I’ve been traveling since I last blogged here at Inspired by Life! I arrived home to Dallas yesterday and thought I’d take this opportunity to give you a peek into my Travel Journal.
I don’t do much writing during the summer months when my kids are out of school. For one thing, my kids are out of school. For another, I typically turn in my manuscripts at the beginning of June, and after the toll my deadline takes out of me, I’m in need of a vacation.
We writers use the term, “Creative Well.” Essentially, in order to write, we need to draw heavily on that creative well. Which is perfectly fine so long as a writer is always adding fresh water to her well. If she isn’t — if she drains it dry– both she and her work are destined to suffer. Summer is the time of year when I pour fresh water into my well!
This year, my parents, my two sisters, and our families took a trip to the Hawaiian island of Maui to celebrate my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary.
Here they are! These not-so-newlyweds have been married FIFTY years!
We kicked off the trip with a lazy beach day during which we attempted to align our Central and Pacific Time Zone body clocks with the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone.
The next day, we set out for a jumbo family photography session.
My parent’s 10 grandchildren
L to R: me, my sister Carrie, my sister Kristen
My 3 kids
Next up, we attended a fabulous luau at the Old Lahaina Luau. If you’re planning a trip to Maui, I highly recommend it. It was a highlight of our trip!
We zip-lined…
L to R: my oldest daughter, me, my son, my dad Gary, my mom Suzy. My parents are in their 70’s but they made zip-lining look like a piece of cake.
We celebrated July 4th together in patriotic fashion…
There were 18 of us in all! Each family group stayed in their own condo (you can see the units in the background of this photo). Individual units turned out to the be the perfect solution for a group as large as ours. Plenty of space. Plenty of separate kitchens.
We snorkeled…
My youngest daughter
And we did a lot of relaxing amid the stunning natural beauty of Maui…
All in all, it was a trip to remember and treasure. Aloha until next time, Hawaii!
Which vacation spot most fills up your creative well?
Becky Wade
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What fun!!! Awesome pics! Hawaii is on my bucket list.
Can’t say much for an author’s creative well, but for a designer? Traveling and shopping works great. So I can’t really say just one spot.
I think it’s great that you know the things that fill your well, Annie! Knowledge is power. If we know which things restore our creativity, we can be more intentional about making time for those things. 🙂
Congratulations to your beautiful parents, Becky! This looks like the trip of a lifetime! We’ve made several family trips with my parents and also Ken’s to Colorado, a couple years ago we went with Ken’s whole family to Bryce Canyon and Zion in Utah, and this coming March, Ken’s mom is taking all her kids and spouses on a Hawaiin cruise! This will be our first trip to Hawaii so you’ve given us a wonderful preview of coming attractions!
A Hawaiian cruise in March! What fun, Deb. You’ll have a fabulous time. The islands are gorgeous!
Looks like fun, Becky! I love it when my entire family gets together. Hard to come back I bet!
It’s tricky to get all 18 of us together because one sister and I live in Texas and one sister and my parents live in California. We scheduled this trip more than a year in advance to make sure we could ALL be there. It was a treat!
Any natural areas–mountains, beaches, lakes, country as opposed to city–where I can relax and read are refreshing places to fill up my well. Since reading a good book replenishes my well, I can actually feel refreshed at home too.
Yes! I can relate to everything you mentioned, Suzanne. Those things fill my well, too.
My husband and I went to Maui about 10 years ago. One of my favorite places ever! we swam with sea turtles, hiked to waterfalls and through bamboo forests, traversed swinging bridges, and participated in a luau. I’d love to go back some day.
Big congrats to your parents for 50 years! That’s a wonderful milestone. How blessed we are to have examples of godly marriages standing the test of time.
Yes! How blessed we are. Both sets of my grandparents made it well past 50 years, too.
I enjoyed hearing about your past trip to Maui, Karen! The last time I visited Hawaii I was 18. !!
Hi Becky, What a wonderful trip! We love Hawaii and lived on the island of Oahu for 8 years early in our married life. Our three oldest children were born there. I’m so glad you had time in Hawaii. We haven’t been back for a while, but it would be great.
I’m so pleased to learn that you lived in Hawaii, Carrie. My husband and I lived in the Caribbean for 3 years early in our married life. We still travel back to the island we lived on, Anguilla, each summer. We’re so glad we lived there when we had the chance. We loved our time there!
Congratulations to your parents! It looks like a wonderful trip. We took our family to Cabo San Lucas for our 50th in 2015. We swam with the dolphins, and I was so pleased I could do it. There’s no way I would zip line, so more power to your parents. I remember thinking you were around my daughter’s age when I read in an earlier post that you played Charlie’s Angels.
My favorite place to relax and rejuvenate is Bar Harbor, Maine – so peaceful and nature is beautiful. Love your rainbow picture! Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos.
Betty, I think it’s wonderful that you celebrated your 50th with a family trip! It’s what my parents wanted to do instead of a party, etc. I feel lucky that we were able to celebrate with them in this particular way. It was SUCH a memorable trip.
I’m 45. Is that near your daughter’s age?
I’d love to get to Maine some time. It looks stunning in photos!
My daughter is 48, so she is close. We have two children, a son and daughter. Our son lives in Virginia Beach, like us, and has a daughter. Our daughter lives in CA (Long Beach) and has a son. We are heading out there Sunday (driving, so a long trip). Like your parents, we preferred a family trip instead of a party. There were 13 of us including my sister, nephew, his fiancee (now wife), and my daughter’s inlaws.
So glad you take the summer off to spend with your children. They grow up so fast. You won’t regret it.