Holiday (yes, just like the Madonna song)

Recently on my page we were talking holidays.  We talked about where we spent our last holiday, where our next one is to and our dream holiday.

The answers given were so varied and I loved that, it showed me just how varied my readers are.  That we all come from different backgrounds, we have experienced different things.

My hubby is a seasoned traveller.  He spent most of his early adult life travelling the world and has the memories and amazing photos to share with Miss Matilda when she asks.  I, on the other hand had a child in my early adult life and didn't really travel until my boy was 9. 

I remember my first major holiday.  I was 29 and it was my first time out of the state.  I remember crossing the border and saying to my boy that this is the first step for him.  It didn't need to be a grand overseas adventure.  But boy it was an adventure.  It was just the two of us, we travelled on the Indian Pacific to Melbourne, stayed a few days in Melbourne and then headed up to Mt Buller for a snow holiday.  We didn't stay in a sleeper carriage but rather in a carriage full of people.  We were surrounded by people of all ages, ethnicities.  Couples, singles, travellers and backpackers and it was amazing.  My son exchanged money with people from countries that I hope he gets to travel to one day.  He played chess with a 4 year old German boy.  My boy is now 20 and he remembers those experiences vividly.  I love that.

My first overseas trip was to somewhere I'd only dreamt about and while there I was in absolute awe.  We went to Egypt.  To stand in front of icons in Egyptian history had me in tears and goose bumps.  Tutankhamen's mask was probably the most significant.  Eye to eye with something I had thought I'd only ever see in books and National Geographic magazine was chilling.  It's something I'll remember forever.  Learning a little Arabic heightened the experience.  I could converse basically with the Egyptians I met along the way.  And they appreciated the little effort it took for me to learn their language.  I was 'rewarded' with gifts from them but the reward for me was the connection.

Now we have Miss Matilda, our backgrounds in life and in travel are something we are now sharing with her.  Most of our holidays are spent 'up the beach' to a spot that is now special to all of us.  It's really quite basic and we are creating memories with her.  She often says to us 'remember that time we watched the sunset up on the hill?' Or 'remember when the Easter Bunny found us at the beach'

These experiences just show that a holiday can be grand or it can be simple.  To me a holiday is a break from the every day.  It doesn't need to cost a small fortune.  I quite often have a holiday without leaving home!  Time I take for myself is a mini holiday and one that I can afford. 

And this is where Pinterest comes into it.  Having something to look forward to, a goal to work toward can keep us going when we get bogged down in the everyday.  When getting up to go to work feels like a chore.  I have a few boards on Pinterest, one is my Dream Holidays board which is a bit of a bucket list board but with a few pins of Egypt just to remind me of how amazing it was.

Our next holiday?  This year we've decided to take Matilda to the snow.  We'll be spending a week at Mt Buller which I'm so excited about for a few reasons.  I can't wait to see her reaction to snow, just as I remember my boy's reaction to first seeing it.  This is somewhere I have been and hubby hasn't and we're creating new memories as a family.  Priceless.

I hope you're planning a holiday soon, grand, small, local, a one day adventure.