Traveling to family and friends is what we do for most of our traveling time. During holidays, school breaks, special events and summer time we visit family. We do this because we love and miss them. But sometimes because we are supposed too! Either way these trips can be more than just a visit, they can be a holiday! Wherever you go there are things to do and see. Often the local family has not been to see the local sights. Find out what there is to see, do, and go. Take the grandchildren off for a day trip. When was the last time you were at the zoo? The planetarium or the science museum? With adults or children, there are fun things to do or explore.
Or you can give yourself a day on your own. A short break from family is always a good idea. You can go to the local art museum if no one else wants to go. Pretend you are visiting this place for the first time with no family. What would you do? Explore the area with new eyes. I like to walk through the Boston Public Gardens as if I just came from Moscow. And look around at the trees, flowers and statues, where they are located, how they are planted. Watch the other people going about their day. It is a great inexpensive travel experience.
And you know what? You can do somethings more than once! So often I have people say to me ‘I did that’. And I reply, “You ate yesterday too!” Today it will be a new and different experience. You have changed or you may be going with someone with a new viewpoint. When I take a different grandchild to the same place it is like I am doing it for the first time as each child is so different.
So next family visit plan a ‘touring’ experience. You do not need to go to Paris to see great art.
AlwaysHarriet 