Mama Zebra Travels

I hope you all enjoyed the Stay-cation post within the blog. I decided to add on to this topic since there were a few things that piqued interest within the topic. Now, some of this happened at the beginning of the month and one just before Father’s Day. It was a last-minute decision to add to it, and so I hope it adds to your list of things to do on a “Stay-Cation.”

First of all, I’d like to repeat myself in stating that ‘stay-cations’ are completely do-able and can be a ton of fun. Here are a few of the things I talked about in the first post about Stay-cations:

Geocaching- it was so much fun and put our minds to work as well as the minds of the elderly adults at home in their easy chairs. They got involved and had a fun time, all without leaving home!

Matinee- We went to the new Lilo and Stitch movie after having an adventure of geocaching and were able to relax at the movie with some popcorn and snacks to refill our energy.

Now for part two of the Stay-cation… So, there are many different ways to have a fun staycation. It simply involves keeping your ears open for any possible forms of family friendly activities that you and your loved ones would enjoy. One thing that drew our attention was the yearly car show our town hosts. Even though we left early due to the smoke from the wildfires of Canada rolling in, my family and I got out for a little while and enjoyed the cars we did see. One was a classic from 1929. I managed to snag a picture of one man wth his car who had driven his car down the highway in the wind. He stated he had struggled to hang on to the steering wheel to keep it on the road due to the wind. But his was a beaut! A 1946 Ford with the original paint job. He kept his in a garage and seldom outside except of course, for the occasional car shows. I am not sure how well his car placed but he was a friendly guy and easy to talk with. These people that restore older cars put a lot of time and money into them. I believe he said that his cost upward of $14,000- possibly more. But they are worth every penny to see the cars restored to their original beauty. I wish we could’ve stayed longer, however, the smoke was coming in thick. I’m talking pea soup kind of thick. We enjoyed what we saw and hope to see more next year if we don’t manage to see one before then.

Another fun activity I kept my eyes open for was the annual “Father-Daughter Dance” that the community hosts. It’s been going on for three years now, and I have to say that it is an activity that not only do my kids enjoy, but the entire community does. They advertise it as the Father-Daughter dance but are quick to add that uncles, grandfathers or whomever the special male figure is in a girl’s life is, all are welcome to attend. My son takes my youngest daughter and has for the past three years. It is something they both enjoy and although the teenager won’t admit it, he likes to get dressed up for his little sister. I took pictures galore that night. It was pretty neat because this particular year, one man we know brought his granddaughter who had officially become his granddaughter through adoption. It was a special night for the two of them and he was teaching his 12-year-old granddaughter how to dance. In another case, a man had dressed up in a three-piece suit and had danced with his little granddaughter, who was dressed up in a fluffy white dress. Her mom, who was also the man’s daughter, was there taking pictures and I saw the two of them dance a few dances as well. It’s a source of fun entertainment and awesome to see the (mostly) little girls dressed up coming with their special someone.

For my daughter, she was pretty excited and informed her older brother that he needed to dress up handsome and, in her words, “I need to make sure to take a bath before I get dressed.” She was excited and counted down the days. He even made sure he wore the same shirt he had the previous year. That tells me that he gets into the excitement of it as well. I think he secretly enjoys it. It’s an opportunity for lots of pictures and giggles.

The next thing to keep your eyes open for is any music jamborees in your area. Although it hasn’t happened yet here, but will soon, is our annual Gospel Jamboree. We get groups from all over the United States and Canada. It’s a weekend filled with good family music and it’s free. It’s a family friendly environment and a completely come and go as you please atmosphere. There’s always good music and it’s fun to see the different groups perform. We’ve had big groups that have been entire families perform, and we’ve seen some that have been with the Gaither group. It’s fun for all ages. It’s also fun for the kids to see other kids up on stage singing with their families. It’s amazing what these kids can do when given the opportunity.

