Taking Time Off: A Day Trip with Manatees

Taking Time Off to Swim with Manatees

My husband and I decided to take time off work on Friday.   It has been a busy year for my family.  Both my husband and I are working full time.  My child  is in school full time.  Together, we keep up with one small business, a house, a yard, two websites, a blog, dance class, and two cats.

For the most part, my husband and I rarely have time to spend alone with one another.  When we are not at work, most of our free time is spent with our child or tending to one of the things listed above.  In the past year, we have gone to one movie and dinner alone.  This is pretty typical.

We decided to plan a day together visiting Crystal River, Florida, after I bought a Groupon for a boat trip to swim with manatees.  If you have never seen one, a manatee is a large sea mammal.  They can grow as big as 13 feet long and weigh up to 1,300 pounds.  Crystal River is a lovely place off the west coast of Florida with many clear fresh water springs where a number of manatees come to stay in the winter when the water in the ocean gets too cold.  Our plan was to take this trip a few weekends ago when my child was going to stay with her grandparents.  But then I got sick and we were not able to go.

Our Groupon was about to expire, so we decided to each take a day off work and go while my child was in school.  At some level, I felt guilty for doing this.  Here we were doing something interesting and potentially educational…without my child!  Also, I was using a valuable vacation day.  I felt that I should be traveling somewhere.  It was like I was skipping school.  But, swimming with manatees is not an experience appropriate for a preschool age child.  It required a boat ride, a wet suit, and snorkeling in cold deep water with large and unpredictable animals.

Swimming with the manatees was amazing.  They were slow moving, gentle creatures.  Most were not too interested in interacting with us and instead rested at the bottom of the river.  There were a few younger ones who were very curious and swam close to us.  It was a wonderful experience that reminded me that it is possible for us to do things without my child from time to time.  Also, for the first time in a long time, my husband and I spent 6 hours together.  We were able to talk in complete sentences without having to stop to get our child milk.   And we got to see something amazing in a peaceful setting by doing something healthy and active–snorkeling.  The experience allowed me to let go and forget about all the things I should  be doing–work, holiday shopping, cleaning my house, fixing my yard, scheduling things.  As a result, I felt less stress and more relaxed.

Have you ever taken a day off just to relax?  What did you do with your day?