We went on vacation.  For a WEEK.  And it was hard.  For the past few years we have done this dance where we himmm and haaawww about making reservations and when we finally decide on it, Adam will start saying not to count on it, it could change at any time.  We fight and freak out for the week ahead of time and I get so fed up with the process I want to say “Forget it.  It’s not worth it,” before we ever try to leave.  I thank him for always staying the course saying how much he needs it.  Last year, hubby threw up in the flower bed on our way out of the door and this year I pulled my car over two days before and stood in a parking lot, almost heaving, but not, wondering when I became the thrower upper.  That was never me, but I’m getting more and more ingrained in the worries Adam has always had that used to make me annoyed at their illogic but now are almost my own thought patterns.  That is why we needed to go and why we need to go every year.  It is a pressure release valve.

My advice for caretakers on vacations:

1.  Do it.  Go on vacation.  Even if you’re throwing up in the flower bed before you go!
2. Have your village.  This is for care taking vacation or no!  Find someone you trust, train them, be patient, and then trust them!  Find other people, too, so that you have said village.  Use them.  Be selfish.  They will reap the benefits you always receive from being a care taker so don’t be jealous either.
3. Choose the right amount of time.  Two days isn’t going to give you enough time to relax.  Too many days may be too stressful to think about.  Adam and I were going to do ten days but couldn’t justify it, so we took a week and it was just right.
4. I suggest not going the whole “tourist go go go” route.  Choose a place where you can relax and not do much of anything.  Choose a place with natural beauty around you.  It’s good for your soul and makes sitting around seem like a technicolor 3D marvel.  Cuz basically it is.
5. Let it go.  Let go of control.  Let. It. Go.  You don’t really have it when your there, anyway.  Accept that and give someone else the wheel, step out of the car, and take a lovely hike!

Speaking of lovely hikes!

AHHHH!  We went to Crawford Notch, NH and it is beautiful out there.  This is the scenic Cog Railway that we hiked a little bit of.  Do one thing every day that scares you, right?  It was worth it.  We could look down on everything and out at everything and let me tell you, there was no one else out on that hike!

Mostly there was just this:

Do I look happy?