Recently I took a trip riding with my cousin from her summer lake cottage in Illinois allllll the way down to sunshiney Palm Springs Florida where she resides for the winter. There was three of us making this trek in Bonnie’s spacious SUV; Bonnie, myself, and her faithful furry companion and road warrior, Cylde the dog. Yes. You got that? Bonnie and Clyde.

We took our sweet time getting there. Instead of a mad MUST-GET-THERE-NOW-NO-STOPPING-TO-EVEN-PEE-WE-ARE-MAKING-THIS TRIP-IN-UNDER-A-DAY type of thinking we had a “We’re getting there. We are stopping to see things. We are stopping to stretch legs. But we will still get there. When. We. Get. There.”

It was a little more structured than that. We planned our voyage around staying with some cousins along the way. Cousins I hadn’t seen in EONS. It was nice to talk with them, see what they had been up to, and get to know them better.

Sandy and Bonnie. Technically cousins but their relationship is like that of sisters.

Jim and Sandy. Such a love story between these two. Inspiring people.

The only method of entertainment Bonnie and I relied on during the trek was chit chat. We covered a range of subjects from politics to family matters to personal stories to simple life observations. We had spent time together in the past but nothing like this. It was special, interesting, and simply a hoot.

If you knew Bonnie, you could confirm that hanging with her is a hoot. I fancy myself hoot worthy as well. So it was two hoots in a car all the way to Florida. How fun is that?!

The hoot-ness continued when we arrived at her retirement community at Imperial Wilderness. I stayed for five days inside of a gated mobile home village of roughly 500 retired snowbirds, the age range started at 55 and went up. Sidebar: I wanted to live here. I swear the majority of the residents of this place were more active than some of my 30-something friends. So please lose those silly ideas of turning “old.”

This trip served the purposes I had set out for it.

1. Spend time with family. Learn more about them. Hear some stories. Laugh and hug. Nourish my roots.
2. Take a time away from my desk, from working, from mulling over business things and hit the reset button. Especially now that wedding season has subsided, I wanted to step away from my routine and from my “usual day” so that I could return to with rested eyes and mind.

Hey other photography business people! (And really this could be applied to any business peep!)

Do this!!

I know it seems like taking a break and leaving is HARD  (and trust me, Bonnie noticed how much I kept looking at notifications on my phone. So I didn’t have a total disconnect.) HOWEVER I do believe that stepping away from things, taking a look at your life from a different “spot,” changing your routine for a just a few days, will help improve your focus when you return to that “regular” life.

Photo pun, intended.