Reclamation & a January of Quiet
What does it mean to reclaim ourselves and our energy?
Welcome to the new home of The Family Trip direct-to-inbox news. I am honored you signed up to receive updates and hope you’ll stay here. You’re likely asking, ‘why here, why now?’ To explain, let’s take a quick, rare trip down memory lane.
First to know…
My word of the year is “Reclaim.” I want to reclaim my voice, my power, my self, my time, and my energy.
retrieve or recover (something previously lost, given, or paid); obtain the return of
2022 asked a lot and on my mini-retreat in December, I realized I was in full burnout for the first time ever.
So as 2023 snuck in, I wanted to change things. There’s a lot more to unpack, but creating this newsletter is a reclamation of the original vision for The Family Trip. I started the website in 2018, at a time of great identity crisis. I was in a magazine publishing industry that wasn’t paying, I was a freelance writer who hated being the center of attention, I was a mom whose kids were growing more independent… I knew life was going in a new direction, but I couldn’t see ahead. So I did what I’ve always felt compelled to do: create content, hoping someone else out there in the world could identify. A sort of Internet message in a bottle.
Second, the Trip defined…
The Family Trip has always been broader than travel. The “Trip” encompasses all the ways a family goes through life together. Life is, after all, one big journey. You and I have chosen to go on that journey with our families.
The Family Trip was never meant to be a revenue stream, a platform to springboard me to fame, or about the number of followers. It was and still is about creativity. It is about offering inspiration to a community of families who seek to live uniquely within the more traditional lifestyle model.
I’ll be reclaiming all of that for The Family Trip in 2023.
Third, what to know from here…
I’ll be moving my monthly tips & tricks to this newsletter alongside a round-up of content from the month. I hope you like it. And, if you like it, maybe share it with friends. Let’s reclaim our community.
Onward…
Our monthly trip(s):
Three years later and COVID is still canceling plans for visits to friends and family, who are still recovering today. While being stuck close to home was emotionally challenging for this Enneagram 7 and scary for the health risks to loved ones, we are grateful everyone is okay. And truthfully, it’s been fun here, too. Before school started again, we hit the nearby ski slopes. We spent time in an arcade dedicated to decades of old pinball machines. We went to the zoo (yes, our weather has been a wild yo-yo). It was a reminder that there is much adventure to be had in our own hometown.
Best reads of the month:
On the Internet: I am excited about my colleague LaShawn’s newsletter and her Banned Books book club.
Books: I started the year off with this one and everything hit me in just the right way at just the right time.
What’s ahead:
Is anyone else overwhelmed by the price of travel now? Thankfully, I used miles back in September to book a ski trip for myself this month. Stay tuned to Instagram for Steamboat Springs updates.
As a family, we’ve booked a mini-Spring Break trip to see a National Park and this summer we’re taking (another) epic road trip with Shirley Jean, our pop-up camper. But otherwise, it’s expensive out there! Hometown adventures are begging to be enjoyed as we wait for prices to stabilize.
Articles in January:
Visiting Biscayne National Park: Are Parks Now for the Elite?
“Is this a national park only for the “haves?” Is this a place that can only be enjoyed by those with enough disposable income and a household budget margin that allows for hundreds of dollars to truly enjoy it? If one doesn’t have that kind of spending capability, are the treasures of this National Park just not accessible? What, ultimately, are the roles and goals of the National Park Service?”
The Best Books I Read in 2022
“Looking for your next great read? I published my annual article of the best books I read in the past year.”
The Famous Cliffs of Moher: Are They Worth It?
“Thinking of visiting the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland? Are these famous cliffs worth it? As far as I am aware, unfortunately, still no tour in which you strap yourself to a giant and he hauls you both up a rope to the top of the Cliffs…”
Looking for winter? Check out these from the archives:
Skiing and Enjoying Winter with the Family in Canaan Valley
“Skiing and hiking in Canaan Valley during winter’s fullest glory turned out to be a great decision. Snowy boughs begged to be skied under, snowbanks invited the kids to dive in headfirst, and the sound-dampening white made the world here feel soft and intimate.”
What to do in Big Sky, MT - on & off the slopes!
“The slopes ran out in front of us as far as the eye could see. Bowls so far up in the sky I had to strain my neck to see them, asking for complete commitment or annihilation.”
A Visit to Whistler Ski Resort
“We now talk frequently about how this was a pointed lesson that, really, life is short. We can not predict our futures nor do we have any control over most of what happens. So when we have the chance to do something bold, we should take it.”
A Family Trip to Vail, Colorado
“While I don’t mind spending some hard-earned cash on adventures that we will remember forever, we just aren’t the people who can afford a family of four hitting the slopes at that price tag every day. Lucky for you, I am incredibly resourceful, love to plan, can Google like a champ, and found some really amazing and fun activities for our family to do in Vail.”
Have a wonderful February everyone. Remember that life is one big trip, and the best trip is a family one.