What encouraged me this week (and other happenings too)
In person I'm pretty happy go lucky, but I need encouragement too and it found me this week. Today I'm sharing about easy ways to support each other and some great opportunities for activism!
I just took a week off of social media and it was fascinating. I chaperoned a sleep-away trip for our oldest and then chaperoned a field trip for wrapping up beach volleyball at school. It was a week of living actual life and only reading the news once a day. True, I felt completely out of the loop, but also I feel a bit better taking in much less information continually. Below you’ll see what the point of staying off Insta and Facebook was, but in the meantime, it also had a nice detox effect for me.
Since I’m never sure what everyone is interested is hearing about, today I’m sharing some encouragement that found me this week, a little about our sleep-away school trip and some upcoming opportunities for activism. BUT FIRST… despite being gone most of the week I actually got to publish a few things! Here’s what’s new and what’s coming soon:
2TravelDads.com - All about seeing CHICAGO on Broadway… with kids, cuz it’s not necessarily a kid-friendly show. It’s the scoop and just what to expect and who it may be good for. And coming this week I’ve got a great plan for doing an Adults-only Florida Keys trip, including suggestions for where to stay, activities w/o kids and cool cocktail spots.
TheKeysExplored.com - First we’ve got the scoop and the PERFECT Casa Morada Adults-only resort on Islamorada (the most relaxing stay I’ve had in the Keys), and then there’s some fresh tips for doing a Florida Keys boat rental and then all the things to do at the iconic Robbie’s of Islamorada. Coming this week I’ll have some more cool things to do on Marathon and in Key West.
MyAlohaTrip.com - We’ve got all the details for hiking the Kalalau Trail on Kauai, which is perhaps the most famous hike in all of Hawaii as it’s the NaPali Coast hike… but there are some difficult restrictions to deal with if it’s on your bucket list… This week I aim to have a 5 day Maui and 5 day Kauai itinerary live to share.
MyAlaskaTrip.com - I didn’t get to publish anything new because I was off galivanting with the kids’ school, but hopefully I’ll have an article about the Alaska Railroad and some more Fairbanks hotel recommendations to share. Stay tuned!
I don’t know who else that reads my newsletter gets to work in a creative field, but I have to say that I really enjoy taking time at the end of each week to look back and see what I’ve created and accomplished. It really does help drive me forward.
Surprise Encouragement that Made My Day
I love working on my websites because I love writing and photography, and the benefit of getting to go to cool places with my family is always a win. What really makes me happy though is when somebody sends me a message or leaves a comment on one of my articles about something I wrote being helpful or a thankyou for guiding them to a great experience. Usually these are notes from strangers, but I love it just the same.
Yesterday’s mail brought me the best encouragement I’ve had in a long time. A great friend sent me a postcard from Kauai telling me about her incredible trip and thanking me for writing about Hawaii in such depth. It absolutely made my day that this project I do alone in my office has directly benefited somebody I care about. The point of sharing this isn’t to toot my own horn but something bigger: GIVE PEOPLE ENCOURAGEMENT AND POSITIVE FEEDBACK WHEN THEY’VE ADDED SOMETHING GOOD TO YOUR LIFE.
I’m going to make an effort to do this more, because so often I let the moment slip by when somebody’s made a difference in my day or work. Being told that the work you’re doing or the little things you do here and there is doing something good in someone else’s life, it’s very encouraging. Things that may seem like they are just going off into the void when you do them are actually landing more often than we all know, so let’s all actively try to support each other in our ventures, interactions and each time we are made better by somebody else. :)
What I learned from Chaperoning the 8th Grade Sleep-away Trip
Last week Oliver and I were gone for three days while we got to do our school’s 8th Grade trip. This was the first time we’ve had a school overnight adventure and it was really fun. It was great getting the kids and a lot of parents out into the wild together, doing things that aren’t either a part of everyday life or school. I enjoyed spending time with the kids before they all head off to high school next year, and also getting to know some of the parents better was awesome. Parenting is hard and every day when you send your kid to school, you’re unsure of their interactions and influences, so being with everyone and hanging out for three days together was wonderful insight.
