Lessons Learned on Vacation

I just returned from a wonderful week with my family on Hilton Head Island, SC. It had been a while since we vacationed. Having a baby does that. But it was great to have the chance to get away and see my toddler daughter revel in the ocean and the beach. After just a few days, she had become a master sand castle-builder.

I've always found that getting away from home teaches me things. It clears my head and helps me put things in perspective. I had a lot of time to think on this trip, given we had to drive 17 hrs. in the car to get there! So here's the list:

1). I don't have to check my email as often as I thought I did. Or my Twitter account. Or my web site stats. Or my blog. Or my 2nd email account. And certainly not my third.
2). Even rainy days at the beach can be a lot of fun (storms = waves, and waves = bodyboarding!)
3). At home, I invest too much time on insignificant things: too many trips to stores for only one item, too much time on the computer, too much time cleaning. It all adds up to time that could better be spent on having fun.
4). Always take an extra set of car keys when going on a road trip.
5). Always check your pockets before washing sandy clothes so as not to accidentally wash insanely expensive electronic car key.
6). Kids grow up way too fast.
7). We all need to take more vacations, even if vacation means staying at home & coming up with fun things to do while ignoring housework.
8). A roadtrip isn't a true roadtrip without a stop at a Waffle House & Stuckeys.
9). There is no such thing anymore as taking too many pictures.
10). There is no such thing as wearing too much sunscreen.
11). I need to work less (this one takes an explanation; lately I've been spending so much time trying to grow my own business, which is becoming as time consuming and as difficult as growing a banana tree in Chicago. While I still want to work at it, I'm thinking I won't work at it as much as I have been. If it fails, I have nothing to show; whereas, if I spend more of that time on scrapbooking, I have plenty to show my daughter when she gets older).
12). Southerners are extremely polite; not sure we saw one hint of an incident of "road rage" south of Indiana and people actually held open doors!
13). Life is short. Enjoy every minute of it, even the rainy days at the beach.

So there you have it! Lessons I learned from my trip. I also learned that watching cartoon DVDs in the car made me nauseated, cured only by downing a bag of Wavy Lays, but I didn't feel that was worthy of the list.

Til next time,
Erin