We've been trying to map out the where and when of our travel plans for the year, and the process is not going well. It seems like there's always one obstacle or another that will make the trip difficult or suboptimal, when the point is to get out and enjoy ourselves.
The first problem is Cedar Point. Going a year without visiting seems nearly immoral. It comes down to either visiting the weekend of Coasting For Kids (late July), or BooBuzz (October). Obviously it would be nice to attend our event, but the weather is questionable, and hanging out the next day could be miserable if the crowds are hard to manage. On the other hand, visiting July means sweet heat (seriously, I want 90 and humid), plugging my favorite charity and seeing my favorite amusement park in the glory of summer. Unfortunately, the flying situation sucks. The fares are nuts, and it involves mostly red-eyes from Seattle. Anything that makes it harder to fly with Simon is a huge strike against. Not sure what to do.
I'll likely do the Holiday World event solo, which makes it less fun, but hopefully some of my dearest friends will be there. I might have to go to a conference for work earlier in that week, which makes things interesting. I really feel like I should go to IAAPA this year, because I'm feeling more and more disconnected from the people around the industry that I consider friends.
Then there are family trips. I'm still obsessed with going to Hawaii, I think in part to prove that I can. We've talked for years about visiting the San Francisco area. A driving trip to Idaho, for Silverwood, isn't out of the question, but for some reason I feel guilty about taking my family long distances to go to amusement parks. We're also fairly certain that there will be a trip for the holidays back east.
Some of the planning and wants are influenced by our experiences last year. We hated LA, but admittedly the few hours on the beach in Malibu were awesome. Our driving trip to Portland and down the coast wasn't bad, except for the rain, so spring isn't an ideal travel time. Our Cleveland/Sandusky/Toledo trip was nice in terms of getting to see people, but all of the running around made it less than fun. The Holiday World trip was actually awesome in terms of seeing our friends. Actually, I think our best trip was to Orlando (technically this year), because Simon was surprisingly good for it. It's getting harder now that he's so big.
What I don't want to do is end up in a period of time where we travel less because of Simon. I really want him to come along with us and be used to travel. With him being mobile now, that game has certainly changed. The thought of him on our laps for four hours is horrifying. If airfare wasn't so awful, I'd be totally OK with buying him a seat and putting his car seat on it (he does seem good in the car for an hour or two at a time), but not at $500 a trip.
I'm probably making it more of a problem than it is, and I'm not sure why. God knows we had no idea what the hell we were doing when Simon raked in about 17,000 airline miles before he was one (no joke... the kid was a veteran). It's not just wanting Simon to be comfortable, but I want us to be comfortable as well. A screaming and flailing kid in a confined space isn't something I want to experience.
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