I wasn’t sure how it would all go at first though, as I’ve only interacted with these kids and parents in a limited capacity on school grounds or on short field trips. For our 8th Grade trip we went to Cow Camp at Lake Kissimmee State Park, we stayed on a ranch, did airboat safaris and archery, and kayaked with alligators. There were some first time experiences for a lot of people, kids and adults alike. Being up close with wildlife, being out on the water in nature, it was different for everyone. Here’s what I took away from it all:
Everyone is different (duh) in ways that you don’t know until you take time to get to know somebody - this is a big blanket statement about just not even knowing what’s just below most people’s surface.
What seems normal to one person is completely nerve-wracking or scary to somebody else - I had to show a lot of grace and receive a lot of grace continually; example being that some people don’t get stress and anxiety from information overload or being needed a lot (I do get overwhelmed with this)
Kids are both a product of their home and a person they are building themselves - every day my kiddos and everyone else’s are being taught and influenced by innumerable moments and people and they come out on the other side taking skills, emotions and behaviors from both.
Alligators aren’t for everyone.
None of this is really all that surprising, but at the same time I think we all get wrapped up in our own worlds and viewpoints and it can be difficult to remember how everyone’s lives are very different. I am so glad we all got to have this trip together and I think it was a great way to wrap up the 8th Grade year.
Suggestions for Being Heard in the USA
As I mentioned, I just took a week off from social media and it was interesting. The purpose of taking a week of socials was to be a part of an organized blackout from Facebook and Instagram trying to get Zuck to take note and not be a douchey billionaire, but logging in this morning and seeing all of my friends that didn’t participate despite this being widely shared and planned well in advance… I doubt it did any good. Boycotts are only effective if participation is huge. Social media was too important for a lot of people, clearly, and how anyone didn’t see that this was an organized protest, I don’t know.
Since that was too difficult for a lot of people or they just didn’t see the value, there are more opportunities coming up to make our voices heard. Today marked the end of another weeklong Amazon boycott, and hopefully another one with a planned Prime mass-cancellation will come with it. Here are some more events that are on the boycott schedule:
Walmart: May 20-26 - should be avoiding anyways
Target: June 3-9 - I didn’t know people were still shopping at Target after they became some of the first to kowtow to the regime.
McDonald's: June 24-30 - should be easy enough for most people…
Independence Day boycott: July 4 - this one is a bigger idea of actively NOT spending money on ‘Merica stuff and avoiding any corporate goods purchases for July 4th gatherings. Yes, that means spending money like any other day or NOT spending money at all leading up to it so major grocery and retailers see the boycott reflected in their numbers.
Remember, download the Goods Unite Us app for your phone so you can see what companies are supporting with their donations and such. That’s a good way to be informed and be heard through your spending.
Upcoming Activism Opportunities
If you’re interested in taking part in things within your community or city, Mobilize.us is a great resource for finding events and organizations that align with your values. From large marches to communities doing good in groups, you can find lots of ways to participate. Next month is a big planned day: JUNE 14 - No Kings Mass Protest.
This is a great chance to be a part of the large numbers who show up in small towns and big cities, making their voices heard and painting a visible picture of how many people are actively being a force of resistance. It can be difficult to feel like you have a community of like minded people sometimes, and doing a broadly organized event like this is a great way to be heard and see you’re not alone.
Even in our super red areas in the South there are tons of organized protests for this event. Locally, Palm Coast (uber red Flagler County FL) and Brunswick GA (remember Ahmaud Arbery?) are just two of the events planned for June 14th. There’s also The Villages, Savannah, Ocala, Gainesville, Tallahassee and so many more. I encourage you to check out the No Kings link above and find an event you can participate in.
I always have more to share, and I actually initially wrote a bunch more, but I figure I can spread that over to next week’s newsletter. May and June are some of the busiest months for us (and a lot of parents) so hopefully we’ll keep our energy up and be ready to enjoy the summer with the kids before Oliver starts high school in August and Elliott begins 5th grade too. OMG.
Thank you for following along and tuning into what’s happening in our world. I appreciate people reading and sharing my writing, especially when it comes to travel stuff. Have a great week, stay healthy and safe, and I’ll be back to you next Sunday!