A Family's Most Memorable Vacation

I have a client who has been booking trips with me for many years. She tries to take at least one family vacation each year, and spends a reasonable amount of money. She does not book luxurious trips, but not bargain basement ones, either. She is not wealthy by any means; in fact, several times she had to wait to make her reservations until she had enough money saved up. Whenever she got some extra money, such as a tax refund, she called me to plan another trip. Some might consider that a bit irresponsible, but family vacations were a priority for her.

A few years ago, she took a Caribbean cruise with her husband and two boys. This was a trip funded on an unexpected windfall. They had a great time, came back with wonderful pictures. Talked about how they couldn’t wait to go on another cruise together.

Four months later, her husband died in a tragic accident. He was young, fit, healthy, someone you would expect to be around for a long time. Their two boys were still in school. Of course, the family was devastated.

A few months later, I saw her after she returned to work. Pictures of their cruise were on display in her office. I had wondered since the accident if she regretted spending the money now that finances were going to be even tighter for her as a single mom.

Instead, she told me how thankful she was that they chose to use the money for the cruise, and that they were always talking about how much fun they had. It was very comforting for her sons to look at the pictures and know they had that wonderful time with their dad in the last few months of his life. Those memories were helping them cope with their loss. It was a rough time, but they would pull through, and she was eager to plan another trip to keep their life as normal as possible.

Of course, we all try to spend as much quality time with our kids as we can, and in our busy schedules, it often means fitting in a game of mini-golf or spending an afternoon at the beach. But there’s something special about going away together. It allows families to really focus on one another, without day to day distractions getting in the way. (I know I am not the only mom who can’t help thinking “When I get home I need to ...” or “What I am going to make for dinner tonight?” during my “quality time.”)

I certainly don’t advocate anyone spending beyond their means for a family vacation. It can be as simple as a weekend camping trip. The point is to have a change of scenery, and to have nothing on your schedule but enjoying each other’s company. Your kids will love you for it.

Now go away.