Monday Sanctuary: Virtual Vacay

For most of us taking a vacation is easier said than done.  It requires weeks if not months of planning.  And if  you're like me, it requires more money than we generally have at any one moment in time, but I've found in the years since I've had kids, going on vacations have taken a priority.  I want my kids to see the Grand Canyon, Washington D.C., Hawaii, etc... However, because of my daughter's illness traveling to far off and exciting places isn't always possible.

Besides most of my vacations feel a lot more like this:

 than this:

Then I need a vacation from my vacation.

So, I've come up with the Virtual Vacation. I start looking at all these places I want to go.  Hawaii, Ireland, South America, whatever.  And pick one.  Then the kids and I read up on it and make our own little vacation.

Like this last year we went "camping" in our back yard.  Complete with campfire.  We printed pictures of the place we're "going" and make a photo album with it.  The kids even made their own pictures that went into the book.

 And last but not least, we pretend we're wherever we wanted to be.

Doing all this serves two purposes, we get to relax and take a break from the "Real world," but it also helps the kids learn about new places and gets them to use their imaginations.  And what more could a mother-writer want then their kids using their imaginations.