The last thing I will mention for this one is any weekly summer matinee that might be going on. I know our local one has a weekly Wednesday one and there is another one about an hour and a half away that has what’s called a Dollar Wednesday. They play older kid movies and admission is only one dollar. So, take the opportunity to get out of the summer heat and go enjoy a movie with popcorn and let your little ones enjoy a cheaper movie. It is a good way to relax and at a cheaper price. Just check your local area to see if they offer any kind of a discount for older movies.

Did you know that you don’t have to leave your own hometown in order to have a fun and exciting time? The best part is, that you can go back home when you need to and kick your feet back and enjoy a cup of coffee or ice-tea. When you feel refreshed, you can simply go back and finish your adventure.

I get that there are area’s that don’t have a lot to offer. That’s ok. It’s about making the most of what’s available. Sort of like “bloom where you are planted” so to speak. Now, I hadn’t thought of writing this, but a few people suggested I do so, so here I am.

This last week was Memorial Day weekend, and we had some out-of-town family that came up for a visit. We had just finished with graduation a week prior, so I wasn’t feeling up to a whole lot. I had things on my to do list that didn’t get done. You know what? We all lived without it too. That was one thing I needed to adjust to, it’s ok to not get everything done that you want to do.

Anyway, my family come from a larger area where there is plenty of things to do. I live in a small farm and ranch community where the options are limited. However, we did find one thing everyone got involved in.

Geo caching. Recently my community put around town about ten different geo caches. I had never really heard about them until they advertised it, and my family thought it would be fun to do. I have to admit, they were right. It was a blast! The best part is, we even involved the “easy chair” committee. AKA my mom, my aunt and uncle who stayed at the house, relaxing in their easy chairs.

We started out with the first one. We read the clue and easy enough, found the second. It was on the third one we got stumped on and couldn’t find. So, then that’s where the easy chair committee came in. Stumped on the location, because by then we had tried probably three locations, we called for help. “Mom, can you help us with this clue?” My cousin read the clue aloud and the rest of the group at home put their thinking caps on and gave it a whirl. They had just as much fun at the house as we did out exploring.

I am not sure as to how long it took us to get all ten found, I would roughly say about an hour and a half or so. Then, after all the jumping in and out of the car and the last one was located, we went to the theatre and enjoyed the new Lilo and Stitch movie.

It was a fun day, and even though it was a lot of movement initially, we ended the time by relaxing at the theatre. We got our popcorn and drinks and just rested. Then after the movie went back to the house and relaxed some more, the kids outside playing and the adults reliving the adventure we had both in the car and in the easy chair.

So what I am saying is, find what there is to do within your community. Just because it might be small doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to do. Go to the park and have a picnic. (For those of us with immune deficiencies, there isn’t a huge crowd usually). Growing up as a teenager, I lived in a smaller community than where I am now, and I tell you, my friends and I had a blast. We would go to the school and swing on the swing set, go for walks in the canal when it was empty. We even swam in the same canal in the summer. Had campouts in the back yard…

Life is a journey and it’s up to us to make the most of it. Do things that involve others, like my cousins and I did for our parents who didn’t want to go out. It can be done, and everyone can have a good time. Another idea is to play a game or two. We have done that in the past and always have fun.

Stay-cations can be eventful and fun. You don’t have to travel extensively for it; it doesn’t cost near as much money. And the best part: you can sleep in your own comfortable bed.

If you have any other tips on staycations or experiences, I’d love to hear them. Leave a comment below!

Recently, I have been asked a few of the same questions by different people who have left comments on the page and even in person. They asked some excellent questions such as these main three:

1. Do you think your experience as a kid shaped how you approach your health and travel now as an adult?
2. How do you balance being prepared without overthinking and stressing about the reoccurring health issues?
3. How do you manage the health concerns without letting it overshadow the joy of traveling?

