I have four sisters. We have been raised by the same mom and dad until we left the home for our university education. However, we have totally different personalities. Surprisingly, when I met my husband, I was amazed that we had quite similar outlook on life, life style, and attitude towards life. Even though we were from different countries, and we had very different family lives, we got along very well. We also had to make several adjustments to make our life better together.
Last year, we took a two-week vacation to Asia. It took us almost a day to arrive to Singapore from Michigan. I lived in China before, and it was my dream to go back to see other Asian countries with my husband. Our trip started well, but when we traveled to Bali and Thailand, we felt tired of the locals’ attitude towards tourists. They were chasing us to sell things. There were so many motorcycles, and it was overly crowded by locals and young tourists. Needless to say, we couldn’t enjoy nature as much as we planned because of the traffic, motorcycles, and crowded people. Also, unfortunately, all the prices were set for the tourists, so we were disappointed to pay unfair prices for taxis, food and hotels. After our vacation, my husband told me that he couldn’t consider our trip as a vacation because he was more tired than before our trip. According to him, vacation means relaxing by the pool, reading and doing fun activities.
I knew we had different expectations from our vacations, but I never understood people who check in a hotel and spend the entire week there. However, I promised my husband that I would plan his type of vacation for the Thanksgiving break. So, we booked a hotel in Orlando, which had pools, tennis courts, walking paths, restaurants and a gym. Also, we did not rent a car to prevent us leaving the hotel. I had no idea how it would turn out. I was planning to relax and hoping that my husband would be happy with this vacation.
Little did I know how much we would enjoy our vacation. The hotel was located by the beautiful lake. We rented mountain bikes every morning for 1 hour. We enjoyed the pools even though it was cooler than I preferred. They had small hot tubs, so that helped us to feel better. We walked around, and we just enjoyed nature. Before this vacation, I could consider this type of vacation as boring; however, it was beautiful and pleasant. Before I took this vacation, I always wanted to go to new places and try to discover something new. It was a misconception that I was thinking what vacation should be. Before we took this vacation, I was thinking that I was doing a favor for my husband, but it taught me something new. I learned that I can enjoy quiet, calm, relaxing vacations, and I do not have to go across the world to consider it as a vacation.
Trying new things is always good, especially learning from each other without any judgement. Most would agree that we learn something new each day from each other, specifically from our partners. To make our life happier, we should have a positive approach to each other’s expectations. We never know; maybe, our way of doing things can be just a habit. When we try new things, we can have better experiences and see things differently. As James Russell Lowell states beautifully, “A wise man travels to discover himself.”
I’m a Project Manager with a deep passion for both professional and personal growth. Designing and building the next generation of vehicles is incredibly rewarding, but it comes with its challenges—especially for someone as emotionally invested as I am!