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7400.362 - Family Life Management

School of Family and Consumer Sciences

http://www.uakron.edu/hefe/flm/flm.htm

Spring Semester - T-Th 10:45-12:00 Noon

Instructor: David D. Witt, Ph.D.

Vacations at Home

Families are based in large part on the routines we develop. We find comfort and grounding in the everyday things we do. These activities give us points of reference and add a cadence to our lives. Routines are important.

Still, people need to break away from the routines once in a while. It is probably equally important that families take vacations from their everyday existences and experience new things (or re-experience things that were enjoyable).

Because vacations are often expensive and time consuming, Families can't always take them as needed.
Once again, planning comes into play. If we are wise and forward-thinking we can catalog the trips we do get to take so that we can re-experience them (Also - later on when we are old and living on fixed incomes - we'll have our memories to help us have fun).

Cataloging the Trips
You may already have this skill - making a documentary scrapbook of your adventures.
Most everyone has a big shoe box full of photographs taken on various family get-togethers and outings. We take our instamatic camera on a trip, click off a few rolls of film and have a great time. Back home, we stop at the drug store to have the film developed, pay our $6.95 a roll and look at our pictures (some of which didn't pan out all that well). The pictures rest on the breakfast bar for a couple of weeks until someone scoots them into that "utility drawer" that holds the light bulbs and pliers.
Such a waste!

Next time you get to go somewhere, try this instead.

You'll still need your camera - and
a small notebook to jot down information about the pictures you are snapping off.
Keep your eyes peeled while you are sightseeing - look for interesting bits of local color (a few leaves from an historic site are a nice touch, but be careful not to take anything that would contribute to the overall decay of such sacred places).
Find brochures at restaurants and shops as you travel - brochures usually have better pictures of the places you are going to see than those you'd take yourself.
When you stop to eat - avoid the usual coast-to-coast places and find out of the way joints and fun eateries. Ask if you can have a menu or a business card (or a book or two of matches). These make nice rememberances and you can even *star the food each person ordered. If what you are eating is really different, ask if you can have the recipe.
Talk to local people about their town or city. Ask if you can take their picture in front of the big thing or unusual place.
Strike up a conversation with a police officer (if they're not too busy).
Look for interesting architectural elements as you travel - sometimes people in towns take extra pride in the uniqueness of their front doors or yard gardens.
Ask around (or do internet research) for the best/cheapest local tours you can find - walking tours are always better than the bus things - but those are nice too.

As you travel, keep stashing all this stuff into the one bag you've brought along to carry back your rememberances.
As soon as you get home, develop the film and start making your Documentary Scrapbook. I like the day-by-day account of trips - but you can organize yours any way that works for you.

Here's our bookshelf of trips so far:

How to Use
Valentine's day is fast approaching and the most romantic day of my life was when Susan and I were married.
Soooooo - we'll be get out the Honeymoon books and looking them over for a little thrill - and we don't have to sit in an airplane for hours either.

Your trips can also be enhanced by using a digital camera - if you have the time and inclination to learn how to use one. They are cheaper to use than "analog" cameras and have a big pay off in terms of instant gratification. For example, I just took that picture of my bookshelf 5 minutes before typing this sentence.

Have some pics:



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