A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had the pleasure of traveling to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to attend the wedding of two good friends. The timing of the trip was perfect in that it was just a few days after I celebrated my 40th birthday. As soon as we got the invitation several months ago and saw the dates, I knew we would be going. The chance to celebrate my milestone birthday and the union of two friends at a beautiful resort in Mexico? Sign me up.
I can’t begin to describe how excited I was as our departure date approached. Our last big trip was back in 2019 when we went to Jamaica. Since then, the pandemic hit and our daughter came along, so our travel has been very limited over the past two years. Needless to say, we were long overdue for a getaway.
Group trips can be tricky, especially when you don’t know “who all gonna be there.” People have their own personal travel quirks, they may not be very social, or you just don’t vibe well. It happens. But I must say that the group that came to Cabo from all over the country to celebrate this wedding was top notch! It was great meeting and networking with new friends and reconnecting with some folks I hadn’t seen in years.
A few of the people who made the trip were parents. There’s an immediate bond when you meet other people who are going through, or have gone through some of the same things in their parenting journey as you have. We shared pictures, talked proudly about our kids, and gave that understanding nod when we spoke of the many challenges that come with parenting.
As parents, we must be intentional in finding ways to disconnect. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routine of taking care of the kids that we forget to prioritize ourselves. I say intentional because I know how time-consuming children can be. It’s a non-stop job. And once they get older and start having a schedule of their own? It’s over.
Taking care of ourselves doesn’t always mean an out-of-the-country trip to Cabo. It could be a weekend staycation in your city. It could mean signing up for weekly exercise classes. It could mean taking a personal day off from work and catching a movie. Either way, every once in a while, it’s important to do whatever it takes to rest and re-energize our bodies and minds.
And leave the kids at home.
☀️🏖️🏝️🕶️🩲🩳🩴👒👙🌊🏄🏼♀️🏊🏾♂️🤿🚣♂️🛶⛵️🚤🛟⚓️