking about it. And probably will on the eve of every vacation they ever take together. So many happy memories . . . so little effort.