These, I thought, were some excellent questions that I found thought provoking and I did not want to rush in with an answer without giving them some deep thought. I also thought that these questions were ones that needed their own space to get an answer because of the depth of them. They deserved a thorough, and detailed answer. So let me start by answering the first one.

1. Do you think your experience as a kid shaped how you approach your health and travel now as an adult?

Let me start by saying that this question, I had to stop and consider. In the beginning of this blog, I hadn’t given my childhood experiences much thought or credit to my travels. Honestly, as a kid and teenager, I never even considered my health when I went traveling. I had gone to Canada multiple times and traveled within the United States to different areas. I never once thought of anything that could go wrong.

However, upon reflection, I realize that perhaps subconsciously, my experiences as a kid somewhat shaped how I travel now as an adult. It might not make much sense, but I can see where it plays a part. You see, in writing some of my experiences down, I have relived my childhood and the obstacles I faced. I began to look at my health in a wider scope and was able to see a trend. I am more aware now of my body and how fast things can escalate for me. It’s become increasingly so in the last few years that perhaps I just listen better to my body now.

As the old saying goes “When I was a child, I thought as a child…” That rings true for me as I sit here writing my answer down to this question. I didn’t see the potential danger for the joy of the moment. But now as an adult, I can see a clearer picture and take the proper precautions.

2. How do you balance being prepared without overthinking and stressing about the reoccurring health issues?

Honestly, I think questions two and three go almost hand in hand. But I will try to answer each individually to the best of my ability. For this second question, I would say that it’s not really that I overstressed on my health issues when I was getting ready. I simply knew in advance that I had three main diagnosis I would need to be aware of while on vacation.

I love to make lists and I tend to make lists quite frequently. So, when I knew for a fact we were going to leave for vacation, I immediately started making my list. I made a list of everything I could think of that would be needed and the first things that I think I wrote down, was anything pertaining to my health needs.

Electrolyte packets for my POTS so I would make sure to stay hydrated; my traveling nebulizer with medication in case I needed a treatment or two while gone; I simply wrote down things as I thought of it. I had been given one notebook as a gift for my travel experience, and I began writing my list in that notebook as a reminder what to take when we were getting ready to leave.

Then, I had already decided I would plan a visit with my doctor. I already knew that I would talk to him in advance about an “in case of emergency” antibiotic as per what my pulmonologist told me a few years prior. I simply wrote a date down in my phone’s calendar to make an appointment with the doctor about a week to two weeks before we were to leave.

I think the list helped decrease my stress level. I went over it a few different times, and I set my carry-on in an easy spot so I could throw things in there as I thought of it. I also had dug out my large suitcase that I was going to use as a checked bag. Anything that we were going to take as an extra was going to get thrown into that for the time being. For instance, we knew we wanted to take snacks on the trip, so we would buy a few boxes of chips, granola’s ect. a little at a time and when an item was bought, it went into the suitcase until we were getting into the final phase of “get ready”.

Now, I could have easily stressed and overthought things because, as it is, about a month before our scheduled vacation I had ended up sick in the hospital. That one surprised me. I can honestly say that although I know my body, I didn’t see that one coming. I went in to the doctor, not feeling well. I always know when I need to get seen asap and was fortunate enough to get an appointment that same morning. (It’s times like these I say “It’s definitely a God moment”). The doctor listened to my lungs and did the usual, blood work and CT along with a flu and covid tests. I had tried so hard for 5 months to NOT get sick, yet here I was, with a little over a month to go before our big trip and down sick.

To make matters worse, the doctor decided it would be best to stick me in the hospital. My WBC count was skyrocketed and thus, I was admitted into the hospital for IV antibiotic and fluids. Talk about a major stress there!

