Vacation: Expectations vs Reality

We recently got back from a week long vacation to the Great Smoky Moutains in North Carolina. This was somewhat of a last minute vacation with a 2 week “notice” to find an affordable and well located rental. While I usually share all the fun pictures and fun activities we participate in, today, I wanted to share some of the real life struggles of a mom going on vacation. We love traveling with the children but sometimes, I sure wished I could take a solo vacay to a deserted island!

I have shared in the past about how some vacations traveling with a 2 year old can be more stress than vacation. My favorite vacations are trips abroad because the sights and activities far outweigh any child induced stress and also because I do not cook when we are abroad. Today, I wanted to share a little about the stressors in vacationing  as well as the good moments too.

Stressors

• get up time: I still had to get up early with the kids and since we were in a new place, that meant around 6:30 every morning because littlest was ready to get moving just as usual
• I still had to cook most of the meals: one way to save money traveling is to cook and that task is usually mine unless we are grilling. I am a good cook but I’d rather not when I am on vacation
• something breaking down: the AC went out at the rental and it was 2 days before it was back to normal.
• I still do laundry
• I still clean messes

Vacation fun

Now why do I still love to go on vacation regularly even if I don’t always feel like it is a vacation for me?

• new place: new sights and in this case beautiful views.
• learn about new cultures: we visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and learned some facts or were reminded of history and facts.
• it is fun to get away
• new adventures to take part in (we rode the Great Smokies Railroad, we visited a cave (post coming up about it), we hiked, we swam and played in a cold river with cool rocks and rapids)

Reality means not everything is perfect! It is not all sunshine and rainbows. Children will have arguments, mommies will get hangry, bedtimes will be late and getting up times will be learly. But it is all worthwhile to soak up the peaceful moments, to enjoy a solo coffee on the porch looking at the “smoky” hills and mountains and to see wild nature close up (elk and river rat).  Spending quality time with children and husband helps strengthen our relationships. I tried to really savor those glimpses of quietness listening to the river running, to admire the waterfalls and majestic views and enjoy seeing the kids have fun. There are going to be moments that are struggles while you will soak up and thoroughly enjoy the other parts of the day. It is ok for life not to be perfect and for us to grow from these experiences and challenges. Real life is not those glimpses you see of perfect pictures on Instagram.

I have learned a few things on this vacation:

• I need to ask for help: we did get back home with me sharing with the boys that they would start being more helpful around the house and getting back to doing some chores (these last 5 months have been so unstructured)
• I need to have realistic expectations about vacations: they are still tiring but also quite fun!
• I need to take advantage of having a teen and a husband to take some quiet time to myself: just like I run and walk with a girlfriend at home, I do need that quiet time on my own while on vacation.

Don’t have a tunnel vision of how your vacation will go! We had the some of the best views of the mountains and the boys loved the tunnels when we took a 30 minute wrong turn through the mountains.

The same thing happened with not stopping by on a trail I wanted to stop at: we ended up on this cool short trail that came to a log bridge that was really cool. Maybe one day, I will learn to let go of trying to control things and go with the flow a little more: it would save me from a lot of frustration, wouldn’t it? Thankfully, I usually do let things go after a short time but I sure can get better at it!

What are some of your favorite and least favorite things on vacation?

A bientôt!

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