Travel in These Rough Times

The other day at work someone mentioned that he was off on his vacation for two weeks. The natural question posed to him was, of course, what plans he had and where he planned to go. The person smiled wistfully and replied that he could not afford to go anywhere because of financial conditions and so would stay home and do things around the house. Everyone nodded in agreement and joined in to say that vacations these days meant staying home and relaxing.

A few days later I was reading the Sunday New York Times and looked through the travel section. There were so many vacation packages available to all parts of the world. The Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and the South Pacific dominated the list of pages. I looked through them and noticed that, though people were in dire straits, the tours and sightseeing offered were not really scaled down in price. Yes, some destinations looked affordable but were they really?

The most helpful hints I found were for local area mini-vacations. If you live in the tri-state area, there are so many sights to see and things to do that you can have a true vacation for a lot less than going to more exotic places. Staying around your environs means you save on plane tickets, hotels, food and taxi/bus/train fares. A family of four could save about $750.00 apiece by visiting sights close to home. Most people who live in the tri-state area have never gone to the Empire State Building or Broadway theaters or the beaches in the surrounding areas, Well, now is your chance though I would not recommend swimming in the ocean during winter.

So what does one do here in the winter besides going into New York City? Not all love or want to partake in the hustle and bustle there. If you are from New Jersey, you can go to Atlantic City or Wildwood (great spot even during winter)or to the Poconos for skiing. All this can fit nicely in your budget. Visiting the various beaches of Jersey is fun even if you cannot bask in the sun. Winter has its own charm at the beach.

A Connecticut resident can avail himself of Mystic where the aquarium is a grand sight. He could go to Foxwoods Resort Casino or Mohegan Sun Casino or a few of the other ones not too far away. Going to see the magnificent mansions in Rhode Island is also a delight. And, of course, there is always the winter sport of skiing. There are lots of things to see and do if you only take a closer look.

New York has the Statue of Liberty, museums galore and the sights I already mentioned above. Central Park is also a bucolic oasis that is quite pleasant to visit when it is cold especially if snow has fallen recently. The world-famous Bronx Zoo and the Central Park Zoo are worth seeing. And, of course, like New Jersey and Connecticut, ski resorts are close enough for frequent visits. There are just so many sights to see and places to visit that a two-week vacation might not be long enough.

Yes, a visit to Tahiti or Honolulu or Puerto Rico is fabulous but these hard times beg for local attractions. Putting off "climbing" the Empire State Building because it happens to be in your backyard or not going to Atlantic City for the same reason is now passe. Now you can go see what's in your backyard and enjoy it. Save the world for later.

(Skiing: This is one of the activities I have not understood and won't try. Why do people pay to slide on snow? I can understand tobogganing when you slide downhill on snow and experience various thrills. But this all free. Why pay to do this while dressed in layers of clothing and inviting falls and accidents? I invariably see a broken leg whenever I had the misfortune to visit ski resorts. Ice skating is fun and economic but skiing? What is the attraction?)

Children & Vacationing

When I worked in Hightstown, New Jersey about two decades ago, I met a couple who had been married ten years but had no children. They both had good, decent-paying jobs and liked to eat out often and travel frequently. Since I come from a culture where the primary reason for marriage is procreation, their status intrigued me. I was not too embarrassed to ask them why they had no offspring as money certainly was not a problem. To this day, I am astounded at their answer that it was because they loved to travel. I was completely flabbergasted then and still am at such an unusual answer.

It seems that going places was their greatest pleasure in life and having children would be a quite an impediment to their favorite activity. When I asked in a puzzled manner as to why children would curtail this, they answered that their independence would be lost. They could no longer pick up and leave any time of the day if they wanted to go to Las Vegas (one of their most frequented haunts) or one of the islands or Florida, etc. Where would they get reliable babysitters at the spur of the moment if they decided at midnight that they wanted to hit Atlantic City? How could they plan for a nice cruise in November when the children would have to be in school? Where would they leave the kids if they wanted to dash off to dine in New York City on a Tuesday night? They could see a myriad of such problems which they said would be insurmountable. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. Had they never heard of summer vacations or Spring and Fall breaks?

Before my wife and I had our first child, we used to go places and enjoy the sights. But we NEVER gave a second thought to how our plans would be ruined if we had kids. We never thought having children would curtail our travel or take away from many of the things we wanted to do. In fact, we looked forward to having kids and traveling with them. I have always wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands and will do so while enjoying every moment of it with our kids. Sharing the experience of the "origin of species" islands with family will be the ultimate in fun and excitement. What are Disneyworld, Seaworld, Six Flags Safari (to name a few) without kids? The wonder in their eyes, their squeals of delight and terror when Shamu jumps out at them, building sand castles in the beaches of Nassau are all best seen through children's eyes. Kids a burden? Perish the thought.

We have a long list of travel plans for our enjoyment with our kids. Going home to see the grandparents every two or three years, lying on the beaches of Hawaii or St. John's or Phuket, visiting Utah and Arizona to see Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon or Zion Park are just a few of what we aspire to do. Taking pictures while doing all sorts of wild and crazy things and re-hashing those experiences years later will be something we look forward to. The kids an impediment to all these pleasures? Really? We plan to enjoy our Kenyan safari, trekking in Kathmandu Valley and looking for clams on the coast of Maine with our son and daughter.

Years later when I had moved on to another job, I met another couple who had been married even longer and had no kids. The couple gave me almost the exact same answer when I asked them about their "non-procreation." This couple liked golfing above everything else and had no time or money to spend on kids. I still have not been able to fathom the emotions of those two couples. I have heard many valid reasons for couples not having children but an impediment to travel is not only one of the most bizarre but probably the most selfish one yet. I love traveling with my kids and hope to do a lot more before they are able to travel on their own.