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With spring break rapidly approaching, most families are beginning to make their spring break plans, whether that be traveling or staying home. For the past four years, my family has been a part of the latter group, so I’ve gotten used to usually having a staycation. To be honest,I used to enjoy staying home more than traveling just because I hated being forced to be around my family for an extended period of time, as terrible as it may sound. For some reason, we just always seemed to fight when we were together, so I was fine staying home and spending the entire break with my friends. 

However, as I’ve grown older, and especially as I’m experiencing my last months living full-time at home with my family before I go to college, I’ve grown to miss the quality time I used to spend with my family going away on vacations. I’ve also come to realize that a big part of the reason why I always thought we were fighting when we were together was because I always found a reason to argue, even if it was over something small. But with these realizations, I see now that while I used to want to spend all my time with my friends, the only thing I want to do now is spend time with my family. 

At the risk of sounding excessively sentimental, family vacations truly are some of the best ways to bring a family closer together. When you go on vacation, you’re taken away from all the issues at home that may have caused you to argue with your family in the first place. Even if you bring those issues with you when you travel, sometimes new scenery is just what you need to start rebuilding your relationship. Often on family vacations, your family as a whole will have new experiences that will not only make you love each other more, but also will spark a friendship among you. This is because when you’re doing new activities with the people you love, it makes you realize how happy you are that they are there with you at that moment. Furthermore, traveling takes you away from all the obligations you may have been tied to at home. Since there are no deadlines or commitments to worry about, it gives so much more time to just enjoy being in the moment with those that you are closest to.

Now that I have grown older I’ve realized that most of the time your family members are the ones who will always love you for who you are, and it’s important to cherish this love before it’s gone. With that being said, I hope everyone can experience the magic of family vacations and the lasting memories that are created with the people you love the most.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Kris Otten at [email protected].