My Dad and I went to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier National parks this summer. Despite these parks’ stunning beauty, some of my favorite moments were driving to them.
This was because for the first time since I’d graduated college, I spent multiple hours with my Dad and nothing else. There was no TV to distract us, our phones didn’t have service, and there were no pressing chores to pull us away from each other.
The result was 15+ wide ranging conversations about my Dad’s experiences attending and graduating college, to what he thought when he’d had kids, and even forward looking musings on my career and the modern world.
Looking back, this lives up to my high school teacher’s advice that “the journey is more important the destination”.
But why? And how can I repeat this more often?
I’m still trying to deconstruct how to repeat moments like these, but a few things I’m going to try out are
- Spend long periods of time together – it’s hard to have a 2 hour conversation about what to do with your life during a 1 hour dinner.
- Be in a relaxing space – The open road is peaceful almost to the point of boring. Wherever I spend time together, my preferred places are outside our normal homes or workplaces so we’re able to step away from stress and open ourselves up.
- Silence all distractions – phones, TVs, and computers are wonderful, but they constantly pull us out of the moment. The more we can just be with other people, the more space opens up for connections between us.