Here We Go Again!… On The Same Ol’ Trip, Why?!
Ding!
The chime from my phone seemed to sound even louder than normal this morning, startling me slightly from my half-awake, half-asleep state. Anxiously, I scanned the bed, swiveling my head from left to right a full two turns before locating my phone underneath a couple of books and shirts thrown haphazardly on the sheets, and just in time too! The second ding, alerting me that a text had just been received, would be coming through soon, jolting me even further out of my morning fog.
It’s done. You should already have the email. I just forwarded it to you.
Curious and now fully awake, I reached down below for my laptop (my preferred device for reading emails) tucked safely under my bed, flipped open the lid, and moved straightway to the tab holding my Outlook account. Of course, the forwarded email was right at the top, and with one click, I now had the dates for our stay in Destin, Florida. Pushing my laptop to the side, I reached for my phone again.
You need to request off the last week of November, Mom finished the reservation this morning.
I hit send, forwarding the vacation dates needed to my husband for our stay and with the completion of two brief texts and an email, our annual vacation to Destin was set.
For the past four years, the four of us (myself, my husband, and two kids) along with my mom and dad have made this trip to Destin, Florida at the end of the fall, normally right before winter hurries in. By now, it’s a trip that we pretty much know is going to happen each year. The only real variable is the date. Thus, it’s a trip that doesn’t need much thought or a lot of discussion and a minimal amount of planning hence the two texts and one email all occurring in a matter of five minutes or so. It’s unofficially become our annual trip and although it happens yearly, it still takes me by surprise. Simply because I never thought I’d be the type to visit the same place at about the same time every single year. Well, definitely not for more than two years straight!
Repeating a trip the following year, that makes total sense to me! I mean, there’s no way you can see it all in just one visit so a follow-up trip to a place that you truly enjoy is a necessity in my opinion. It’s not even an option! So when the two years pass and I find myself longing to repeat the trip for a third time, I have to ask myself why? Why the constant repeating?
Am I boring? Stuck in a routine, perhaps even a rut? Too tired and too lazy to make plans to do something else?
No way! I do this as a business and travel is also something I personally love! So if I stop overdramatizing and I think through it all rationally- why? Why do I find myself visiting this place year after year?
Well, for one, the obvious reason is the price. The winter/offseason rates at this resort can not be beat! $80 for a 2 bedroom suite with a kitchen and amenities like a pool, pier, and a playground for the kids, sign me up! (Oh, that’s right, I’m already signed up…again! That’s the whole point of this story! LOL)
Still the price can’t be the only sticking point. A great price for just any ol’ place, that would get old! And really fast! The location too, that makes the idea of returning exciting! Watching a sunset on the Florida Panhandle never gets old! Speaking of location, do you know how many cool places Destin is close to?! Last visit, we didn’t even spend any time in Destin! We day tripped to Pensacola, Navarre Beach, and even made it out of the state to visit Gulf Shores, Alabama for a day! Also, we managed to check out two really different state parks that were pretty close to each other; we could visit them both in the same day, Falling Waters State Park- Florida’s highest waterfall and Florida Caverns State Park- the only state park with air-filled caves open to the public! What a contrast! One is high and the other is seriously low!
Contrast?
Yeah, contrast!
I never really thought about how much contrast and hence variety is taking place on these annual trips too! Over the past four years since we’ve started these sojourns to Destin, Florida, we’ve driven to Seaside- where the Truman Show starring Jim Carrey was filmed, Santa Rosa Beach, Okaloosa Island, and I already mentioned Pensacola, Navarre Beach, Gulf Shores, Alabama and the two-very close in distance but very different in viewpoints- state parks! No trip has ever looked the same, not even remotely the same. It’s an annual trip, yes, a trip occurring at the same place at about the same time but that’s where the similarities end since there are so many wonderful and unique places to visit not too far away from the Destin area. Hmmm, maybe that’s the obvious reason for the annual trips. Of course, the great prices go a long way too!