Family
Why This Type of Travel Can Be So Important
It can completely recharge your batteries.
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The first time my husband and I dropped off our toddler sons — now 30 and 32 — for an overnight with his parents so we could take a break, I felt like I was gone for a week. We checked into a bed and breakfast, ate a slow and splurging dinner at The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Virginia, and woke up early for a challenging hike. Both I — and my marriage — felt reinvigorated, and we were only gone for 24 hours!
You may think that scheduling a 24-hour escape or visit isn’t long enough to reboot yourself, but many mature women would disagree.
One 70-year-old friend who lives in Maryland recently had her two nieces from Chicago, both in their 30s, visit for 24 hours. She said it was “perfect,” as they used every minute to its absolute fullest. “We hit the ground running,” she adds. “We didn’t stop — I picked them up at the airport, we went to my favorite riverfront café for an early happy hour and we talked until midnight. Then we took a long morning walk, had a hearty brunch and sat outside on a sunny day and talked some more. There was no lapse in fun or conversation, from pick-up to drop-off at the gate — a lot can happen in one day.”
Twenty-four hours can also be all you need to recharge yourself when trials loom ahead. Three years ago, just before Christmas, Marie Leonard Olsen, 62, an attorney, author and podcaster in Washington, D.C., found out her stepfather had died. “I didn’t get along with [him], so I knew it was going to be a very hard situation. I had to find a way to hide my feelings and be loving and supportive to my mom during the funeral.”
She booked an overnight at a rural spa outside the city because she knew that meditating there and immersing herself in the natural beauty would help her “get off [her] usual hamster wheel and become more centered” before she faced the funeral and other extended family challenges. “I believe all of us should put on our oxygen mask first when we [have] to provide empathy and care for someone in a difficult situation,” says Olsen. “If we don't take care of ourselves, we're unable to be our best version for others.”
Similarly, Ellice Halpern, 64, an attorney and mediation specialist in Falls Church, Virginia, was facing steep challenges balancing her career and the needs of her three young children, who she had sole custody of after her divorce two decades ago. “I had never been away from them,” she says, and they didn’t have family nearby to help. She accepted her ex-husband’s unusual offer to “take the kids for an overnight,” and booked a last-minute flight to Charleston, rented a car and headed to The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
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“I thought, ‘Wow! I can actually read a book and go to the bathroom without being interrupted,’” says Halpern. She especially enjoyed the immersion in nature, live music at night and learning “the important skill” of eating alone. For her, it was “groundbreaking to do whatever I wanted every minute of those 24 hours in that beautiful place.” She went on to vacation there often with her children.
Sometimes it might take you a little longer to arrive at that perfect 24-hour experience, but the journey will be worth it. After her beloved mom died late in 2022, Joyce Antonio, 59, grieved for a year and then told herself, “Life goes by fast, and I want to make my birthdays memorable.”
Her Gen Z daughter was a big Taylor Swift fan, a “Swiftie,” so Antonio started looking for concert tickets so they could go together for her 58th birthday. Prices were exorbitant in the U.S., but were $100 in Singapore. Most people wouldn’t dream of flying to Singapore for a concert, but Antonio had worked for an airline for the last 30 years and gets free flights. She and her daughter flew to San Francisco and were standby for a flight to Singapore. Unfortunately, they didn’t get on the first one due to weight restrictions on the flight, so they spent 12 hours in the airport making Swiftie beaded bracelets.
“I was calling on my mom,” says Antonio. “Please let this work.” She made herself a necklace that said, “Today is my birthday.”
When they finally reached Singapore on her birthday, the concert was “freaking amazing,” she says. “It was electric. Everyone was so happy and dancing. It just blew my mind that in such a huge crowd there was only positive energy.” Antonio and her daughter flew back home the next morning. While she’s unsure she can top that adventure, she’s planning to take her daughter with her to Cappadocia, Turkey, to celebrate her 60th this year.
Chicago travel advisor Meako Payne calls such 24-hour jaunts “Ditch Days,” a nod to what we may have done during our high school days. So, take another look at that supposedly crowded calendar — a 24-hour window may be your entrance into some serious self-care or a memorable adventure of a lifetime.
After a winter season heavy with snow and deadlines, I can’t wait to make my next 24-hour, action-packed escape — maybe with my 27-year-old daughter, a girlfriend or even solo.
A morning hike in Shenandoah National Park followed by an afternoon and evening strolling the charming foodie haven of Sperryville, Virginia? Or a morning spent kayaking in and out of the coves along the Chesapeake Bay’s many wildlife-rich waterways followed by an afternoon of shopping and wine sipping in historic Lewes, Delaware?
We all have 24 hours to spare and that’s often all it takes for that head-to-toe feeling of regeneration and connection. Looking ahead, I’m excited to pass this spontaneity skill on through the generations as future-me whisks my two-year-old granddaughter off for a quick, immersive trip anywhere we choose.
Amy Brecount White writes about travel — both quick and longer jaunts — and preserving the environment for National Geographic Travel, AAA publications, Sierra magazine, Virginia Living and many more.
What's a great last-minute vacation that you've taken? Let us know in the comments below.
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