Trips to see family are, for me, a time when I speed up rather than slow down. I have a lot of relatives I want to see and do things with and for. These relatives live as far as three hours away from my home base, which is my sister’s house. And at this point in family life and history, a bunch of my relatives are of an age where a) I come to them rather than them coming to me; and b) our visits include/consist of my helping them with tasks.

None of this is a problem. It’s life, and I am privileged to be able to travel and help and enjoy their company. Plus, I have lately gotten a fair amount of family swag, the results of relatives downsizing and cleaning out (no one in my family would consider calling this “death cleaning”, even though I’ve mentioned the lovely book that Samantha read and blogged about here). I am, in the interests of paying attention to my own management of stuff, working on the “one in/one out” method, which is going more or less well.

So, what kinds of cross-training have I been doing? Here’s a short list.

Home organizing/clearing out: my mother’s house is a constant battle zone for clutter. She is that person who keeps salad dressing jars and lids “just in case”. Sigh. Every time we visit, we go through drawers and cabinets to clear out expired and unused stuff. We tend to tag team: one of us will talk with my mom about something hopefully interesting while the other (generally my sister) will grab a black contractor bag and rapidly sweep things into the bag.

Personal shopping: my mom doesn’t drive anymore, so trips to the pharmacy and grocery and hardware stores are a regular part of visits. Some things can be delivered, but my mother likes doing the shopping herself and in person, so we go from place to place, armed with lists.

Packing and moving household items: in addition to the constant attention to managing my mom’s shifting household inventory, my sister and I helped my aunt Cathy, who is downsizing from a four-bedroom house to a two-bedroom house. She has a lot of breakable antique doodads– art and pottery and rugs and misc items– which require careful packing and moving. I’m happy to report that a three-foot-tall painting of a moose was successfully moved and placed over the electrical panel in her new hallway.

Efficient personal inventory management: I never stay in one place for long while I’m visiting, so I have to be nimble, with quick turnaround as I move from place to place. I’ve gotten good at literally compartmentalizing my stuff and making sure I keep things together in their compartments and putting everything back at the end of each day. It takes mental effort, but pays off in terms of the security of always knowing where my toothbrush is.

Nutrition and exercise and mindfulness practice: thank goodness for my meditation app, which I use every morning when I wake up, regardless of where that happens to be. I also carry my large and gaily stickered Hydroflask everywhere with me. Exercise is sometimes catch-as-catch-can, but I do get to swim and walk and dog-walk with family, which is fun.

Driver/navigator/tour guide: on this trip, my sister and I logged more than 1000 miles of car travel, zooming to and from various family locations. She prefers driving, so I come up with interesting (read rural) routes, keep us on track (we go through many places where cell signal is nowhere to be found) and offer commentary to entertain my mom or others in the car. Reducing cartime crabbiness is an important job, and I do my best.

Now that I am back home, I can resume my regular schedule of nutrition and physical activity and mindfulness and life tasks. However, I’m taking today off. After being away for more than a week, I need a mini-vacation!

It’s not easy to find a few days in which four twenty-somethings, a hard-working public health epidemiology nurse, and a college professor/aunt/sister living 1000 miles away can all get together for some beachy relaxation, meals and general watery merriment.

But, we all managed to make the time. My sister, her kids and selected others (friends, sweeties, etc.) have been gathering on the South Carolina coast since her kids were born. In fact, my sister and I enjoyed the same summer ritual with our family from the time we were born.

These vacations for me mean mellow family activity– swimming, walking, cycling (although the weather didn’t cooperate this trip), and occasionally kayaking. Also game playing, movie watching, and good meals, snacks, beverages and treats. Hanging out at the beach with people I love is my favorite thing of all, and I am the most relaxed and well-rested for the year.

So, what did we do this year? TLDR: swim (beach and pool), eat yummy coastal meals, stroll on beachs and by marshes, and sample soft serve ice cream, and play arcade games (yes, they still have skeeball and space invaders). Need proof? No problem.

We listened to a Stevie-Nicks-Janis-Joplin homage singer at this marsh-front bar.

We had dinner at a place called The Claw House, then strolled along the boardwalk. This party boat was coming back from a loud and possible queasiness-inducing voyage. You can see some people were very eager to disembark.

Honestly, I would have much preferred to have a party on this boat, which was also resting by the time we strolled by.

These guys were playing 90s rock to a partly appreciative audience. I was among those appreciating it.

One evening, we went to a local place for dinner, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

And what family beach trip would be complete without some time at the arcade?

I’m still on vacation, so more fun will be had. But I had to share some of the ongoing fun with all of you.

Dear Readers, how are you spending your leisure time this summer? I’m always up for more frivolity suggestions.