Tag: travel

The Very Busy Vacation

In the realm of respite, there are restful vacations and there are very busy vacations. My family gravitates toward the busy.

Montpelier Vermont state Capitol Building
Mr. Whetstine goes to Montpelier

None of us had ever been to Vermont until last week. We were going to make the most of it.

We cruised Lake Champlain, shopped April Cornell’s comeback store in Burlington, visited the state capitol in Montpelier, toured the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, and witnessed the birth of a goat at Shelburne Farms (timing is everything, folks). That was the first half of the week.

The second half bowed to my husband’s business commitments. He worked while I entertained our energetic seven-year-old in an unfamiliar city.

ben & jerry's factory in Waterbury, VT
this way to Ben & Jerry’s

Our itinerary included swimming, hiking, tree climbing, rock skipping, iPhone games, MythBusters marathons, and a shoreline run to the U.S. Coast Guard station for a band-aid.

We arrived home exhausted, hauling 135 pounds of laundry, a bevy of memories, and one air travel induced backache, namely mine.

A very busy vacation requires a stay in recovery.

“Mom,” said my son, “next time can we just go to Kitty Hawk?” He remembers restful vacations are possible even for us.

We vacation busy because we don’t want to miss a thing.
We vacation restful because we all need time out to recharge.

Lake Champlain, VT
Lake Champlain

Most vacations fall between the two extremes. There are degrees. There is balance. There is a remote, beachfront condo braving the wild ocean somewhere in my future.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him. Psalm 62:5 NIV1984

Vacation by The Go-Go’s.

Do you prefer busy or restful vacations? Why?

Posted on by Aimee 11

Destination: Perspective

Sometimes what I really need to do is run away. Travel can hold the ticket to a clearer, better perspective.

over Alaska

I may go to a faraway place and detox from the real world. But there are closer, shorter voyages that achieve similar, lifesaving results.

Drive 200 miles to see an old friend. Spend the hours alone in the car. Singing with the radio. Turning it off to discuss things with God. Questioning. Talking it over. Being heard. Listening.

Or take a long lunch to catch up with someone I haven’t seen in a while. Break down the state of the world as we know it. Pick up where we left off as if the time never passed at all.

Or simply bow out of the room for five minutes. Walk around the block. Step back. Breathe. Remember what’s important. Re-engage with peace.

on the beach in Bali

My favorite psychology professor in grad school once told my class a secret. He said he recommended depressed people go to the mountains or the ocean. I imagine the plains, desert, or forest would work as well.

It is in such places they could come face to face with how small they are and how big God is. Surrender to it and find refuge. Then come home able to move—even if ever so slightly—forward.

Perspective is easy to lose, but not so hard to regain either.

Here you thought it was gone forever, but look. There it is a few miles up ahead.

God’s love is meteoric,
His loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
His verdicts oceanic.
Yet in His largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks. Psalm 36:5-6 The Message

You Lead, I’ll follow, by Jamie Grace.

Meet Traveling with the Jones

The incredible photos in this post are compliments of Janis and Jeff Jones, my traveling friends who see the value in venturing.

Traveling with the Jones

Between the two of them, they’ve traveled to 80 different countries, all 50 states, and 175 cruise ports around the world.

“Travel, for us, is about personal growth,” says Janis. “It gets us out of our routines and our comfort zones; it broadens our horizons and breaks down our misconceptions. Through our travels, we’ve found  people are basically the same despite living under vastly different circumstances and cultures.”

Janis and Jeff share a wealth of travel tips and info. Follow them on their blog Traveling with the Jones, on Facebook, and on Twitter @travelinjones. If you can keep up, that is.

Posted on by Aimee 6