3. How do you manage the health concerns without letting it overshadow the joy of traveling?

Time for question 3. You are probably thinking I left off on the second question, but I promise you, it leads up to the answer to this question. So here is the finale:

How do I manage the health concerns without letting it overshadow the joy of traveling? Well, there I was, admitted into the hospital for a number of days. Anyone who knows me, knows I hate the hospital, the food, the bed… It isn’t as comfortable as home. And I tend to get more…depressed…Yep, I get a little bit of a pity party almost every time. I think it’s more a combination of just general not feeling well and tired type of thing. Kind of like that toddler at Disney World who wouldn’t go take a nap even though everyone told her (ahem, me) to go do so.

So how did I get back on track on finding the joy in our travel? I researched. Since all I could do was rest for the next six weeks, I did a little bit of research. I looked at the area we were going to. I looked at the different things to do, the different places to eat… I looked at the scenery…the rides… You name it and I think I looked it up.

I’d even written down a “must do” list for everyone in my family. I had mine and I started one for each family member (remember: I told you I love to make lists!) Obviously, I knew we probably wouldn’t get to do it all, but it did help pass the time and it brightened my mood tremendously.

In fact, my mom used to joke: “Emily, you need to go research your trip to Disney, or France. You’re a little to cranky today.” She said it jokingly, (I think) because my mood shifted each time I researched or watched videos. It lightened and became excited, like that of a young child getting ready to open presents at Christmas. My kids always laughed and rolled their eyes at me every so often.

“Mom, you need to start going to bed at night. Stop sending me videos of the Christmas cookies there.” That was my oldest daughter’s response once when I sent her a video of something at one in the morning. I am one that tends to be in bed by 9-9:30 pm. I joke that I’m in Cinderella’s story as I turn back into a pumpkin by 10 pm lol.

That was a huge help in staying positive and upbeat about the upcoming trip. Any time I started feeling down, or stressed I would shift my focus to watching videos or tips on vacation.

Works fine and dandy for before the trip, but what about during the trip? How did I keep my focus off potential health hazards? To some, it might be simple. To others, it might be a bit more difficult, but I’ll tell you plain and simple:

Live in the moment.

Embrace it all. You might have some hectic and stressful moments but take the time to readjust. Look out the window and enjoy the view. Take plenty of pictures, plenty of memories. Live in the here and now. The one thing I wish we could have done more when we first got to the Disney World Park was to stop and take everything in. Just enjoy being there for the first time.

Embrace the moment, take a look at the view. Enjoy the scenery, the moments that make the memories. It’s all about smiling when your son shoves you in line to see Woody even though he’s a teenager, but still a little boy at heart on vacation. It’s about seeing your youngest daughter’s excitement when she dances to the music. It’s about loving how much the oldest daughter’s face lit up at just being there and you see a small glimpse of her old self. It’s all about the memories…

Memories and rest. Take that time to rest each day. I don’t care where you go or what you do but definitely take that time to rest. When I talk about the memories, the rest aspect plays a part in that as well. One day in Magic Kingdom I became unbearable. I had been super stressed that day and things kept adding and piling up. I wrote about it in another post so I’ll give a quick overview.

It was past the lunch hour, and I was getting more and more tired and therefore I was getting extremely cranky. to the point everyone in my group was telling me to go and rest. “Go sit down and rest.” I was just as stubborn and said I wasn’t going to. I eventually lost the debate and went to go take a nap. And nap I did!! I napped for probably three hours that day. Fast forward to a month ago and my cousin and I were talking about our trip with another family member. We started telling her the story of that day and my cousin was telling us her version and we all started laughing so hard we almost had tears rolling down our faces.

It is funny now, and we can laugh about it, but it also showed me an important aspect. I can’t keep up with everyone else so I need more rest than most. So in the future, I know for a fact that I will need to take time to go and rest. Unwind. Relax. So I highly recommend taking “a time out” and go back to rest for however long you need to. Everyone is built differently so maybe your idea of rest and relaxing is sitting down, reading a book. Or having a coffee. Do what works best for you!

So a quick recap: research your area to keep the momentum going; live in the moment, rest and make memories! Listen to your body and just relax. Life isn’t a race.