VACATION

5/23/2011

It’s the last week of school!
Time to think about summer VACATION!!
No, I’m not taking a break from writing my blog posts.
But today’s post is about what I do on vacation…how I relax, unwind, and recharge my creativity!

Dan and I love traveling. We also love adventure and history. We love experiencing other cultures, and we actually do not mind getting lost. We are the kind of travelers who need a vacation after our vacation – though I intentionally schedule work immediately after vacation to shoo away any post-vacation-blues.

Our vacations are usually very physical, always involving a lot of walking, sometimes even climbing mountains (or biking down mountains!), and occasionally ice-climbing, sea-kayaking, and spelunking! We’ve gone white-water rafting down Colorado’s Royal Gorge, hiked 10-miles to get up-close to Laughton Glacier in Alaska, and would love to visit Machu Pichu one day! We've been fortunate enough to experience new places and new cultures.

Here are a few pics of some our favorite vacation memories so far:

What kind of vacations do you take to relax, unwind, and revitalize?

Have an inspiring and creative week!
Mary

32 Comments

Tricia link

5/22/2011 09:14:43 pm

I smiled when I read that you need a vacation after your vacation. My husband and I are definitely the same way! We don't even call them vacations any more, we call it "traveling."

Our 10-yr anniversary is approaching and we decided to book a cruise so that we couldn't travel, we could only vacation. =)

Mary C. Nasser link

5/22/2011 09:36:59 pm

Hi, Tricia.

Congratulations on your upcoming 10-year anniversary! That is wonderful!

Glad my post made you smile. Love your idea of calling it "traveling" rather than vacations! :)

Best,
Mary

Jane link

5/22/2011 10:49:01 pm

Hi Mary,
It's so nice to 'meet' you, and thanks for being a follower. I enjoyed seeing pics of your travels-you and Dan are very adventurous!

Alessandra @ Tribal Times link

5/22/2011 11:42:40 pm

Congrats on your 10 years! My hubby took me to Thailand for ours and it was amazing. We did NOT do the backpackers trip - it was pure pampering which was easy to do there.

Beth link

5/23/2011 12:15:22 am

Those look like so much fun!

For me, I like a vacation that offers some new experiences (whether it's close to home or not) and a nice portion of time to relax and recharge. My hubby and I are also both big fans of finding new favorite restaurants :)

Cynthia Schelzig link

5/23/2011 01:24:15 am

We like vacations that are active. No laying around on the beach all day or anything like that kind of vacations.
We can lay around and do nothing all we want at home,,,when we go to a new place we explore and enjoy interacting with the "natives" and getting a lasting impression of where we have been. I take my watercolors along and try to sketch as much as possible too. That makes my memories extra special. Have some fun time off.........

Erin link

5/23/2011 04:36:34 am

Wow Mary! You've been on some awesome vacations :)

I've always wanted to visit Greece - one day! :)

I studied in Italy in undergrad and my mom and aunt came over to visit me for a week. We went to Pompeii and it was just the most incredible experience - to think that thousands of years ago, someone was walking right where I was walking - I wonder what they were thinking about, or doing, or their emotions at the time.

Crazy.

Great post!

lynda Howells link

5/23/2011 04:55:02 am

Love your thoughtsx I love vacations with my husband (now the children have grown and flown the nest!) where we have days of just chilling out and other days looking at "cultural' places and Art galleries and just sight seeing!xxx

Shelley (EvenAndy) link

5/23/2011 05:20:23 am

I love vacations too! I also feel like I need another one when I come home too.

Scrollwork link

5/23/2011 06:37:27 am

Mary, I'm envious that you're so photogenic! You never have to cringe over vacation photos ; )

The hubby and I fortunately want the same things from our vacations: a nice balance between adventure and slacking off. The answer for us has been cruising. It's great to just pack once, see multiple destinations, yet never have to check in and out of hotel rooms or stand in airport lines. Plus, the food is lavish, the entertainment superb, and the staff is solicitous. We're sooo looking forward to a cruise in the fall to celebrate our 25th annivesary.

Mari link

5/23/2011 08:14:07 am

Love travel time with my husband and our kids, and we are like you, we do a lot of moving around during our travels. Hiking, climbing, canoeing, camping and biking and travels by planes, trains and automobiles : ) I love exploring new places, trying new things out (culture, food, museums, music...). This year we will have our 20th anniversary and DH has something neat planned for us, cant wait!!! Thank you for your comments and being a follower in my blog, always a treat to read what people write. I looked at your map art (I love using text, old pages and maps in mixed media and other art). it very good what you have made, the colours are great. Whats Etsy blogger team?? You have a very interesting blog, I have to keep reading more : )

Cheers,

Mari

Sher link

5/23/2011 12:27:39 pm

Sounds like the perfect vacations to me! I would love to work for the schools because we love to travel as well. Unfortunately, it's close to impossible to get more than a couple days off in a row at my job.

Enjoy your summer!

Peggy link

5/23/2011 08:50:47 pm

Hi Mary ! Great pictures ! You must be exhausted by now. I am a new follower :o)
And thank you for your super nice comment on my "Manon" post.

