We know that self-care is very important and while this might just seem like a buzz word to some, you know that when you are drained all parts of your life suffer. How amazing would it be to take steal precious hours from your busy life to simply disappear and reemerged feeling refreshed and excited and focused on your life?
That was our plan. Our family of 7 found ourselves struggling in the day to day and we knew we needed something to spark our spirits. Long cold grey winter had us all a bit down. February love was in the air and we set out to do something we love together, we love adventure!
So we planned 24 hours to disappear into one. We took from noon on a Tuesday till Noon on a Wednesday for this micro vacation. This allowed school and work and homeschool lessons to be done part of both days. This was a brilliant move as work still got done, dare I say even more work because of the excitement about going on a trip and when we got back feeling more fulfilled with ourselves!
What is a Micro-Vacation?
A micro vacation is a vacation for just one night away. It tends to be local but not in town if that makes sense. You don’t want to spend the whole day traveling. So many people miss the sights in their own backyard and this is the time to hit those. My Dad had grown up his whole life an hour from Boston and had never gone to the aquarium there or the museums until his grand kids came to visit and took him. He was surprised at the things he had been missing. We have heard stories like this over and over and found it to be true ourselves. How is it we lived in Savannah GA and yet never went on a ghost hunt?
Maryland Micro Vacation
One of the great things about heading to the beach in February is that in most places, it is the off season. The off season is perfect for micro-vacations and self-care as you can travel for cheap! We picked a great hotel, a very pink and pretty Holiday Inn at 6600 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City, MD 21842. Due to being a big family staying at hotels can be a bit tricky. I have to say calling the booking phone number was a terrible experience. I kept getting sent to a call center in India that couldn’t answer my questions or book me 2 rooms with a connecting door or even two room next to one another. My micro-vacation was threatening to up my stress level before it even started to I took a deep breath and threw caution to the wind. We went without room reservations because I knew, with it being the off season, that this hotel and dozens of others would have rooms for us! Just as expected, we showed up, they had connecting rooms and it went so smoothly. We were on the 6th floor with an amazing ocean view and the sea was roaring. It was a beautiful and powerful sound I couldn’t get enough of. I snuck out onto the balcony alone when ever I got a moment to just breath it all in. It has long been said the ocean is healing and I have always found that to be true.
The hotel was everything we needed it to be, clean of course with comfy beds. Both rooms had queen beds and a sofa. This worked well for the 7 of us. They both had mini kitchens and enough towels for us all. It wasn’t out dated. It felt fresh and relaxing. We even liked the art work on the walls! The kids though will tell you hands down, beyond the very cool glass elevators that gave a great view of the sparking city lights that their favorite part of the hotel was the indoor pool. It is shaped like a fidget spinner! It is a private room on the first floor, it has all the towels you could need, a toddler pool about knee deep, and 2 round hot tubs as well. We spent a lot of time there and the kids were just so in love. It being the off season, we had it all to ourselves! Our toddler hasn’t loved swimming in the past so I was specially thankful for this trip and time alone at the pool with her as it eased her into the experience and she loved it. She was fierce though about telling her siblings not to splash her. We have a ways to go, but so far so good. We have a bigger vacation planned soon and I think she might be ready for it now!
As I was on vacation I took cute kid photos with a new camera dear husband got me for Valentines Day and wasn’t thinking so much about a review at the time or I would have gotten you all better hotel room photos! Instead I am sharing some of the vacation faces and moments. I feel more relaxed just looking at them and remembering how it felt to be away from the world and our to-do lists!
How is it time in nature can be relaxing and exciting at the same time?
Part of self-care for us was getting to the beach, of course swimming there isn’t an option in February here in Maryland. It is though still a powerful and renewing experience. It is also rather magical I think as on this certain beach in Maryland, there are wild ponies! We had been there before years back and it was a fantastic experience this one was too!
Our micro-vacation included the wonder of amazing strong and high waves and low tide to hunt of things the kids don’t normally get to see. Oh the imagination on these little ones dreaming up what must have lived in this shell or that one and what had to be lurking under the waves. Some of the kids are brave about the ocean, others very suspicious and respectful feeling like the ocean belongs to ocean creatures and not people. My son told me a lot about prehistoric ocean animals and how they connected to the things we were finding in the sand. I can tell there is little chance I will get him into the ocean come summer. He will though I am certain be happy to comb the beach for things to discover!
Assateague Island and the Wild Ponies
The first evening on Assateague Island we went looking for the wild ponies in all the places they “should” be, and places we had seen them before. We couldn’t find a single one! 38 miles of island, only a few paved, and 300 ponies. Yet we didn’t find a one. We didn’t give up hope though. That morning something rather amazing happened. We all got up early! We are night owls you see, some more then others even. We braved the cold winter morning and hit the beach. This time, we saw the ponies! They were grazing in the marsh on the mainland side and also in the camping sites!
Obeying the law about not getting within 10 feet of them was a bit hard. There I was taking some photos of them in the quiet morning light with little ones all a giggle and excited and suddenly one of them is interested in my son and I. One was giving me silly faces.
I was thinking the body language was saying to stay clear of his females. What I didn’t really expect and should have was the sweet ones that hadn’t paid us any mind coming from the side when we were not paying attention to them. They chased us into our van! Having done research before and having seen photos of these ponies having bitten people I knew to be on the look out but goodness they are fast! We managed to all get inside safely and get the windows up. But then the ponies surrounded the van. We couldn’t move. So much for the 10 foot rule. We had been keeping a much larger distance than that, and I recommend if you go you keep a larger distance because if the ponies are interested in you, you need to move more quickly than they do! Perhaps like dogs, they smell food on children…. because…. children! LOL We didn’t have food with us though and certainly would not give wild anything people food and break the law.
We could tell they expected to be fed as they would move from side to side of the van depending on who opened a window even a little. This had the kids all a giggle. My husband and I loved the kids excitement! Eventually a ranger we had talked to the day before came and said hello and freed us from the herd. She said sometimes you just have to clap a bit to get them to move on their merry way. We managed to make it to a nice beach spot to explore some more and for some of the kids to get their geeky one with some pokemon time before we had to head back to reality.
The reason this micro-vacation worked so well for self-care was because the long drive there was largely quiet. It was much needed personal time to reflect. My husband and I agree, we have our best thoughts and chats on long drives. Some parts of the trip we had music and sang together and that is often a great way to change the energy of ourselves and our dynamics together. This was very much a mental health day for us and a break from everyday grind of work and family life. No chores to do, no way to even get a bit if our million projects waiting for us done. No dishes! Sometimes it is the small things. It was time to focus on one other too. Being awake before my family just sitting outside watching the waves was special time. How lucky am I?
For 24 hours I was in the moment with my loves. I wished others were there, I hugged those thoughts and accepted the pain they bring and then took a deep breath and refocused on those ones I could hug in the moment. So often I feel like my family shares me with my sorrow of missing loved ones gone or far away. It is something I am working on, not so gracefully I admit. I was determined to not let that drain our time and for the most part I think it worked. Everyone had such a great time. We all got home and got back to our projects. Here and there dreaming up and sharing future plans.
We need to take more micro-vacations!
Have you been on micro-vacation? Where?
