Creative Commons photo by Tracy Lee Carroll. Source: Flickr
Hola, blog followers!
This blog transmission comes to you live from Hampton Beach, New Hampshire instead of my native Syracuse.
Yes, that’s right, I’m on the annual family summer vacation. In fact, I’m typing this on my smartphone because of the sketchy internet access here (yes, I know, #firstworldproblems indeed).
Every year since I was about nine years old, my family has rented a beach house for a week on the coast of New Hampshire. For my mom, it brings back memories of beachgoing with high school friends — she grew up in this area. As for my brother and I, we have made memories of our own here.
The interesting part of a traditional annual vacation is how striking your own growth can be — it’s strange that I’m starting college this fall. During my first week at the beach, I spent my time thinking about the adventures that I was going to have in middle school. The fact that we’ve been vacationing here forever is finally sinking in.
This year, for the first time, we had to change the dates of this annual excursion. Normally, it happens at the end of August, a “back-to-school sendoff” if you will. But this year, pre-orientation (FUP!) would have been a conflict. I decided that spending my last summer with my family was a priority: they’ve been my friends since day one, and this is one family tradition that I really value.
The thing that I love about this vacation is that it gives me time for self-improvement. I have read two entire books in the four days we’ve been away. The ocean offers a true sense of tranquility and inspiration to me. Before college and its accompanying madness, I want to enjoy the peace.
More than anything else, I want to enjoy my last moments before I officially become a college student. My brother grabbed my hand and took me outside for a fireworks show tonight, guilt-tripping me by claiming that they would be my last fireworks at Hampton Beach with the family. At first, I started to get sentimental, believing him. But as the fireworks burst into flaming flowers in the night sky, something told me that this trip wouldn’t be my last.