Paula link

5/23/2011 11:18:54 pm

Hi Mary-LOVE your blog and I am now a follower. It's been awhile since I posted but I will remedy this soon. Your Greece photos are beautiful and I am drooling over your work as well as Armelle's ( I have a secret aerial view obsession)
xopaula

Diana Evans link

5/24/2011 12:34:12 am

oh what a wonderful collection of photos!!!! so great to meet you!!!

Brenda Robinson link

5/24/2011 12:50:02 am

Thanks for visiting my blog, and following. I will look around your beautiful blog while I am here.
I will follow. Have a wonderful day!! Brenda Robinson

Audra Jones link

5/24/2011 01:13:17 am

What adventures! Haven't been too many places but did go on a cruise last year to Mexico and always think about it when I need to mentally get away. :) Hope to travel to Italy one day. Also love the history! And thanks for visiting my Wordless Wednesday blog post!

Janine link

5/24/2011 01:14:54 am

Thank you for visiting and following my blog. Yours look terrific! Have to go back and browse!

Renee Troy link

5/24/2011 02:04:49 am

Hi Mary,
I am so impressed with all the fabulous places you and your husband have visited. Your art explores adventure as well. Very interesting and different. You certainly have a wonderfully unique style.

Lorna Roberts link

5/24/2011 02:51:20 am

Love the photos! I love a complete change of scenery. A literal geographical change. Doesn't have to be far- a day at the beach is as good as a trip abroad. Although China's being planned for sometime next year...

heathernoye link

5/24/2011 05:28:35 am

Hi Mary

Thanks for your comments on my blog. I just looked at yours and know I'll be a regular reader!!! I only made it thru the first few posts and I love it!

So your question? Best vacation we had was renting a house with our best friends one block from the ocean in St. Augustine Florida. Beautiful town, beautiful beach, wonderful friends and lots of time for painting and relaxing.

Victoria link

5/24/2011 05:40:06 am

Wow! So many exciting destinations. I have a feeling my boyfriend and I will be like that too - we love active holidays... on our last trip we went surfing and scuba diving, which was awesome! For now we're poor students and can't afford to travel anywhere very far, but when we do our top destinations include Japan, Brazil, Greece, Scotland, the Galapagos... so many places!!

Sung-Hee (Regina) Hong link

5/24/2011 05:56:16 am

Hi, Mary !
Thanks so much for coming by my blog and for your lovely comment !! =)
I'll look around this very interesting place now and explore !
Lovely to meet you ! xoxo

DJ link

5/24/2011 07:21:48 am

Had to visit since you left such a nice comment on my blog; so glad to meet another art educator.
Your travels are truly inspiring, yet tiring, since I have almost two weeks left of high school students. :-) But I'm impressed with your energy, so enjoy your summer and let us know how it goes!
Love & Laughter,
DJ

Cheryl link

5/24/2011 08:39:35 am

Mary, thanks for visiting my blog. I'm here to visit you and I see you have a fascination with maps. I do too!!! I have a large collection. Would you consider sending me a street map of Chacago? That is where you are, correct? I like your painting a week goal.

Christine link

5/25/2011 03:59:41 am

HI Mary- Thank you for stopping by. I was reading through your blog and thought you might like to hook up with a blog I follow http://www.quiltsbyvalerie.com/cartographic-constructions/

this talented lady quilts using maps as her inspiration. I became a follower of yours on facebook- I didn't see a place to follow through the blog? Anyhow- Great work, I am your newest fan!

T. Stone link

5/25/2011 02:33:07 pm

Thanks for stopping by and becoming a follower!
Love viewing these adventurous photos. :-)

Coleen link

5/25/2011 05:29:29 pm

Mary, thanks for following on my blog. I"m following here now too. I like your paintings. I also like using maps. Just haven't in a long time so I'm inspired to get some out. If you ever want a foreign map from this part of the world let me know, I'll send you one.

Coleen in Ukraine
www.vintageterrace2.blogspot.com

Kel link

5/26/2011 11:57:00 am

G'day Mary
looks like you've travelled far and wide
living as we do in Australia, the cost of airfares alone to get anywhere is quite a hurdle, but we just had our first white xmas in Canada
what a blast, skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, eating poutine and beaver tails

doing something different is key to a real holiday for us

happy travels :)

Carrie link

5/27/2011 06:18:02 am

Hi Mary, Looks like you have taken some fantastic trips besides the one to my blog. :) Thanks for stopping in.

cynthia padilla link

6/1/2011 01:52:12 am

To my fellow educators, here's a vacation fabulous annual one I can personally endorse:

Fun Stuff for Teachers. Yoga, Folk Art, Mayan Culture and More ... http://www.artguat.org/coursemisc.html

Art Workshops in Guatemala provides a total travel package. Our price includes not only tuition, but also lodging in lovely colonial style hotels, a hearty breakfast, ground transportation (yes, we'll meet you at the airport) and some pretty interesting cultural experiences.

Kate Drew-Wilkinson link

8/27/2011 01:54:12 pm

There are so many trips to take and I have done my share, but the most relaxing was last year, going from NY to Southampton on the QM2.. I think one of the things that made it so regenerating was not only the rite of passage of crossing the Atlantic but also that I could not use my telephone or computer and the amazing diversity of fellow travelers.. I loved it so much I came back on the QM2 at the end of the summer...