What next?

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Adventure is a good thing. But somehow uncertainty seems a lot less desirable when children are involved. You know what I mean? We try to live in the right here, right now mode but kids and everything that goes part and parcel with them demands a certain amount of planning, preparation and snacks.

So when on holidays, we pay attention to things like where the next bathroom will be. Where the playgrounds might be conveniently located. How to answer the question "When will we be there?" when you left the driveway a mere 20 minutes ago and you've still got five hours to drive "there." Oh yes, and we definitely pay attention to having a big bag of snacks and a car bag of fun tech-free activities to keep everyone from completely melting down within the first hour.

Vacations just aren't what they used to be, but in some ways they are most definitely better. Children force us to slow down (um, sometimes to the point of tortoise speed) and really pay attention to what is around us. Four-kilometre-long hikes are no longer really practical, but when we choose to take the short loop we see things like a glimpse of whale tail off the coast, and a pair of young woodpeckers snacking on a tree just a few feet away. Okay, so we didn't get the amazing vista at the end of the trail, but it was still pretty darn gorgeous on the short road.



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