We took the boys to NYC for three nights, we returned home yesterday.
It was a very enjoyable trip with a full highlight reel! We had a great time...it's just that...this time...(not complaining here)...NYC seemed more aggravating than invigorating. Yes, we had a great time with only one major meltdown (at nap time). We will go back. It's just something inside me failed to launch.
When we went to LA, I enjoyed the trip, but I didn't get that high. I thought, "LA isn't New York"...Except, New York wasn't New York either.
I am not sure how to define the thrill I expected. If you get a travel buzz, you know what I am talking about.
Now, if I can't rely on traveling to lift my spirits - not from down in the dumps, but from the ordinary into the stratosphere. If I can't get a charge out of traveling, perhaps I need to:
- seek an adrenaline rush, skydive! (or any other daring activity typically associated with a mid life crisis)
- enjoy this new even temperament, call it a benefit of aging or experience
- go on grander trips: Peru, Asia, Arctic, Africa
- go on trips where there is a point, something beyond being a tourist
Am I dissapointed? Because I got to spend the weekend in NYC? Of course not!! Like I said, it was a nice time. I guess I am moaning over the loss of my wild fancies and mood swings. I didn't expect to give them up - I thought they were a part of me!
ps. Is this what it's like to be a grown up?
pps. while in the hotel, we made a city out of the airplane barf bags, and when we got home, we made a few more big city blocks from lunch bags
ppps. I got the shot! I wanted to take a photo that I loved enough to hang, and well, I got the shot! Will share when I get it printed!!
I feel the same way about travel. It is nice, but not as mind blowing as it was even a few years ago. Maybe we're just growing up (or growing old, the horror!)
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the shot! Did you go to Brooklyn? Brooklyn was amazing. Manhattan was just kinda meh for me this time. Love the barf bags.
ReplyDeleteWe did Brooklyn this time (walked over the bridge)...the boys had a riot in the pirate playground in DUMBO and Jane's Carousel...they were nonplussed over the view.
ReplyDeleteI had the yummiest pulled pork sandwich from the Mighty Quinn's booth at the concessions near the Brooklyn bridge park. I am going to call it now, I will never forget that sandwich.
I wonder if it's all about comfort zone...when you are less experienced, even the airport seems like an adventure...now it is old hat!
ReplyDeleteAt least I get to see things through the boys eyes! They find joy everywhere - LOOK, MOM, LOOK ---AN ORANGE AMBULANCE!!!!!
Love the paper bag art. Travelling with kiddos is always challenging for us. We love showing them new things but don't find it very relaxing. Sometimes, It's nice to sneak away for a girl's weekend or alone with the hubby. That feels more like 'travel' to me.
ReplyDeleteTry going to new york at a different time of the year like fall or winter, when its not too hot! I go after Jan 1. and still get to see all the xmas lights with fewer crowds. Its also possible the more you travel the less exciting it is or now with kiddos you do different things than you use to pre kiddos.
ReplyDeleteWe are going to take our first trip without the boys this fall. It doesn't seem real to me...I wonder how it will compare! I mean, I might just end up missing them? or going...WOW look at that bus, with no one to point it out to!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds familiar....I think that there is a solution...go somewhere new...doesn't have to be Peru...just different. The buzz is figuring out how to get from A to B & gazing on a new vista. The other is having a "to do" when you get there...a particular hike, a certain skill to master along the way. To rev up my travel bug I went to the Hebrides and rented a horse pulled gypsy style caravan and roamed the backroads and beaches. Too cool and totally exhilarating. Kids add a complication no doubt, but it makes you slow down a bit too. Hanging out in a park in Paris, etc.was something I would have skipped in lieu of a museum or gallery. Now I see a new side of cities.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention adrenalin. Last night fella and I watched Point Break. It's one of those good bad movies....if you know what I mean. Keanu Reeves' voice...
ReplyDeleteI get what you're saying about travel. For me, we don't get to go on real vacations (not going to visit our families on one coast or the other does not constitute a vacation) very often so I think it's easier for me to find that high from being away. As one other commenter said -time to seek out new places! There are so many to choose from that aren't as far away as Africa. I think too, as an adult, I enjoy comforts of home way more than I did when I was younger. It's important to me -so while I love to go away, I also love coming home!
It's a world of adventure out there - you just have to find it!
I wonder if it's just a mood thing. Sometimes you're into the whole thing, and sometimes not as much. I've been traveling a long time, and I almost always get the buzz. But some trips feel a little more mellow. It's all good though, right?
ReplyDelete