Daydreaming on a Sunday

Daydreaming on a Sunday morning is really what life is all about. Sitting on the back patio, iced chai tea latte in hand, eating homemade waffles with whipped cream that you normally never have but made this morning because you just felt like it. All of this, plus a conversation with your significant other about taking a trip. This is a conversation where you start throwing out ideas of all the things you can do. This starts to become the trip you both didn’t know you wanted or needed until the conversation really started rolling, and suddenly, you both realize this is no longer an idea, but a vacation in the making.

That’s me this Sunday morning. Instead of sitting on my back patio with an iced latte in hand, with a stack of waffles in front of me, talking to my fiancé about another trip we should take, I am stuck lying in bed with a broken back. One of the things that has been helping me through the healing process is fantasizing about all the trips we are going to take once I am healed and no longer in a back brace. And let me tell you, there is a lot of thinking you can do when you have sudden limited mobility due to an injury. I’ve spent the last few days reading through old travel magazines, so naturally, that’s what I’ve been thinking about. The beauty of travel. There are several trip ideas swirling around in my head, but the one that keeps coming up in conversation is Disneyland. 

Let me lay out this dream vacation a bit so you understand what's been going on in my head. A four-day trip; two days inside the parks and the other two are travel days. On both park days, we have park hopper passes and Lightning Lane passes, giving us more freedom in our ride choices. Right now, the only ride I am picturing going on is Pirates of the Caribbean. Only because every aspect of this ride is an experience, and yes, I am referring to the ride’s distinct smell, which does add to the experience. Speaking of smells, I can’t help but dream of Disney’s churros. I won’t say they are life-changing, but I will say that once you have one, you are stuck thinking about the next time you'll have one. The moment I walk into the parks, and I smell anything remotely sweet, I know what my automatic next step is to get a churro. In fact, no ride is really going to matter to me until after I get my first churro of the day. After that, well, there are no plans, just the freedom of a vacation. Because isn’t the real fantasy of vacation being able to relax and not having to plan every waking moment of your days? 

Fantasizing about vacations is what gets us through life. Every moment leading up to the trip feels like part of the trip as well, from outfit planning to the pre-vacation trip to the store to grab travel essentials to actually packing your suitcase. The momentum before a trip is just as magical. 

If you are finding yourself getting that itch to travel, lean into it. Lean into the fantasies of all the things a trip could entail and the emotions it brings. Allow yourself to daydream without planning every detail because a vacation brings joy and adventure, something all of us need more of.