Happiest Travel Memories
By: Colleen Lanin, The Travel MamaApril 18th, 2010
I was asked to share a few of my happiest travel memories to coincide with Lay’s potato chips’ Happiness Exhibit, a campaign that showcases the moments of simple happiness that people treasure most. Share one of your happiest travel memories in the comments below for a chance to win a $200 gift card to Southwest Airlines, provided by Lay’s potato chips!
Happiness is Family
When we travel with family, the focus isn’t on work, school, and never-ending to-do lists. Family vacations allow us to spend quality time with people we love, live more fully in the present moment, take notice of our surroundings, and enjoy life. This must be why my daughter often cries at the end of a vacation, “But I don’t wanna go home!”
And, it must be why so many of my happiest childhood memories took place while on a family vacation…swimming in indoor hotel pools with the gleeful calls of “Marco! Polo!” echoing against the walls…playing 20 questions in the backseat of our spitfire orange station wagon…or knowing I was safe on Disney’s Haunted Mansion ride because my dad told me my green Mickey Mouse ears would protect me. I am pictured above at age four (sporting my magical green mouse ears) with my brother and Pluto at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Happiness is Getting Away from it All
One of the happiest moments of any trip for me is after I arrive at my destination and I realize, “Hey, I’m on vacation!” Here I am pictured with my son, Leo, with my hometown San Diego in the background on a Carnival Cruise to Mexico. A sweet thing about a cruise is, the minute you step onboard, your vacation starts!
Happiness is Being Together
Since my two siblings and I live in three different states and we each have families of our own, it is a very rare occasion when we, our children, and our parents are all able to meet in one place. We made a point to get together in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a few days of family fun in the sun before my brother, a naval officer, was deployed to Iraq for six months.
While it was thrilling to swim with dolphins in The Bahamas and to climb a waterfall in Jamaica, most of my happiest travel memories take place when doing simple things with people I love. By far my favorite memory of this trip was simply splashing around in one of the hotel’s pools with the whole family.
In total, there were fourteen family members who went on this multi-generation vacation. From left to right, pictured above are my niece Siobhan, husband Phil, nephew Trevor, and sister Karen hamming it up at the pool at Solmar Resort.
Happiness is Relaxation
It is a happy moment indeed when children successfully take a nap while on vacation! This is especially true when such a nap takes place poolside at a beautiful resort, allowing for a mid-day snooze or dip in the pool for the Travel Mama and Travel Daddy! Here’s a photo of my daughter, Karissa, asleep in her stroller at the Kauai Marriott Resort in Kauai, Hawaii.
Happiness is Dreaming
I spent a lot of time visualizing taking my baby to Disneyland to distract myself from contractions during a very, very, very long labor with my firstborn. I couldn’t think of a happier place to be. It is, after all, The Happiest Place on Earth!
So, for my daughter’s first birthday rather than throwing her a birthday party, we took a three-day trip to Disneyland. Did the trip live up to my expectations? I think this picture of Karissa clapping with joy on her inaugural Disney ride aboard Dumbo’s back says it all!
Happiness is Simple
The message of the Lay’s potato chips’ Happiness Exhibit is that the happiest moments in our lives are truly the simple ones. From the online exhibit, select photos will be chosen to be featured on millions of Lay’s potato chip bags. You can submit photos that showcase simple, happy moments to Lays.com. Submitting photos on the Lay’s site does not affect your chance of winning the Happiest Travel Memories Contest on TravelMamas.com but it sure would be fun to see your photo on a bag of Lay’s potato chips!
Happiest Travel Memories Contest Sponsored by Lay’s Potato Chips
I shared just a few of my happiest travel memories with you. Now it’s your turn! Leave a comment below describing one of your happiest travel memories for a chance to win a $200 Southwest Airlines gift card. Lay’s potato chips will provide the prize to the winner.
This contest ends at 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time on Saturday, May 1, 2010. The winner will be selected at random using Random.org and will be notified by email. If no response is received within one week, the first winner will forfeit the prize and another entrant will be selected. THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. To find out who won and to read my favorite entries, read Thanks for Sharing the Memories.
You can enter a maximum of four times, using each method of entry once. The first option is required for entry. For each bonus entry, you must add an additional, separate comment to this blog post.
• REQUIRED ENTRY: Leave a comment below about your happiest travel memory. Please be specific! General comments like, “I love to travel” or “I have many happy travel memories” will be disqualified.
• BONUS ENTRY: Follow @TravelMamas on Twitter and tweet this contest. Be sure to add a link to your tweet below! Copy and paste the following phrase into Twitter:
Share a happy travel memory on @TravelMamas to WIN $200 for AIRLINE TIX from Lay’s potato chips http://bit.ly/arRHw7 #giveaway
• BONUS ENTRY: Become a Fan of Travel Mamas on Facebook. Then submit a comment like the one below, filling in the blanks, on the Travel Mamas Fan Page wall. Be sure to come back here and repeat the phrase in a separate comment on this blog post!
If I win the Happiest Travel Memories Contest on TravelMamas.com I will go to ___________ because _______________.
• BONUS ENTRY: Become a Travel Mama to receive bimonthly e-newsletter updates. If you already receive the e-newsletter, that counts! Just be sure to make a comment below saying that you are on the distribution list!
You might also like:
• Beach Day in Zihuatanejo, Mexico
• Carnival Cruise Line’s Onboard Activities for Kids
• 10 Best Family-Friendly Hotel Pools in the World
• Top 10 Disneyland Rides and Attractions for Babies and Toddlers
Tags: cabo san lucas, California, Cruise, disney world, disneyland, Florida, hawaii, kauai, lay's potato chips' happiness exhibit, Mexico, multi-generation vacation, pool, San Diego, vacation naps
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Going to Sahara and riding the camel with my son.
