Category: Holidays

All growing up, my grandparents traveled with my family. We went on at least one road trip each summer. Usually it was a trip to California, but we sometimes went to Colorado or Arizona. Each year, my grandpa would buy a new atlas and road maps. He had a special drawer in the cabinet in their front room with a yellow box filled with road maps and atlases. He’d give each of my siblings and I our own map to use as we prepared for the upcoming trip. We’d then pull out the highlighters and map our way from our home to where we were going and talk about the journey. We would spend hours before our trip planning out our trip. We’d color in the roads, figure out different routes we could take in case one of the freeways was backed up or closed as we got closer to our destination. We’d talk about what city would be best to stop in for breakfast (usually the Barstow Train McDonalds). It has been a good reminder to me of finding the joy in the journey rather than the destination. Week over week, we’d look forward to our trip as we talked, laughed and drew out our plans. I look forward to the day when travel is a thing, until then, I’m looking towards enjoying the journey of getting back to normal.