Miracles
This was just going to be a regular blog post but somewhere along the line it became a 1,000+ word essay…
I think perhaps part of the negativity of late towards my travel inclinations has been brought on by a misunderstanding of my thoughts. Which is ironic given that part of the complaints have been that I blog about it too damned much – you’d think by now that people would know just about everything there is to know about me, you think I’d be able to get my message out in 830 posts. But I digress.
I think perhaps people think I see vacations as a right.
I don’t.
An unpaid week off from work every year out of town locally (to say, Seattle or Victoria), okay, I suppose I DO consider THAT a right but most people get way more than that, 3 weeks or more of paid time off from work a year seems to be somewhat common so I think by that standard what I view as a right is fairly humble.
Being able to go on a little trip (to say, Edmonton or San Francisco) for a week each year I would call a privilege, one that I would have to understandably work for.
But going to Las Vegas for a week with Jon and Josh, I’d call that a miracle.
Going to Orlando with Mindi? Miracle.
Going to Las Vegas with Mindi? Miracle.
Going to Europe with my mom? Miracle.
Going on a nearly 2-week road trip to Anaheim with Jon? Miracle.
So maybe I should take a page from a political playbook: rebranding. Travel isn’t my hobby, making miracles happen is my hobby.
I try to pull off a one-week miracle every year. And it’s never just for me. Family, friends…miracles are best shared.
“Miracles happen when you’re around
Somehow the grass is much greener
Rivers flow faster and cleaner
Being with you
No matter where
Sunlight breaks through
And suddenly there’s bluer sky
Whenever you’re around
You always bring
Bluer sky, a brighter day” –Pet Shop Boys ‘Miracles’
It’s not an expectation I’m trying to defend, it’s my right to attempt the impossible; just once or if I’m very lucky twice a year.
To a kid who grew up not really knowing what a vacation was until he was in high school I never take these things for granted.
I mean just sit there and think about it for a second – how would you pull off any of those miracles? At the very least it takes the stars aligning just right. So I take every shot I get at making it happen because you never know when those stars will align. The money has to be there, the travelers have to be willing, and everybody’s got to get the time off work - that’s just the mandatory preconditions. Then you need to pick a destination, plan it out, book it, and make sure everyone’s input is equally weighed. There’s research, mapping, planning, reservations, packing, coordinating…it’s a wonder anyone ever pulls it off. I still shake my head at the enormity of the Europe trip, it was beyond comprehension and yet my family planned that down to the last detail. It was clockwork. And for the most part we know we didn’t waste a second. I just want to give my family and friends smaller versions of what I was given.
Why do you think I make videos of it? Clearly I think it unique enough and worthy enough to be captured, worked on, and shared. It brings me great joy to think some of my videos might inspire others to go on similar adventures. I sit back and look at pictures of us at Hoover Dam and think to myself I helped make that happen. We never would have seen James Darren or Wayne Brady if I hadn’t started that ball moving. I don’t deserve all the credit but both Vegas trips and Orlando wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t gotten the idea.
I don’t think now’s the time to give up on those ideas.
You know those commercials that say stuff like “make sure your memoires have at least one exciting chapter” or “you only get so many thousand sunrises, make some of them spectacular”? Well, I…
-Touched Stonehenge
-Got a private concert by the Goo Goo Dolls
-Saw James Darren, Wayne Brady, and Steve Wyrick in the same week
-Shared a stage with Jay Leno and my best friend
-Touched Dolphins
-Won a trivia contest at NBC
-Know what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel
-Fed pigeons in Venice
-Had pasta in Rome
-Navigated Berlin with nothing but my PDA, two feet, and a heartbeat
-Gave Tube directions to Londoners
-Negotiated a hotel down to a third of their asking price
-Got drenched at Niagara Falls
-Made Doctor Who jokes across the Thames from the Millennium Wheel
-Had a Season’s Pass to the site of a Pet Shop Boys video
-Fell in love with prawns at Wolfgang Puck’s
-Rode amusement park rides at the top of the tallest hotel in Vegas
-Saw the Pet Shop Boys live
-Chatted up an Andorian and got my picture taken on the Enterprise
-Cheered on an evil Medieval Knight
-Bought my son his favorite teddy bear at the Hoover Dam
Many of these are amazing, impossible things and I plan on adding to this list. I want to show Mindi the Golden Gate Bridge and West Edmonton Mall. I want to show Jon the comic book area of Islands of Adventure and Sleuth’s in Orlando. I want to drink free girly drinks at a swim-up bar in Cancun with Burton. I want to take my son to Disneyland once he’s old enough to appreciate it and help Mindi cross it off her list while I’m at it. I want to see what the new Experience is like. I want to ride the Simpsons and Transformers thrill rides. I want to find out what the big deal is about Hawaii. I want my souvenir glass collection to become completely unmanageable. I want to pack my hard drive and the internet with photos and videos of amazing things and great memories.
For one or two weeks every year I want to try to be a miracle worker.
May 6th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Well done! Putting it in perspective like that is truely amazing. But, I’ve always said you had an amazing way of looking at things. I only wish to comment that while you are creating these miracles, your son is growing, and maybe vacationing should hold off a year or two, while you try to enlarge your living arrangements. When you need to, you may have spent the funds on a vacation. After all, making improved living quarters is a MIRACLE these days, at best. One other miracle you created that didn’t hit your list, is ‘J-MAN’. Every birth is a MIRACLE. Bottom line here is, every individuals priorities don’t always agree with their friends or family. But, you made a great point on the things you have done.