I just got off the phone with my sister Danielle. She, Paul and baby Ruby got back from a 2 week visit to Prague (to visit my brother Pete). And, within that visit to Prague, they went to Tunisia for a "resort vacation", a resort vacation that went awry, a resort vacation story that made me laugh so hard that I had tears coming out of my eyes.
I'm sure that Dan will write about it some day so I won't even try to describe it here.
But, one of the things Dan and I talked about is how traveling with kids changes the whole travel experience. One of my favorite quotes is something about how traveling is not just about seeing new horizons, but it's also about seeing with new eyes. I like it because of the reminder that traveling allows us to see new people and places, but it also nudges us to see ourselves and our place in the world differently, in ways that we weren't able to before.
I think that traveling with kids adds yet another layer to this metaphor of seeing. Though Jon and I don't have a ton of experience with this (Atlanta, Vancouver, CA being the only "far" places we've taken our kids), I've noticed that when I do travel with my kids, I am much more acutely away of my role of parent, of the responsibility I have in taking care of them. In part, I "see" new people and places through those lenses.
They remind me of something I should be aware of all the time: of what an awesome (used in the inspiring sense) and humbling role it is to be a parent.
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