Travel

These times being what they are, economically speaking, many people are cutting back on their travels.  But I have been cutting back on my travels for a while now.  About 5 years to be exact. After our grand European tour, I became a stay at home momma with 1 baby, and then 3, and traveling wasn't especially feasible.  Economically speaking and logistically speaking.  

At first, it was really hard for me.  I felt so stuck.  Seeing the same old things day after day made me feel like I was suffocating.  I longed to see new places.  New people.  New shops.  New restaurants.  New parks.  New places to walk. New places to be.  

In the old days, we'd say, "let's take a road trip."  But now, my 3 small ones seem to have a strong aversion to road trips of long duration.  Unless I were to put a DVD player in the car, to which I have a strong aversion.  It seems we are at an impasse.

Not really.  There are ways, I have discovered, to get my travel fix, my longing for new places and spaces, that require neither large sums of money or long hours in the car.  Now I travel close to home.  

I like to discover new neighborhoods to explore.  I hunt online for new parks.  We'll try a new beach for a walk.  Or visit a new library.  For my birthday, we drove to Silverlake (30 minute drive) to try out a coffee shop I'd read about and to eat lunch at this cheese shop.  That 30 minutes felt very far away from my home.  Sometimes it's just me and the kids. Sometimes it's the 5 of us.  And sometimes, it's just me and Aaron.  And while it isn't just like the old days, we are finding a way to make it work in these new days.