Dear Mom and Dad,
I know you were expecting an article about “how to survive a family vacation”, but the more I wrote the more I realized I really have no idea how we have survived all of these trips together. By now you’ve probably realized that you were crazy to load up the van every summer and road trip across the country. Of course most of these trips revolved around Dad’s business meetings, but that didn’t stop us from having fun. Regardless of our destination — Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, or a town that just so happened to have a museum strange enough for us to go to — we always found something to do, even if it was simply getting a limo from our hotel to the grocery store instead of using a taxi. I always had an interesting story to share on the first day back to school when we were asked if we did anything fun over the summer.
Now that I’m older I can appreciate how lucky we were to be able to go on these vacations. Sure, they were hectic at times, there were silly arguments, hurt feelings, and tantrums (I’m talking about you, Dad). Doesn’t every family have their vacation horror stories? Maybe they aren’t as memorable as Dad tossing his Nilla wafers at the window of the car in disbelief because we just left a rest stop and Zach already has to use the bathroom again, but I wouldn’t trade those “horror stories” for anything because with the arguments, hurt feelings, and tantrums came laughter, inside jokes, and memories.
I remember rushing into every hotel room looking for a microwave because once when we were getting groceries I suggested we get the microwaveable mac and cheese bowls (for ten year old me this was obviously a road trip necessity). Zach was quick to sassily inform me that hotels don’t have microwaves. But remember what appliance was at every hotel we stayed in on that trip? I remember sledding on the sand dunes in Colorado, and I remember having to cover our back window with a garbage bag because the glass blew out as we drove out a storm. Though I might not always remember where we ended up, I remember the little things along the way.
I know this hasn’t been as much of a thank you as a recounting my childhood, but I thought you should know that I remember and appreciate these trips for the good and the bad. So thank you for showing me more of the world than our small town. Thank you for taking me to those strange museums. Thank you for the opportunity to learn about and appreciate different cultures. Thank you for complaining with me about annoying people we encountered during our travels. Thank you for taking the scenic route even when we begged you not to. Dad, thank you for the travel tips. Mom, thank you for reminding dad to not drive so crazy. Zach, thank you for always providing an “interesting” playlist for those long drives. Thank you for being that crazy family that loads up their van every summer and road trips across the country. And just this once I will admit that none of our hotels on this trip had a microwave.
