For the Love of Travel

It's no secret that I love to travel. In college, I would book a flight as soon as my savings account allowed. I met T.J. and on our first or second date, rather boldly told him he needed to own a passport to keep dating me. Lucky for me, he got one rather quickly and learned to love travel just as much as I do.

It's hard to explain, but somehow we thrive on travel. We are rejuvenated, relaxed and recharged when we get away from our everyday responsibilities and embrace a different environment or culture. Together, we've traveled North, South, East and West. Internationally and domestically, we have done it together. Normally, while on vacation, we would begin discussing or even booking our next vacation, always giving us something to look forward to in the future.

Along came our beautiful children, and along they come on our travel adventures with us. Sure, our types of vacation have changed a bit with the little ones, but we are working hard to foster in them a sense of adventure and love for travel.

This past weekend, we ventured a few hours south to Louisville, Kentucky. A city we have frequently driven through on our way to other destinations, but never have stopped to explore. What a pleasant surprise to find so much to do so close to home! We spent our days exploring the Kentucky Science Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum, local malls and eateries. Oh and of course lounging in our hotel and swimming in the pool. We had grandious plans to hike and play outside as well, but God had other plans with the weather.

Looking back on our vacations thus far as parents of two children, I can honestly say that we no longer come home from vacation relaxed or rejuvenated. In fact, we come home exhausted, as vacationing with little ones is a lot of work. Lots of schedules thrown off, lots of extra luggage and snacks, compromise and changing of plans.

I am hoping and praying that Maya's restless sleep this past trip is attributed to the 8 teeth she currently has popping through, and not her dislike of sleeping in one hotel room for all of us. For, we have at least 16 more scheduled nights in a hotel room in the next two months, which could result in lots of sleepless nights if last week was an indication of future travel. Even if all future trips result in lack of sleep, traveling with our little family will always be worth it in my eyes.

With every vacation, we all learn and grow. We communicate better, have more patience and appreciate each other more than before we left. I see a lot more traveling in our future, and am okay with the extra work it requires for traveling with little ones as we are shaping their personalities and broadening their horizons. And that...is priceless.