I Love a Good Vacation, but I Love Travel More
As a kid, I traveled with my parents every summer, but I only remember taking a couple of vacations and they were to the beach. Looking back, I now realize that my parents didn't place a lot of value on vacations. If they were going to take time off of work and spend their hard-earned money, they wanted to see something new, explore and learn. I suppose I knew back then that the trips I took as a kid were different than the vacations most other kids took, but I didn't fully understand the difference until recently.
The purpose of both a vacation and travel is to recharge, but the experiences are completely different.
A vacation means rest and relaxation. Vacations can be taken at home or they may involve transportation (physical travel) to another country, city, hotel, condo, resort or cruise. Vacations are usually about indulgence and often come with hefty price-tags. Vacations are also relatively easy to plan. You mainly need transportation, a place to stay and maybe an excursion or two.
Travel is about seeing, doing, going, learning and experiencing. It has meaning and value that lasts well beyond the trip. Travel can involve downtime to relax, but that's not the ultimate goal. You experience history, art, culture, people, food and come away with a broadened perspective of the world. It's about adventure and exploring. It's exciting, interesting, powerful and can be exhausting if you try to do too much. My kids (11 and 13) rarely argue when we travel because they're focused, engaged and excited about the next thing on our agenda. I always come back from a trip with new ideas and new approaches to my job and my life. Unlike most vacations, travel requires a lot of research and even more planning. Travel planning reminds me of putting a puzzle together. Finding the right pieces and putting them together in the right order to make the most of your time without overdoing it. Travel can certainly be expensive if you go to a far off land and stay in expensive hotels, but it can also be closer to home and much more affordable.
Both vacations and travel allow you to step away from your everyday responsibilities, clear your mind, enjoy life and reconnect with your family. Most families take vacations, but for some reason they save travel for later in life. My goal is to change that. Don't put off your dream travels — take them now and allow your kids to experience them with you. You won't regret it if you take the trips, but chances are great that you will regret it if you don't.