Lessons learned (sort of) when planning a holiday

Holiday... Vacation... Whatever you call it, I love to take a trip.  For me, a goodly part of any holiday fun is the "thrill of the hunt;" deciding where we want to go, when to go and then the stalking begins- hunting the best deals to make our dream a reality.

Yosemite Valley

I have used many travel sites, discounts and airlines promos but never a real travel agent. That might change one day, but for now I can happily stare at computer screens and with scraps of paper all around, make note upon note until I am ready to pull the proverbial trigger and "purchase."

This has worked out very well and I cannot say that we have had any major problems using the internet to book a holiday.  Except there is a problem.  The problem when planning a holiday is one that unfortunately I keep making;  planning too much activity. I have heard the words "forced march" on more than one occasion. (I won't go into details about a certain trip to Walt Disney World where the pedometer read 10+ miles and 4 parks were visited in one day..)  Best laid plans, trying to pack as much in as we can, "as long as we are this close, let's go do/see this..."  Hours spent driving hither and yon.  I cannot seem to help myself, we are always short on time. 

Newfoundland

The root of the problem is we are farmers, and farmers should not be off the farm.

Animal husbandry is just that- being wedded to the animals.  They depend upon us more so than we depend on them; in sickness and health, for richer or poorer.  With no live water on the property, they drink from tanks we supply.  With our grazing program, the livestock are given new paddocks to graze just about every day.  Leaving for a weekend is no problem, 4-5 days is doable, 10 days is definitely pushing it and 14+ days unimaginable.  No, not exactly- I can very well imagine being off the farm for two weeks or more, I just don't see it happening at this point in time.

South Rim, Grand Canyon

As we get older, we are getting smarter.  Fences are rebuilt and reinforced.  Water supplies have back-up options.  We are even timing the breeding of the livestock to anticipate when the young are born; a no-brainer but it did take us a few years to see the benefit of such a "novel" idea.  We do have neighbors willing to check on the critters for us, but we don't like having to impose on them- they have their own farms to watch and are busier people than ourselves.

So where does this leave us?  Back to enjoying shorter holidays but also learning that we can take our time.  Some locations work well with this, but some still do not and yes, driving might be involved but it does not have to be 6 or 7 hours one way. 

Vancouver Island, British Columbia

I will see how this New Deal plays out on our upcoming trips.  Curtailing some activities, not driving all over hell and back, being able to take our time and relax.  I know some driving will be required in Vancouver this summer, but that is ok- it is a metro area and we will be ready to get out of the city for a day if I know us.  Glacier National Park will also require some driving (duh- The Going to the Sun Road) but that will be broken up with hikes along the way.

Kauai

Until we are at a point when our husbandry obligations are lessened, we will hope.  And plan.  And look forward to the next great holiday- a vacation that won't include a forced march...