Summer Plans

A friend asked us what camping trips we have planned for this summer. The answer: “None.”

Summer is coming. For the last 25-plus years I’ve had to plan a summer trip, usually a camping trip. But, we sold our pop-up camper last summer. Maybe that was premature. I miss the trips and summer is not even here yet.

It was the logical, practical thing to do. Selling the camper while it was still in very good condition and knowing we would not be using it with the kids moving on into their adult lives, was fine. But, I did not realize the emotional toll it would take on me. We are approaching another summer and I have no plans. I know there are hotels and such, but those accommodations are so much more expensive than the camping option. Not only do you have to pay for the room, you have to buy food at restaurants. Packing our own food was a lot less expensive.

It’s not just the money thing that prevents planning a trip. Without the kids to “expose” to new and different events and/or sights, I don’t have any motivation for figuring out where to go. The campground was a good-enough destination for the kids with a pool or lake for swimming, campfires, hikes, or even just sitting around enjoying the fresh air. No television to distract, DVD player to tempt, or computers/internet to draw our attention. However when camping there is always a table upon which to set up marathon games of Risk, fire pits to build fires in for roasting hotdogs, and quiet in which we could read or have extended conversations.

Destinations also introduced our kids to historical events, geological phenomena, cultural differences, scientific discoveries, and so many other new things. Art museums, submarine tours, natural history museums, rock formations, wildlife, zoos, river-carved ravines, local cuisine, birds, fish, deer, historical museums, historical monuments, NASA, horseback riding, canoeing, etc. Our trips provided opportunities to learn things from map reading to outdoor cooking to getting along in cramped places. Now I have to figure out what might be interesting for me to go see. It was easier to figure out new things for the kids to go see and/or do.

So that’s where I am with my summer vacation plans. No camping trip(s), no trips at all. Time to figure this out. Time to plan a trip. Where should Mike and I go? Any ideas or suggestions? I’m open to ideas.