Trip vs. Vacation

My husband and I love to travel...in the years before J arrived we went to lots of places - some just a few hours drive from home (Boston, Newport, Philly) others further away (Pacific Northwest, Mexico, San Fran, Barcelona, Dominican Republic, Prague) just to name some.

Let me begin by saying that I will go anywhere anytime and not think about how much it costs - I think vacations are necessary, wonderful, and priceless! My husband, as much as he loves going and the feeling of being away, will always think about the dollar signs attached to traveling - this is our ongoing discussion...

Now that we have a baby - things are different (I'll post about all the things that are different another time) - but in this regard, we are down an income - although thankfully this hasn't affected our new lives that much, it does affect our traveling budget.

With that being said, we have taken J on a few trips (notice- I DO NOT call them vacations). We've been to Boston (by train), Philly a couple of times (by car & train) , and Colorado (by plane). We have upcoming trips planned to Florida as well. Trips with our daughter are great - I love seeing her in different places, taking in different sights, meeting different friends and family. But a vacation it is NOT. Let me note some reasons why these were not vacations:

Boston - J fell asleep in hotel-provided crib at 7:00 - what are we to do in a small hotel room with a sleeping baby at 7:00?!?!? Exactly...nothing - TV was on so low we could barely hear it...we were speaking in whispers and...well the things we used to do in hotel rooms were out of the question with our daughter sleeping 2 feet away from us....

Philly - stayed with my mother-in-law - took us over an hour to rock J to sleep - finally got her to fall asleep - moved her gently into the pack and play and realized it was too late to really enjoy the evening...good thing I didn't because she woke up at 5:30 ready to rock.

Colorado - J never got into the time change....it's a 3 hour difference - need I say more?!?

After Colorado - my husband actually agreed with me when I said "we need a real vacation." Surprisingly, we didn't even discuss money - I think he needs the rest and relaxation that a real vacation will provide for us even more than I do. My parents have offered to watch J so we know she'll be in great hands - They are firm believers in taking time to keep your marriage in tact. So with that hubby and I are off to Vegas in a few weeks...we're going to see a show, eat at good restaurants, get some spa treatments, win some money, and hopefully do those things that we used to do in hotel rooms...now if only I could stop worrying about leaving her for 4 days...