Last year I read a lot of blog posts about what summer means to you. I was struggling to figure out what summer meant to me, and (believe or not) a draft of this post has been sitting on my virtual desk for a year.
When I was young, we had a summer formula that included a month at the seaside (this place where I went back with my son as well) followed by a couple of weeks of European travel (which I hated at the time, but came to appreciate later in life). Summer meant sun kissed cheeks. Going to bed smelling of sunscreen. Your clothes smelling is sunscreen. Playing cards after lunch. Drinking ice tea. Waiting for pizza fresh from the oven at 4 pm. Being bored in the car (because, you know, there were no iPad of sorts back then). My mom checking the Michelin guide for a nice restaurant to eat at while on the road (Italians and food...)
Once I moved away from Italy, summer became a different kind of travel. There was first my fieldwork research in Africa, then there were travels back to Italy to see my family and friends. Now our summers are completely about traveling with kids. Summer means major packing exercises. Messed up sleeping schedules. Surrendering parenting schemes when visiting relatives (and, more often than not, getting upset about it).
This year is no exception, and if you follow me on Instagram you know that we arrived yesterday in Vancouver. With that, and the fact that summer arrived so late, this is why I treasured the few days of staycation that we spent in Montreal in the past weeks. This is what our Canadian summer means. Eating al fresco on our deck. Attending my son's soccer games. Playing in the sprinklers in the garden. BBQ-ing. Hanging around our local park.
This year I cannot complain though. I always want to come to Vancouver, and my husband's conference has given us a unique opportunity. Plus afterwards we are off to... well, let me keep the surprise until Friday.
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