17 days vacation to Switzerland and Austria in summer… the longest break ever taken in adult life… and for the first time with no kids since they arrived (8 years ago)… and with a spouse, you have been with for 13 years…
When we (me or my wife) share this with people, almost always, the first reaction is wow… second honeymoon… that is so nice… very inspiring… so another baby on the way huh… nudge nudge, wink wink…
The reality is… that all of the above reactions are very true (except for another baby – please 2 is more than enough for us)… it was really nice… and should be inspiring… and it was like a honeymoon… anxieties, nervousness, curiosity, thrill, PDA… all did exist… but differently…
We were nervous – will the kids be ok with their grandparents for 3 long weeks… especially when the younger one is still a toddler… and will the grandparents too, survive the ordeal of managing two young and tiny but ferociously fighting dinosaurs in their home after decades?
We were anxious and curious… will we survive each other without kids keeping us distracted after such a long time… will we get bored… want to kill each other… or delight ourselves as a couple again, after so many years having the luxury of time to focus on each other only…
We were thrilled with the place we chose… there was so much to look forward too… the mountains, the lakes, the adventure activities, the history…
And so we went… packing up the kids to India with an encyclopedia of instructions to our helper and parents (who am sure were wondering, why the new teachers in the school were trying to coach the head master… but then these teachers knew the students better)…
And now we are back…
The kids are all healthy and happy… certificate of honor is due to the grandparents for having passed with flying colors… they too still miss the grandkids and are video calling every day… so apparently our little monsters haven’t exasperated them either… though I do know that they did end up spending a shit load of money to keep the kids entertained (to reduce our guilt, am telling myself that this all goes out of my inheritance… so stop feeling bad about that :)…
I and my wife are still together… sorry… still happily together… so the murdering each other did not happen… I had carried 1 unread and 1 partly read book in case I got bored… and I could not even finish the partly read book in the whole trip… so to the contrary, we weren’t bored of each other either… this is more of a testament to how much interesting my wife is – given she is that stereotypical Indian wife who between us generally has more to say than me… so she did keep me interested enough not to finish the book and I entertained her enough to ensure she spoke through out the trip (am pretty sure after reading this para, I will get some weeks of silent treatment from her… but what the heck… for you guys, will take the pains ;)…
We were enthralled by the natural beauty, the Victorian architecture, the absorbing history and the music and did thrill ourselves with paragliding, mountain bikes & toboggan ride that we indulged ourselves in…
Also, even after so many years of being married, we did find that the physical attraction for each other was not lost…
So what do we feel… Did we discover anything new about each other… not really… Did we enjoy ourselves to the hilt… totally… both of us loved the experience of being carefree after a long time… being able to move freely, not having to worry even on vacations… change plans at a snap of a finger… do adventure stuff together… you get the drift…
Did we miss our kids… yes… truly… every time we saw gardens and play areas, our heart wrenched… immediately picturing how much the love of our lives would have enjoyed there… every time we saw little kids and cute babies it reminded us of our kids… every morning we spoke to our kids, we felt a lump in our throat…
But every time we saw parents struggling – be it on buses, in flights, in trains, in hotels, in the mountains, at the lake… every which where… we realized how lucky we are this time :)…
Would we do it again… yes… but maybe not for 17 days… a week probably… will we wait for another decade to do this… no… probably do this every 2 to 4 years… make it a leap year affair maybe…
Would we recommend others to do it… yes… the feeling of guilt on days and at times will come and kids will be missed… but as a couple, I strongly feel one needs this time together… this kind of vacation… some may discover something new about each other… some like us, may not… but at the end of the day, to find that joys, the thrills, the delights, the fun, the pleasures, the ecstasy that one experienced as young and newly weds can still be experienced… makes you feel young again… makes you feel alive… even if that experiences are not like the raging jungle fires of before, but only like the warm fires of a snowy winter evening… that warmth will thaw your soul…
The second honeymoon… the third… fourth and many more… should be on… at least it will be for us!!!
Inside VG... 