Yan and I certainly try to follow this sage advice. Though it was easier to do before we had kids, it is more rewarding to experience traveling with them, and see earth’s remarkable places through their eyes.
We spent Christmas this year (and the week following) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming – a place I’d never been before. It was beautiful and rugged, and everything I pictured Wyoming would be. We spent a day inside Yellowstone National Park, another in Grand Teton National Park, and another on the National Elk Reserve. They were all spectacular. But my favorite day, by far, was the day we went snowmobiling along the Greys River in the Bridger National Forest.
Cade and Ella alternately rode with either Yan, me or Yan’s sister, Tessa (Tessa Yi Yi as they call her), who accompanied us. I must say, though, riding with me must have been the highlight for the kids as I was the one more than delighted to meet their need for speed, consistently pushing my sled to 50 or 55 miles per hour (much to Yan’s horror). We rode about 30 miles into the wilderness before turning back and it was as remote as it was amazing. I’ll never forget it.
Before the holidays, we celebrated my joyful, determined, resilient, artistic, congenial daughter’s seventh trip around the sun. She eats up birthdays like the Cookie Monster devours Chips Ahoy, so we began the last third of December at full throttle.
Then after returning from Jackson Hole late on the night of January 30, we went to a couple of different New Year’s Eve parties the next day. It was special to close out 2016 and say hello to 2017 with so many good friends. It brought home the fact that Yan and I are close to numerous, outstanding people. I was really feeling the love for them as we hung out with each other while also sharing the evening with all our children. And no, my feelings of love were not alcohol induced just in case that’s what you’re thinking. I happened to be the designated driver in my family!
So, while traveling to new places is one of the true joys of living on this spectacular planet, it is really the people we share our experiences with which touch the heart. I hope you felt some of that, too, over the holidays. And I sincerely wish you the happiest of new years.
