Set the scene: It is the year 2020 (which is the first clue that this story doesn't end well!). Our extended family is having a lovely trip to Georgia. After several successful days of outings, I, Katherine, pull out my trusty Google map and look for the next adventure. I spot a dot labeled with glorious waterfalls. "Perfect", I thought. So I loaded up, invited the whole family and took off. As we neared my infallible Google dot trailhead, we lost not only all reception and map capabilities, but also two of the three cars following us with family members.
In no way deterred, I encouraged my family and the remaining car to carry on till we arrived at a rather dismal mud pot of a trailhead. The other two cars eventually arrived and we were off down a rut that was possibly called a trail on its best day.
Being a responsible hiker, I asked the two different groups of returning hikers about the trail. Unfortunately they gave conflicting replies. No matter, I thought. I can still see the Google dot for the falls on my phone since I'd pinned it. Pretty sure I felt smug that no cell reception was not a problem for me!
Two hours later - and yes, I hear the '3 hour tour' Gilligan's Island theme song ringing in my ears, our party, which contained 5 kids under 6, two knees in line for a knee replacement and an injured foot, were trudging along not so cheerily.
Questions were now arising over my ability to know where we were going. As I hate not achieving my goals I urged the group to press on. Likely the falls were 'just around that next corner' or 'over that next hill!'
We did actually stumble on the falls, but with very little joy since we now had at least 2 1/2 hours of walking BACK ahead of us. One child was down to just underwear after peeing in their jeans. 3 were developing serious sores from their sloshing rain boots and one child just laid on the ground and cried, unable to go on. Through herculean effort from the uncles, we carried the children back out the not very scenic trail and emerged into the dirt patch trailhead once more.
Was that trip a success? For me it was! I set out to find this Google pin and I did! But I'm an achiever. I need to Win! Hence the title of this article being about 'winning'.
I was I a small minority though and what little trust I had with my extended family at choosing activities left quite definitively.
The adventure was NOT a win to most of them. And why not? For some, it could be physical pain, that's easy to understand. For others it may be that it wasn't Relational enough (there wasn't much talking due to the trudging forward endlessly). It was probably a host of other reasons as well: too long, not enough food, not a rewarding enough view, the uncertainty of a completely unmarked trail. Take your pick!
As important as it is to know where you want to go or what you want to do (see Frugal in Vacations to read about that), it is equally crucial to know what YOU want out of an activity. Is it newness, comfort, beauty, short wins then on to see something else, historical significance, or a chance to learn? .....
I think the enneagram is a helpful tool in this area. Caleb and I have enjoyed "The Road back To You" by Ian Morgan Cron & Suzanne Stabile. It is helpful in understanding your core motivations, fears and tendencies that are tied to your enneagram number. Also, just look at things you currently do for fun and find patterns in them.
To wrap up, I hope you take away two things.
1. Learn yourself and the people you travel with. Determine what makes you tick and what will FEEL like winning at the end of a vacation.
2. Definitely don't follow me when I say, 'I found this spot on Google. It doesn't have much info but it looks great!'
Please Drop me a line at freeandfrugalfive@gmail.com and let me know what is 'winning' for you and your crew on vacation.🙂
K