What is your ideal vacation? Do you like to go somewhere new and adventurous? Do you prefer warm weather or cold weather? Do you want to be with your family or meet new people? For many, these questions and this idea can be difficult to answer and can change depending on the mood, day, or temperature. For me however, it is always the same answer.
For me, my ideal vacation, favorite place, my home-away-from-home, has been the same for as long as I can remember. I have always loved to go out east to Hither Hills State Park. Now, for those who don't speak Long Island, this means that I go to the east end of the island, Montauk. This is my happy place, and it has been since I was a baby (literally the first time I went out there I wasn't even a year old).
Now what makes this one place so special? Well, to start, its right on the beach. The beach during the day is so much fun. We read, tan, play a bunch of games, swim -- we just fully relax. And at night, it's like a real live white noise machine. Falling asleep is so peaceful because I can hear the waves crashing and flowing and it's just so perfect.
This is a family trip, meaning that it's my immediate family and a whole bunch of my cousins -- and it always has been this way. Doing this every year makes for 100,000 memories that we reminisce on every year and pictures that are absolutely priceless. Luckily, my family has always been pretty close and all but this one specific week it doesn't feel like were family, but rather the best of friends.
We always take this trip around the same time every year, so we have made some friends that we always see when were out there. We even have few that are invited to stay with us when their families don't go out so that we can have the whole group out there. These friends have become more than just friends but also a family that can never be broken. Yes there are some silly arguments and fights from time to time but I mean, all families fight a little bit.
It's "off the grid". The cell service is extremely sketchy and hard to find at this park. Yes, it can be annoying when trying to find out when someone is coming out, to find people when you've done laps of the campground looking for them, or even just trying to brag to everyone at home about how much fun you're having but in actual reality, it is the greatest thing ever. It helps to just get out of the media and technology and just have fun like we used to when we were kids.
I am glad to have my little paradise away from home, and as this year's trip comes to an end -- it makes me all the more excited for next year's and all the more memories to come.
