Sometimes it takes traveling 600 plus miles away from home to be closer with the ones that you live with there. That is exactly what happened when my family decided to take a weeks vacation over spring break to Orlando, Florida, to escape the harsh and bitter cold winter of Minnesota. My brothers and I were estatic when our parents announced we were going to the sunny state, and even more estatic the morning we woke up ready to leave for the trip. We packed the suburban full of clothes, shoes, blankets, pillows, road games, books, electronics, our dog Schmitty, and of course, a cooler full of food. The trip lasted 26 hours.
Through Atlanta, Chattanooga, small towns and farm fields, we adored and shared the sights that we had never seen before. At times, the awe-inspiring feelings would leave, and the verbal and sometimes physical fights would begin over space, who should hold Schmitty in his lap, how stupid the other brother looked, how one cheated in the alphabet game, and they would drag on and on. However, we learned to deal with each other, listen to each other, compliment each other more than we usually do due to our competitve drive that is found in our genes, and survive each other for the 26 hour journey in a 30 square foot space.
When we arrived in Orlando, the bonding continued. We always were enjoying each others company, not worrying about a set scheduale, or when we needed to get to practice or to our games. The beaches were sandy and sunny, the ocean was cool and vast, and the food tasted of perfection every night that was spent on the peninsula. On the way back, after the fun was concluded and the money was almost gone, I found myself closer to my family. Not through the mini golf, or the silky sand of the beaches, but through the little things. The things that really brought me closer to my family, which consisted of basic interaction, converstion, and time spent together. That did not cost money, but it did take a break from my very filled schedule, a far journey from home, and a week in a foreign place to realize what I have at home.
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