The Adventures We Take, The Memories We Make
As the children grew, so did my vacation stress. A whole different set of issues emerged. During a beach trip, my three boys decided it would be a great idea to throw their brand-new, light-up frisbee into some tick-infested pine trees at Cape Henlopen State Park. They retrieved the frisbee but also emerged covered in ticks, resulting in a chaotic scene of stripping down and frantic de-ticking in the back seat of the car.
Then came the teen years. This is when children’s only goal in life is to push boundaries while avoiding any public association with their parents. One beach day, calling the boys for dinner was met with resistance as they had found new friends (cute girls) and didn’t want to leave their volleyball game.
Today, as an empty nester, I planned a vacation with hopes of it being stress-free. Surely, now that’s a viable possibility, right? Wrong! I have been planning this trip for months and am still stressed. My vacation rental was abruptly canceled, leaving me scrambling for accommodations after booking flights and a rental car. Scheduling our time upon arrival has been another challenge, especially since we are heading to Glacier National Park in Montana (I can’t wait to tell you all about it upon my return) and I am overwhelmed with all the amazing things the park has to offer. It covers over 1,583 square miles and has over 700 miles of hiking trails. For someone who loves to hike, that has me eager to hit the trails and my mind buzzing with anticipation.
The stress of deciding which trails to hike, how to secure a vehicle pass, where to purchase bear spray (yes, there are grizzlies), and ensuring we don’t miss anything has been intense. Joining a Glacier National Park Facebook group only heightened my anxiety with its plethora of “must-do” lists. We have spent hours poring over books, maps, and the internet, and I still feel ill-prepared. I want to see and capture in photos everything: the glaciers, the lakes, the mountains, the waterfalls, the wildflower-filled meadows—all of it. I want to drive the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road and see the iconic vistas and wildlife. I even signed us up for white water rafting! Pretty high expectations.
Thankfully, a fellow traveler’s wise advice to a Facebook group member planning their trip down to the hour resonated with me: “Don’t over-plan to the point of missing the experience.” Wise words that I am working hard to remember. The true essence of a vacation is in the adventures we take and the memories we make, not the meticulous planning. I love the way this artist put it, “Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest.” —Takehiko Inoue
Rhonda S. Kelley
Executive Director
Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce