An Essay On How I Spent My Summer Vacation

My summer of 2017 consisted of visiting places all over the United States such as New York City, Washington D.C., and Florida. Not only did traveling this summer teach me new things, but it also made me go outside my comfort zone and experience new things. This was single-handedly the best summer of my life and wish I could relive it over again.

“The best things in life are the people we love the places we’ve been…. And the memories we’ve made along the way.” by Unknown. 2017 started off terrible but then soon got better from a little help from God. My family found out we won a trip to Hawaii. My parents were deciding whether or not they should take us kids with, my brothers Chris was 18, Matt was 11, Nic was 8, and I was 15. Then my parents talked and the decided that it would be our last family vacation with just our family saying chris went to college the next year and probably will find a girlfriend. Hawaii I know made me look at life a different was saying everything that just happened to me.

We did a great mass of marvelous things. One of the most amazing things we saw was Hogwarts, the school from Harry Potter. We drove back to the Briscoes’ house and stayed there for about four more days. The fun was not over. The next day we went to Clam Pass Beach in Naples. You would not believe how incredibly soft that sand was! It felt like I was walking on marshmallows! As I watched the sun sink into the ocean I spoke to myself, “This is the best vacation ever.”

What I did this summer. That`s a good question to be honest, I did a lot of things that were considered fun for me, like shopping, hanging out with my family, hanging out with my friends, going to the beach, the water park and much more. But I will only break it down to two or three of my favorite things I did this Summer, so stick around to see what my favorite things about this Summer were.

My first trip to Disney World, now that, that was a memorable trip. That trip was one of the most magical and happiest memories of my life. It was back in 2008, I had just turned 6 years old a few months before we left to go there. It was summertime, and the weather was perfect. I remember being so bored on the way there because I am an only child so I didn’t have anyone to entertain me besides myself. My mom’s side of the family went on this trip with us, and at the time I was the only grandkid, and the only kid at all. So once we finally were almost there I remember passing the big ‘Welcome to Disney World” sign and being so excited I peed my pants--my mom was pretty mad, but my dad thought it was kinda funny so I didn’t get in too much trouble.

Unfortunately, for many parents and students, most children are now on summer break. Some parents and students may be relieved; knowing that summer typically means a time for vacation and family time. But for many low-income families, school can be about more than just learning and summer is far from fun.

Spring break is supposed to be a great time from the second it begins, until the second it ends. Now there is always that boring time it takes to get to wherever you may be going no matter how far that may be it is always the least fun of the entire vacation. My last spring break’s car ride happened to be the least fun by far of any trip I have taken up to this point in my life.

Summer of 2011. Sun is bright as ever, and the humidity starts roaring. It was 11 am in Orlando, Florida and I’m finally at so called “the happiest place in the world.” Disney World is the name. Once entering, balloons, parades, and screaming from the roller coaster hits you. I myself was with joy that my dreams have come true. Even the few souvenirs at the gift shop got me hyped.

As a child, I believed that I was invincible. Nothing stood in my way and if it did, I just tore the obstacle down from the source. Whether it was trees to climb, pools to jump in, or wild hair getting in my way; I always overcame them. There was point in my childhood though, I realized not everything was under my control and power. I didn’t receive everything I desired like I was believing. My childhood untainted mind was rocked with a new discovery and mindset. Of all places for this change to happen, it was on a family vacation to Disney World.

My first encounter with death took place when I was seven years old. I remember hearing my grandma over the phone talking to my mom and hearing that my great aunt Linda had passed away. At the time, I thought nothing about her death, I didn’t have the best relationship with her and it didn’t really hit me that she was dead. Everyone in my family seemed shocked because she had good health and had just passed away in her sleep. When I went to the wake, I remember reaching in and feeling her skin and thought how it didn’t really feel like normal skin. The most important thing I can recall is feeling that I felt like she wasn’t really dead that she was going to wake up.

It is a torrential, snowy day in late December in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Outside lies men in coats as thick as armor trying to plow away the snow as it falls. Their hands are numb and their efforts are proved useless in such long waves of endless snow. You are trying to navigate through the storm along the streets in a cold, metal car. Snowflakes pile on the windshield and block your view of the road. This does not seem like a lot of thrilling excitement! I know our family would better benefit from being elsewhere rather than being huddled up by a fire inside the house. I want our family to take a trip to Florida during winter break because our family could escape from cold weather, it would be another amazing place to bond as a family, and it would be an inexpensive trip if planned well.

Eating only liquids for a week was the worst thing. The pain and agony. Watching and smelling the solid foods that other people could eat was torture to me.

Summer brings excitement with it, but sometimes that excitement leaves one with a horrifying experience - the experience filled with the fear of losing a loved one made my summer worse.

It all started when I was on vacation with my family in 2015. We were going on a 7-day cruise to the Cayman Islands. We had to take an 8 hour drive to the docking destination which was located in Panama City . I remember this day like it was just yesterday . When we first got there, I noticed something very informative that just caught my attention off the rip that I just had to share with my family . There was a big sign saying , "Notice you must have two forms of identification(ID) to enter the boat at all times." I didn't say anything to anyone about what I had saw at the time, because we were just getting on the ship when everyone had all of their personal items such as I'd's to check in . I was saying to myself that I'll tell everyone at one time when we got everything together in our rooms and settled for dinner that same night.

The feel of the hot sun beating down on my forehead. The sound of people cheering and chatting. The taste of the delicious sample of fudge that I was just given from a small shop. I come across a huge billboard in bold blue letters. Where am I? I have just arrived in Branson, Missouri, where my family and I plan to have an amazing vacation away from home.