I'm Leaving the Country in 5 Days

I don't think it hit me until my dad said something about having to go through customs. How on earth did this trip sneak up on me? My parents asked me to go on this *cue dramatic music* "last family vacation as just the 4 of us before your sister gets married" all the way back in January. I was reluctant to agree. My vacation time is precious and spending 5 days in a condo arguing with my parents and sibling isn't exactly my idea of a good time. In the end though, the promise of a completely free trip to Aruba where I could sit on the beach and potentially reclaim my inspiration as a photographer, was too tempting to pass up and I agreed to go.

I know in the end some parts of the trip will be worse than what I expect and some will be better, so I guess it all works out in the end. My parents and I have VERY different vacation styles. I like to relax and have completely unstructured days where I'm free to wander around aimlessly and finding my own sights and interests, my dad feels the need to schedule EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE of his time and drag us along with him. I've already prepared them for this battle, saying I will NOT be accompanying them on their excursions, but I know in the end I'll be bullied into at least some of them. Hopefully though I can find some time for myself, either in the resort gym, pool or beach. Hopefully my sister won't turn the entire week into a "quest to find a phone every 15 minutes" so she can call her fiance. Hopefully my parents will lay off me and not ask me 20 times when I'm going to get married or even have a date.

Hopefully my iPod batteries will last so I can tune them all out once the "hope" wears off.