The Best Kind of Vacation

What is the best kind of vacation? A friend and I were discussing that recently. He had just gotten back from a beach vacation with his wife where they relaxed all week. Laura and I had just gotten back from a Florida vacation where we relaxed all week. We were discussing how nice our vacations were.

This photo pretty much sums up our trip to Florida last week. Just the two of us. Going some places. Seeing some stuff. Not having an itinerary. And basically just having fun no matter what we did. Each day we would get up, go to the pool until either rain or lunchtime hunger drove us away, and then spend the afternoon doing random things.

It was the perfect vacation.

At this particular time, we were spending our afternoon wandering around Walt Disney World, walking from the Polynesian Village Resort (visible at the right) to the Grand Floridian Resort (visible at the left). Our path took us right by Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, and since there was nothing going on there at the time, we stopped for a quick photo. After all, it was just two days after our 24th wedding anniversary, which we were celebrating in our own way for the whole week that we were there. We did not get married there, because this pavilion was not built way back in the dark ages when we got married. Besides that, we were happy with a wedding closer to home that would be attended by more friends and family than would be able to make the trip to Florida. But we still thought it would be fun to take a lovey-dovey photo there, since it was a place for weddings and all.

Other days found us visiting Disney Springs and a couple of Florida State Parks, or just lounging on the condo couch during a rather lengthy rain storm. We had considered a day trip over to Cocoa Beach, but the rain forecast each day made us decide it wasn’t worth it, especially since we had just been there last month. No big plans, no big goals, no big decisions to be made.

Once, as we were watching TV in the condo, the Disney Channel was showing a promo for the new Pandora additions at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I commented on how that was actually just one mile (as the crow flies) from where we were sitting, and pointed out the slight irony that we had no plans to go over there. And we were happy with that.

It was the perfect vacation. Or was it? Remember that just over a month ago we were on a delightful, fun-filled Disney Cruise with friends and family.

And that cruise seemed like the perfect vacation.

But it was much different than this more recent vacation, because on the cruise we had all sorts of things that we wanted to do, several things we wanted to see, many decisions to make.

So which one is more of the perfect vacation? Not to take the easy way out of that question, but for us, the answer is both. Is that a contradiction? Not really.

For us, the perfect vacation is one that we have enjoyed ourselves on. One that when it is almost time to go home, we don’t want it to end. One in which we, for the most part, forget about everything at home that is waiting for us when we get back. One where we enjoy being together while doing whatever it is that we happen to be doing.

By that definition, we have had many perfect vacations. Each one is different in its own way, but each one is perfect. Just a different kind of perfect.

Because who says there can only be one kind of perfect, anyway?

In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. - Ephesians 5:28

About the Photo

During this trip, we took several selfie-style photos similar to this one. We had taken a few during our cruise trip, and they have been relatively popular in the different social media things. Besides, while it is good to see places of where we have been, it is also nice (for us, at least) to see photos of us in those places. Since we don’t have a photographer following us around all of the time, this is the next best thing. So don’t be surprised if you see a few more photos like this from our recent trips, and perhaps from whatever future trips we may take as well. And if you don’t like those, just click along to the next post until you see something you do like.

For this type of photo, the fisheye lens works really well, in my opinion. It is wide enough to see where we are, as well as to see us, too. Sometimes finding just the right angle takes a few tries, since this camera does not have a view screen on the front of it, but that’s okay. It is always fun to have good memories from the trips you take.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: July 19, 2017
Location: Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, Walt Disney World, Florida