I recently turned 25 and set a goal that this will be the year I will reclaim everything I was too shy or insecure to do as a kid. I’ll expand on this idea more in the coming weeks, but this week I must share one of my most epic endeavors: using my newfound adult autonomy to take full advantage of and live out my childhood vacation fantasies on my family trip to Colorado. This article will contain my stories and reflections on how I took my teen vacation bucket list and turned it into a reality for my adult self.
Background
When I was little, my parents would take my sister and me to Breckenridge, CO for one week every summer. On these trips, my parents loved to create a packed itinerary with non-stop activities and places to be, so I never got to exercise any sort of freedom on this trip. Our most recent summer in Breck was nine years ago, when I was 16. I remember thinking that that trip would be my chance to finally get some independence in a new location and live out my teen vacation dreams, but alas, it was just more highly programmed days with my family.
While I was still delusional about the trip to come though, I had been journaling about what would be the perfect vacation and created a summer vacay bucket list. This year, for our first summer back as a family, I decided I would take that bucket list and make everything happen for me and reflect on how I’ve changed and how I stayed the same.
Without further ado, here is my teen vacation bucket list, and how it all played out as an adult:
1. Bringing along a best friend for family vacation
Did it hold up: YES
Growing up, I was always jealous of my friends who got to bring their besties on their family vacations. This year, for the first time ever, I got this chance. I invited one of my college best friends, Kathryn, to join us in the cabin for a few days. She flew in mid-week to join my family and fit right into everything we had planned.
Having her there was better than I could have imagined. It was an overdue reunion for us since we had gone nearly two years since we last saw each other in person. That type of separation gives two friends unlimited conversation topics. The third party also kept the family a little more chill as we inevitably started getting annoyed with each other near the end of the week.
The highlight of this was when we both committed to the bit and played mermaids in the pool. Since we are both adults, the world building got really interesting, but in classic mermaids fashion, there was no gameplay because we spent too long talking about the colors on our tails and our powers to actually play any game.
I definitely missed out having a childhood vacation with a best friend, but friends are forever, and I’ve got plenty of trips ahead of me with all of my besties.
2. Vacation boyfriend
Did it hold up: NO
Movies and TV really led my childhood self to believe that if I just had some alone time on a vacation, I would have a meet-cute with the best-looking guy in the USA and we’d stay in touch forever. At the time of this vacation, I was about a month post-situationship-breakup and decided I would go after that coveted vacation fling.
Obviously, no meet-cute happened, so I made an executive decision to commit to this blog post and make a bumble account to try to meet people. I met up with a guy for drinks and he was cool and interesting, but I realized that I’m probably just not built for a vacation fling. I’m far too serious as an adult person to participate in any kind of short-term or casual fling, and I’m not delusional enough to think long-distance would be a real option if I did meet the perfect man. I had a fun night and one strong margarita, but I might have actually just preferred playing a board game with my mom and sister.
I don’t think I missed out on anything major by never having a vacation boyfriend. I definitely prefer cherishing the memories I made with my family to having some random guy on snapchat.
3. Drink with parents / get away with drinking
Did it hold up: NO
I’m not certain if this was a universal experience for us as kids, but I always wanted to either drink with my parents or get away with drinking without them knowing on vacation.
This will be short and sweet because two things were very clear: I don’t particularly enjoy drinking at 25, and my parents always know. By mid-week I really got on my mocktail grind. I slammed at least a dozen shirley temples by the end of the trip.
I didn’t miss out on anything here. I’ll save the drinks for the beach.
4. Sitting alone in the park writing/reading
Did it hold up: YES
Sitting alone in public and doing something artsy is one of the most romantic things I can do for myself. The mix of the sun, the ambient sound of people, the act of engaging in something creative, and the knowledge that I am being perceived by tons of strangers is my personal recipe for peace. It is something I do all the time in my adulthood to honor the fantasy of unbothered alone time I had as a kid.
Although I do this constantly at home in Kansas, being in the mountains on a cool summer day made it hit just a little different. Doing this on day one actually inspired this very blog post. There was no rush for me, no work to stress about, and a unique view of mountains. If you’re not romanticizing the small and slow things in 2024, then what are you doing?
Conclusion
I have no regrets trying out all of these things I wanted as a kid, but I realized that I wasn’t missing out as much as I thought. My biggest takeaway is something I should have already known: experiencing things and creating memories with my friends and family is the highest form of rest and relaxation to me. Now that I’m older I can use my autonomy to take the alone time I need in the most romantic and refreshing way, but I’ll always prefer to be sober and chilling with my people.