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One of my greatest vacation memories happened many years ago. My grandparents took my sister and I to Disneyworld, and we stayed in their 5th wheel camper in a nice RV park outside of Orlando. We had a fun time, many memorable events, and had a few laughs as well. Now my grandfather is suffering from Alzheimer’s and not himself any longer, and my grandmother has to work to support herself, as well as to afford for him to be in full time care. I think that makes my memories from that vacation all the more special.
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My boyfriend and I once took a spur of the moment drive up Highway 1 on the California Coast; we drove to the Muir woods and spent all day. It was marvelous and romantic and lovely.
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My favorite travel would have to be the high school trip I took with my best friends and favorite teacher to southern Italy and Sicily. It was really a two-week dream exploring the ruins of Rome, the romance and charm of smaller cities like Sorrento, browsing in shops and meeting the locals, throwing a coin in the Trevi fountain, being awed by the Coliseum, and, at the end of each day, reflecting on our adventure over amazing food (and wine, my first time drinking it!). So far that experience has not been matched, but I am returning to Europe in a few weeks to go to Paris, so that might change!
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I fanned you on facebook – Geoff K – and I posted the following on your wall: will go to San Francisco because I want to visit my best friend and roommate from college and experience the sights and sounds of a city I always wanted to visit!
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My happiest travel memory was when I took my kids to the Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards, they were very excited!
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I became your fan on facebook and I posted what I would do if I won…
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The time we went to Sea World, was very neat and it was a hot day so the water events were a welcome sight
My happiest travel memory was the first time I ever flew. I was leaving PA to go to basic training in MO and I was so scared to fly. The minute we took off I knew I loved flying
I follow on Twitter @pittsy82 and tweeted http://twitter.com/pittsy82/status/13221016355
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If I win the Happiest Travel Memories Contest on TravelMamas.com I will go to PA because I live in WA and haven’t seen my family in 5 years :/
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Thanks for the giveaway… my best travel memory was a college road trip to the Rose Bowl from AZ which involved flat tire(s), speeding tickets, football tickets being sucked out of the car window while on route & combing the desert for said tickets, lost wallet, and finally car keys being locked in the car by my girlfriend…it was a great trip !!!
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My favorite travel memory is when I wa 16 and my Dad closed down his business for the summer and we traveled across country and to Canada from Oregon with a van and a travel trailer! I didn’t want to go, of course, because I was 16 and didn’t want to be seen with my parents but now I cherish that memory! <3
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My happiest memory was going to Disney World when I was a kid. 20 hours in a car is a long time for a kid, especially on the way to an exciting place, but it taught me patience and how to entertain oneself that I believe carries with us when older.
my happiest travel memory is visiting the Arcadia Valley in southeastern Missouri, and viewing the St. Francois Mountains. There are also history tours and lovely Inns and local shops.
My favorite family vacation memory was in 2004; all the family was together, and it was the last vacation my mother, who has Alzheimers, was still “herself”.
My happiest travel memory was taking the Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Vancouver to Calgary with my husband on our honeymoon!
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My favorite travel memory is from March of this year. We have been trying for two years running to get the two oldest to Rome (where their heritage is), but our oldest is in the military and both vacations just didn’t work out. So, instead of just cancelling the trip, we decided instead to take the 17-yr. old to Prague in the Czech Republic. What a surprisingly wonderful trip. The city was so full of youth and fun, and wonderful, wonderful buildings. My favorite moment from the trip was the moment our son stepped out of the airport to get in the car waiting for us. He was mesmerized like a little boy at how different it was from home. I loved that moment.
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My happiest travel memory is the first trip my husband and I took to Maui to celebrate our anniversary. We both fell in love with the island because of it’s breathtaking scenery and laid back attitude. It was the first truly relaxing vacation we took together.
I remember travelling with my folks after having a year without a vacation. We went south and stopped at my Grandma’s house with all the other relatives. Big reunion, and lots of kids (and uncles) to play with.
My happiest travel memory was going on a cruise with my mom for my 13th birthday!
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My happiest travel memory was spending 3 weeks in Italy, getting a glimpse of historical monuments, learning about the culture, and sampling the incredible food. It was culminated by a trip to Mt. Etna just a few weeks after it erupted so it was still smoking.
Happiest travel memories are those times we could get up and go to Grandmother’s house. She lives many miles away now! Family time has never been more important.
My sister and I went on a trip by ourselves two years ago to San Francisco. It was fun traveling together as adults and discovering a city neither one of us had been to before. This year we’re going to NYC together.
My favorite memory is when my husband and I took a road trip from Washington State to Kentucky. We took 9 days and just stopped to sight see anytime we wanted. We had no schedules and it was wonderful.
My first vacation as a single mom was going to Yosemite for a week. I took my 5 children and we loved it so much we ended up staying 2 weeks instead of just one.
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I’m a fan on Facebook and posted this – If I win the Happiest Travel Memories Contest on TravelMamas.com I will go to Washington, DC because it’s a city I love and haven’t had a chance to visit in many years.
My favorite travel memory was a cruise that my fiance surprised me with for my 23rd birthday. We had been together at the time about 9 months and it really gave us a chance to get away from life and spend more time getting to know each other. Definitely worth it and fun!
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Going to mount rushmore with our kids was amazing. I hope to do it again soon.
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If I win the Happiest Travel Memories Contest on TravelMamas.com I will go to Chicago, IL, because I would love to surprise my fiance with tickets to one of his favorite teams – Bears, White Sox or Blackhawks. Any of them will do, I’m sure
Plus it will give me a chance to see his hometown and where he grew up. I’ve never been.
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One of my happiest travel memories was the trip we took to Universal Studios in California when our daugter was young. It was her first trip. She had so much fun.