. . . is not going to be the topic of this blog post! Wa-hey! Did I trick you?
Many of the updates in blogs, facebook, email, legal tabloids, and what-have-you are regarding the end of the three day hell that is The Bar Exam, which most law school graduates in most states have just completed. Now that it’s over, those lucky dogs who have jobs lined up are all talking about their “bar trip.”* (There aren’t many of those these days. Far more of my law school friends are talking about living in their parents’ basement. But let’s not dwell on the negative, eh?) In addition to my freshly graduated law school peers, I also have a long list of blog friends, facebook friends, etc. who are just normal old people taking summer vacations with their families. And, of course, my baby wee sister with the new last name is currently enjoying her 10 day honeymoon in Florida.
Next summer, if all goes according to plan, I, too, will have a break between the end of July and beginning of September. The Professor will have to begin his semester in mid-August, so our window is a little compressed. But he also may have to spend a month in Ireland, in order to do research for an upcoming book (bye bye dissertation, hello new book-length research project)(this is a big maybe, a big ‘if’, not at all set in stone). So my daydreams are taking me, the kids, and the husband off to Ireland for three to four weeks during that window of time. Our friends Sandi and Sol took their baby Nathan to Brazil for most of the summer, so she could do research. They’ll be spending the entire fall semester in Spain, with their toddler. If she can do months with Nathan in these non-English-speaking countries, I think I could manage a 2 year old and 4 year old in a cottage in Ireland for a handful of weeks.
If not, my other (cheaper) idea is to go to this campsite in Vermont, or someplace like it, and set up a long term camping situation for a couple of weeks. I can totally dig on camping at a New England lake, and this is probably the only time in our lives we would have free to drive all the way from the Gulf Coast to New England. We would take long leisurely hikes – perhaps a sail or two – catch fireflies, swim in the lake, cook meals over the open fire, occasionally cheat and drive into town for pizza . . . bliss.
Alternatively, we could do a Quebec trip we’ve been talking about for a long time. It would involve trains, again through New England, and seeing Montreal and lots of other sights that my husband has all plotted out.
Or there’s always a cross-country drive to Washington state, Oregon, northern California.
The point is, I’d love to do some sort of extended trip in some place really far from the Gulf Coast, at this last point during which I’ll have the luxury of acres and acres of time (if not money). It can be on the cheap. I’d love it to include the children, although the husband is also making noise about a trip to Scandinavia for just us two, to celebrate approximately a hundred years of grad school and sacrifice, an investment finally coming to fruition in our mid-thirties. That would also be awesome, though I want to keep time away from the kids to a minimum, given that my job will be taking me from them far more often than I’d prefer.
Anyway. This is a boring post, I recognize, but I just felt like sharing my daydreams with you all. And asking your input – where do your daydream vacations take you? Who goes along? Is it a solo trip? Do you bring your significant other? Your kids, if you have them, or any other family? Let’s all daydream together. It feels a little bit like taking a vacation, when I read about vacations!
*For those lucky few who land a job with a law firm, you typically don’t start work until September or so. So most people take one last extended trip in between the bar exam and their work start date, at which point they are facing at least a year (if not more) of taking not a single day off, let alone weeks at a time. Many of the luckiest have a signing bonus that they use to pay for this trip. I’ve heard of trips to Scandinavia, extended backpacking trips in New Zealand, cycling trips in Europe, Alaska wildlife tours, African safaris – you name it, I’ve heard of/drooled over it.
I love Portland and will preach its virtues (especially in August) but hello, Ireland! How delightful that would be!
Vacationing with a toddler, to me, is just parenting with different scenery and messed up sleeping patterns. I look forward to traveling with my kids after they are age 5 or so. Until then, I will take advantage of my kind mother and in-laws, even if just for a night away here and there.
I have wanted to visit Montreal in the summer. It was drop dead gorgeous when I went in the winter. If you want a ride along baby sitter that can keep the boys while you and huzzy have a romantic sacrifice over celebration, you know who to call. This also totally goes for Ireland as well.
Hey Manda – I may take you up on that! Think about it . . . I think the greater the adult-to-child ratio, the more likely a trip will be success.
I do totally concede that vacationing with small children is a whole different animal from vacationing alone as adults. But if you ramp down your expectations, and stay pretty loyal to their schedule, I think it can still be fun – especially if you plan your trip to be in places with family friendly stuff (i.e. a city with museums or zoos, or a campsite with gentle hikes, shallow swimming holes, etc.) Liam’s too little right now – he’s too hard to corral – but by age two and a half, he’ll be a little more amenable to redirection. Plus, they’ll both be down to one nap per day, which means we’d have the morning hours free. Right now, we have at most three hour windows between naps, which is not enough to do much.
(This was all actually in the original post, but it was rambly so I took it all out. The ramble included talks about long walks and bicycle rides with the boys in Ireland, or long walks in Montreal. I’m all about just walking around and seeing. I also discussed how you can take kids to pubs in other countries, because everybody does it, and nobody looks at you like a devil woman for bringing your child to a den of sin. Instead, all the kids sit at a table together and drink Sprite and eat chips, and the parents get an hour or two to gab with other people. It’s not so isolating to parent a small child in Europe as it is here, I don’t think. Americans are pretty intolerant of little kids – at least, this was my observation when I lived abroad.)
*little kids in public, I meant.
I have yet to do a vacation with two young kids, but our vacation last summer with an almost-two year old was delightful. For us, it’s the only time we get of pure together time uninterrupted by work, errands and the mundane day-to-day life. Sure, we don’t sit on a beach reading a book all day or go out drinking all night, but that’s ok.
Totally agree about Europe. Italians LOVE kids, for instance. British pubs are largely totally different from US pubs, and very kid-friendly. A friend of mine with three kids says she’s never been anywhere as kid-friendly as Greece.
I would really like to go back to Turkey. Turkey was AWESOME – great weather, great food, fun sights, fun shopping, super nice people. That’s my daydream.
Well, seeing as how the Bar Trip will fall in an even-numbered year, I think it’s only fair to remind you that we had a nice little streak of seeing each other’s families goin’ … and the Boy and I have been murmuring about Ireland for his big birthday next year … so …
secret star . . . don’t tempt. Your gorgeous state is also on our short list, BTW.