Someone has said, “A trip is when you take your family, but a vacation is when you go alone.”

I have done both, and I’m not sure that I agree.

Family vacations are times for making memories. In my opinion, it’s a vacation when we leave work—and electronics—behind, regardless of where we go. This includes television. We watch enough television at home. On vacation, I want to spend the days hiking, fishing, boating, swimming, or sight-seeing. And I want to spend the evenings sitting around a campfire, singing, talking, laughing, or simply enjoying the quiet company of our loved ones. We always take games and puzzles with us. In fact, it became a tradition with us to work a puzzle whenever we went to a resort.

The trips I’ve made alone have their purpose as well. That is the time to unwind, read a book, sleep in if I choose to, or rise before dawn to catch a sunrise, play guitar and sing to my heart’s content, write, paint, hike to a waterfall, or sit outside and watch the birds and the deer. I may take one day to go sight-seeing, get a massage, take an art class, or stroll through a museum. These are things that fascinate me but hold little interest to anyone else in my family. Being alone is not lonely when it is planned, and when it is temporary. Everyone needs alone time, quiet time.

I would like to propose a new definition: “A vacation is when you take your family, but a retreat is when you go alone.”

Written for the Five-Minute-Friday Link-up: VACATION

Photo taken after departing Pensacola, Florida, 2018