When I think of vacation, I picture quality time spent in a poolside lounge chair with a great book, a pile of magazines and being served too many cocktails.
I also associate vacations with letting my hair down, uninterrupted conversations, new experiences, sleeping in and room service.
Costa Rica, October, 2005
I envision escaping it all: laundry, bills, TV; the mundane of my every day existence at home.
Vacations are meant to be memory-making adventures sprinkled with a little more indulgence than usual and hopefully some decent photos to bring home and frame.
Cabo San Lucas, April, 2001
My perfect vacation [and only because it has been so long that I’ve had one quite like this] would be somewhere sunny and coastal and alone with my husband.
Grand Canyon, Summer, 2008
My perfect vacation would also include:
1. Someone to pack for me, first class tickets and a limousine ride to and from the airport would all be wonderful, but I honestly don’t mind shuttles or coach seats (just so long as I don’t get stuck next to a screaming kid or a stinky fat man).
2. The ability to enjoy the vacation without any mommy guilt!
3. Having been rained on, snowed in and caught in a hurricane, the perfect vacation would include perfect weather upon arrival and for the entire length of our stay.
4. The ability to pack everything I might need and nothing I won’t, in other words, as many shoes as I want without any questions from my traveling companion and no emergency stops at a mall or drug store for something stupid I forgot at home, like a bathing suit. Yes, I have done this before. More than once!
5. Souvenirs. In the form of a special trinket, new friends or the rekindling of an old relationship with a true BFF.
Visiting my BFF, Sophie in New Caledonia, May, 2010
6. The ability to truly relax. This is so much easier said that done, especially for my husband when confined to a lounge chair. For me, if in a beach or pool setting, I could hang out in the sun all day every day, breaking only to eat, sleep and shower, but for him, it’s not so easy. I’m open to water sports and boat rides.
7. The ability to indulge in sweet treats and pretty drinks without gaining a single pound.
8. The ability to NOT get sick. I have had some of the nastiest colds in my life while on vacation.
9. Spa services. Enough said.
10. Returning home to a clean home, fresh sheets on the bed, mail sorted and someone to do the mounds of laundry.
Hawaii, August, 2011
This post was inspired by Stasha’s Monday Listicles, a linky right up my alley, as I LOVE lists! This week’s topic: 10 Things That Make A Vacation Perfect (selected by Hopes@StayingAfloat)
