Have You Ever Dared Take Your Dream Vacation?

Who is going on vacation? Anyone you know? Are you going to visit family and friends? Has it been a long time since you visited? What memories do you hold of this place, this time? If you go on vacation, what time of year do you like to travel?
Do you have a story about a vacation you took? Who was it with? Where did you go? What time of year was it? Did you go on a holiday? Was this vacation in the past or a vacation you have always dreamed of taking? The month of July seems like a good time to travel. It’s summertime and the weather is usually nice. The kids are out of school and many family outings happen at this time of year. What do you like to do in the summertime and what have you dared to do?

Jess
Backpacking in the La Tierra Wilderness with Aliyn and Caden will be exciting. There could be some daring adventures on this trip. This summer I want to take my daughter to the Natural History Museum, the Explora Science Center, and the aquarium in Albuquerque. We also want to visit the sand dunes and Hooper pool. And check out some of the great music shows that are coming to Taos.

Hozier
I am going to visit my dad in California. He owns a brewery called The Brewing Layen. I will probably work for my dad when I am there. I wash dishes and bus the tables. Sometimes I get to try the new brews, straight from the tap. Working in the food industry is a great way to make friends. I want to get my learners permit from Drivers Ed and get some driving practice in on the back roads that might be daring.

Ana
Hawaii! I am in my home place there. I feel so good. The Land of the People. The water, the air quite similar to Taos except for the water and moisture. I was introduced to astrocartography there.

Astrocartography is a discipline of astrology known as relocation astrology. When we spend time in new places something awakens in us that was already there but may have been repressed or ignored. “The challenge comes from within, the energy to do so comes from without.” Traveling helps us evolve, it changes us. I like to vacation on the Big Island. Traditions are similar, with the healing power of Mother Earth. I would like to go again.

Oceania
My life is a vacation. I am retired. I worked for so many decades never going on a vacation, could not afford it. I have a tenant so I can afford it. I own a house here in New Mexico and a winter residence in Mexico. I love to go paddle boarding in the ocean. I sing all the songs I know by heart.

Josh
Back to childhood, eight years old, summer of 1985, thirty years ago this week. I went back to Nantucket Island 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. Nantucket is a 50-square mile island settled in 1659. Between1750 and 1840, the island was a major whaling port: the island is known for whaling, lighthouses, cobblestone Main Street and amazing fishing and scalloping in both Nantucket Sound and its oceanfront waters. I have this memory from the experience of the family traveling as a family unit where my brothers and I had no clue where we were going on this whim with my parents. It was a magical time. I can see the entire story. Nothing was planned out. We stayed at this little cottage. It was a rainy Sunday morning. We rode our bikes into town, which was a novelty, and went to the dairy section of the little grocery store. A hippie-looking man was watching me. He took a can of whipped cream from the case, shakes it up, and takes a swig. Then he puts it back. I was dumbfounded. What a daring crazy thing to do.
Melissa

We did not have a lot of money when we were young. We went to an orthodox Jewish dude ranch in upstate New York. It offered entertainment, horseback riding and crafts. At 12 years old, I met my first boyfriend. There were a lot of rules, only kosher food. Men and women swam separately. Women wore long dresses and covered their heads. It was the best vacation the family ever had. I loved riding a horse and learning something new. The culture was very foreign to us, we did not fit in, we did not understand.

Ray
What jumped to mind was the time my parents took my brothers and I skiing in Winter Park, Colorado. We had been on an occasional family ski trip, but never seen mountain skiing. We stayed at a small lodge and got to know some of the employees. I liked the idea of skiing on a regular basis with very little money. It influenced me to live in a ski town and I reached out to a number of ski areas. Taos Ski Valley seemed like a friendly place—15 years later, I am still here.