The naycation

I was reading the news online today while eating lunch at work, and came across an article about the doomed economy.  It seems that while most people who have been polled say that they still plan on taking their normal vacations in 2009.....they simply aren't making reservations and buying tickets in advance like they should have by now.  People are trying to be optimistic and hope to still travel next year...but the analysts predict that 2009 will be the year of the naycation.  As in- NOT vacationing.  (That's in contrast to the term staycation from last year, when people planned fun themes and activities- but stayed at home rather than a beach house or hotel).  

It's interesting that this article comes up now.  I was talking to Marshall on the phone the other day (he's TDY in Florida right now) and he mentioned how he hopes that wherever we are stationed next is really far away (like overseas far away).  When I asked him why, he said that if we are stationed really far away, then we might actually go on a Vacation vacation, instead of always going to visit family.

Now, I know that a lot of our relatives read this blog- so please don't get your feelings hurt by this.  We have just not taken a vacation together-where we weren't going to visit someone, see someone, stay with someone, etc.....since I flew to Korea to see Marshall when I was pregnant! Especially after having a baby, there is strong desire for people to get to see her....and then we think "Oh, it's only ____ hours down the road- it's not that far!", so we go.  The biggest issue too (at least for the past 15 months) was taking or leaving the baby.  I have just now gotten comfortable with someone else being with her for 6 hours a day....but there is NO way in heck I would have left a newborn, 6 month old, or 1 year old with ANYBODY just to go on a vacation.  It's probably first-time-mom syndrome....maybe I'm growing out of it.  But, maybe not.  So we need family friendly vacations.

There are some beautiful places within a short driving distance of where we are- where we could go for a few days and feel like we are vacationing.  There is my parents lake house- just enough seclusion to feel far away....and now that they have a new heater it will be all warm and cozy!  The NC Outer Banks aren't that far- we could visit the Lost Colony, Kitty Hawk, Jockey's Ridge, etc.  We could also drive up into the Shenandoah Valley, I have heard it is beautiful up there.  Even Washington, D.C. isn't too far- it is just SO expensive!  

What I'd really like....if I had friends.....would be to get a group of fun people together and get a beach house for a week or something like that.  I'd pay good money for that.  I would love to have that tradition with a group of friends, and I would love for Maddox to have that as a memory of growing up.  Hopefully the economy will turn around because I don't want Mdx's memories to be of a naycation!