Xavier Bishop

Vacation is an activity we’re all familiar with. It’s a time to get things done, visit far away places, or simply relax. For me and my family vacation is also a time for us to grow closer to one another. It all starts with a good old-fashioned trip in the car.

While traveling by car is a sure road to family counseling for some families, for Jaimee, Micah and me taking a vacation by car is a great way for us to get to know one another better.

With Jaimee and I having busy schedules it seems like there’s hardly enough time for us to stay up on all the things taking place in our daily life. The hours we spend together driving to our vacation destination is a wonderful way for us to get caught up.

Add to the drive-time the amount of time we spend together in the hotel, together eating meals, sightseeing and visiting family and friends, before you know it we’ve spent an entire 24 hours … together.  An amazing feat!

Don’t misunderstand. Spending so much time with one another isn’t always fun and games, and it can become a little bit uncomfortable at times. You may find that considerable distance has grown between you and your family and bridging that gap can occasionally mean learning new things that you don’t particularly like. But if you can make it through those uncomfortable or difficult moments you may find an even deeper meaning to why you’re together as a family. We did. 

 Our vacation took us to some fascinating places, and we met and visited with some lovely and wonderful people. We returned home with many great memories and many great ideas for making our city a better place to live. But of all the beauty that came of our summer vacation, the greatest beauty of all was in how it brought us closer together as a family.