Family
Blood doesn't make you family. Love, loyalty, compassion, and support make you family. Our family isn't 100% biological, or tied through marriage, or adoption, or any other legally recognized contracts. Our family has grown and evolved since I was a kid to include not only blood-relations but close friends who have always been like family.
It doesn't matter what your family looks like, who is part of the family, how far apart you all live, or how often you all see each other. It doesn't even matter how you all came together to call each other family. What matters is the love, memories, and traditions you all build together and the support and comfort you all bring to one another.
My Crazy Messed Up Loveable Family
Adulting
Being an adult is hard. Especially when you add family in the mix. It doesn't matter what the situation, having to be an adult as an adult child with your parents, as a parent to your child, as two adult siblings to each other, as a grown-ass adult to your dog ... its all HARD! Being an adult, having adult relationships with family members, and having to make adult decisions SUCKS! These are a few of my tips and tricks to navigate some of those adulting situations.
Family Traditions
Whether it’s packing a bag of candy to pass out to the flight crew (thanks Pappy for that travel tip), carving 60+ pumpkins for Halloween, or a yearly trip to someplace warm and tropical; family traditions are what share our family's journey and our shared life story. While I love keeping old family traditions alive, I also enjoy finding new ones to embrace and embellishing on some of our favorites.
A Travelful Mindset
Travel isn't about the destination, it isn't about the journey, it isn't even about the memories you create (although those might be the best part). Travel is a mindset. This became more clear to me during COVID than ever before in my life. For me, travel is everything. It is how I relax. Researching trips and itineraries puts me in a happy place. I connect with my family through travel. Itsy Bitsy learns new things and broadens her horizons through travel. Travel is like a book come alive. Everything I am passionate about can be connected to travel ... studying history ... travel ... writing ... travel ... photography ... travel ... learning new things ... travel ... helping Itsy Bitsy be a well-rounded young woman ... travel ... falling in love with Fat Papa all over again ... travel. Do you see what I am getting at? For me, travel is life. So what happens when I can't travel? I adopt a travelful state of mind. What does that mean? Read on to find out.
