Be a tourist in your own city over the holidays
School’s out and I was able to take a bit of time off work too. An acquaintance of mine asked how I celebrate Christmas and if a tree and gifts were part of that tradition with my daughter. Affirmative on the tree; less so on gifts. Our original plan was to fly to a sunny beach, but this year, everything fell apart. With no travel being planned in the near term, I decided to spend the Christmas week playing tourist in our own city with my daughter! We did a similar thing last time we had long weekend. Here’s how it worked for us.
I pulled out a map of the city and ask my daughter to throw a quarter on it! Then we’ll draw a circle around wherever the coin landed and we’ll explore that neighborhood for a day. It was that simple! There were some ground rules, though. If the coin landed in water, she’d have a re-throw. We both have one veto each to invoke a re-throw for any reason. In effect, it was a great way to explore, at random, the city we live in. Even in areas we frequented, it would give us an opportunity to discover restaurants, stores or landmarks we have overlooked.
Between the obligatory holiday meals and Christmas movies, we wound up visiting two spots on our map throws. The first was a park neither of us has been to and we discovered swans and geese next to docked boats. We took a few pictures and while the crowds were sparse, we saw other people feeding birds and one flying a drone. I even spoke to him and may have discovered a potential hobby for myself! The experience was literally a walk in the park, and as easy as that, too!
I pulled out a map of the city and ask my daughter to throw a quarter on it! Then we’ll draw a circle around wherever the coin landed and we’ll explore that neighborhood for a day. It was that simple! So without spending any more than a few bucks in gas money, we found ordinary things to do and made them feel extraordinary….especially when the coin landed on the airport!
The other and more exciting excursion was when the coin landed on the airport! Really! Initially we were going to re-throw and then I thought, let’s stick to it and drive as close to the runway as possible so we can watch the planes land as they descend above us. It was the most fun we’ve had in a while! We made up stories about each plane’s point of origin and who the passengers were. We even saw a couple of planes caught up in crosswinds. But after few touchdowns we got sick of the exhaust fumes as we were literally behind the plane’s plumes. Truly we witnessed firsthand how much pollution those planes put out!
So without spending any more than a few bucks in gas money, we found ordinary things to do and made them feel extraordinary. My daughter was just happy to hang out and this girl-dad couldn’t be happier. We’ve never been a family that exchanged Christmas presents and instead prefer to give experiences. It takes a little bit of creativity but every moment is unique and years from now, we will remember each of them, including the immensity of the airborne vehicle as it descended and the noxious fumes that assaulted our noses. “Does it always smell like a bunch of trucks?” she asked. That’s a lot of pollution in the atmosphere, I confirmed. And this actually got my daughter to think!
In the future, maybe we’ll throw a dart at the country map and plan a summer vacation. In time, it would be exciting to have the opportunity and wherewithal to throw a dart at the world map! I mentioned this to my daughter and her eyes beamed. “But what happens if the dart lands in the ocean?” I guess we’ll have to take a cruise, I lit up!
