How to Make New Memories by Revisiting Old Ones
My dad worked for an insurance company that also owned several holiday parks. As an employee, he could stay there at an employee price. So, every summer we went to one of these parks for two weeks. That was how we spent our summers. Later, some holiday homes were added to the mix, a sort of AirBnB avant-la-lettre. We enjoyed those, too.
After doing this for much of my youth, when time came to make my own travel choices, I avoided holiday parks, and if in any way possible crowds of Dutch people, as much as I could. The years of finding my own place in the world, my own path, my own identity were filled with beach vacations, road trips and the occasional far away destination.
Now that I have settled down and have kids of my own, I still have the urge to do anything I can to not give them the experiences I had, so that they can be their own wonderful people and not turn into copies of me. That’s important to me. That they can grow into their own identities. Next to that, I also want them to have fun and beautiful travel memories. Memories of going some place together as a family the enjoy the time together and the thrill of discovering new places.
That’s where I have to confront myself and my stubbornness. Even though my desire to make my own life is great, I also have fond memories of our family vacations. Memories that contributed to me shaping my adult self. Memories that are dear to me. That confrontation came with a realisation: retracing the steps I made in my childhood and hold fond memories of, can help our two children to grow into independent adults later on in life. It helped me. So why not them. By taking that away from them, I am shaping them. But then again, everything we do with them helps to shape them.
So, this summer, we revisited a place I went to as a kid. Only for a few days, but still. And in the decades in between, it had changed. So much that I did not really recognise it. We made memories. Together. Some that were refreshers of my past, like visiting Trier; others completely new, like horseback riding. Memories I hope the kids will cherish for a long time.
