US being the keyword

In 2017, it’s hard to find days of simplicity. Our hours get caught up in kinks made from hectic patterns; school routines, work schedules, or the overly consuming extracurricular commitments.

For me, the 1970’s are something to revisit.

When I was the age my children are now, I would wake up and look forward to getting outside, exploring, seeing what adventure I had in store for my day – My ENTIRE Day! The only time I intended to go back home was to eat, and then again to meet curfew.

In the 70’s we didn’t have iPhones, iMacs, Wii, Xbox, PlayStation, Minecraft, digital cameras, Pokémon, remote control this, social media that. We had our imaginations, a backyard full of trees, a neighborhood swimming pool and all day.

I don’t remember having to meet a sport schedule, or needing to submit an application, including a down payment, for THE summer camp, months in advance. I can’t think of a time when I worried about fitting in, or out, or in between. All I was worried about was fitting my family, my siblings and my neighbors into my day.

My husband and I yearn for the good old 70’s. We don’t see these days anymore, not as often as we’d like. Something changed, free time changed, which changed the idea of simply, living.

[Enter Family US Road Trip 2016-2017]

We know family time with our kids is slipping away. Slipping away to extra curricular activities, friends, work, and well ‘the ‘screens’ that seem to be calling all of us like a hypnotic beacon. A lot of factors weighed into a cross-country road-trip, and it became easy for us to decide to take the opportunity to embrace - - the days of simplicity. We long for our kids to suspend themselves in all day creeking, hiking, fort-building, stone-throwing….and most importantly, simple life experiences with us. Experiences they will one day turn into stories they can share with their children.

Taking a road trip with our children this year was a mission to find us and then to put all we discovered about oursleves into action once we returned home. Too often we get lost in routine, schedules, work, school, things. In today’s world, we easily lose ourselves in all that society says we need to be or do to succeed. When it comes right down to it, the basics are what you need to succeed, to be interested, to be interesting; family, food and the great outdoors.

–The United States of US