A rest day

Tonight is our second night at lake Como. We were parked in some unofficial camping spot in a vineyard – that is, unofficial because the camping owner wanted to make a few extra bucks, not us illegally camping between someone’s vines. We would of course never do such a thing… Well maybe we would. On a cycling trip. If we were really tired. (I miss cycling trips.)

I also miss my action-packed style of holidays. We would never have an empty day in our itinerary. There’s only limited time, and wherever I go, the fomo kicks in. So we have to make the most of our time, and do everything. As a result, we usually return home more physically exhausted than when we left. Isn’t a vacation about mental reset anyway? I always return mentally free…

It seems that we don’t have much of a choice these days. Our itinerary is limited by the kids, and we’re still figuring out what works and what doesn’t. When Rafa was born, most things were still possible, so we were taking mountain bikes when he was eight weeks old. That all went great until there was a second one. We simply thought, two parents to carry two kids, great. Action-packed vacation here we come.

Today, we spent the morning in a ramshackle beach bar 200m from our campsite. It had a playground for kids and good espresso. Apparently that was enough to fill the morning. After lunch, Rafa slept in the stroller. A big win. Lara slept in the carrier. Sort of what you expect of a baby. This allowed us to take a 4km or so roundtrip through the town center, including a mandatory espresso stop. By the time Rafa woke up, we went back to the lake front, where we sat and drank more espresso from the same beach bar.

This was absolutely the most boring day ever. But it worked. Heike and I even got to have a conversation that wasn’t about kids. It felt so good that we decided to stay another night. Tomorrow we repeat the program in the other direction along the lake shore (and hope for an espresso bar somewhere).

Action packed vacations will return when we’re old. For now, we will accept it for what it is and will simply return home physically and mentally exhausted.