As my daughters started school this year, I started thinking about what it was like when I was kid. Things were different. We had a TV where you had to walk to the screen, and turn the knob to change channels. Sometimes the channels were just black and white fuzz. Sitting through commercials was still torture. I remember when we had a Beta and a VHS VCR, that’s a video cassette recorder for you young people. Back in the day Beta and VHS were two different video recording formats. Beta was the superior format, but VHS won out because they had better price points for consumers.
Wow, I’m rambling like an older person.
Well, back then we didn’t even have Facebook, so if you moved frequently, like I did, you had to write letters and wait days, perhaps weeks for a return letter from your friend. This is why I love Facebook, and all things social media. I thoroughly enjoy seeing my friends enjoying their lives, and keeping up “virtually” with all the good my friends do in their daily lives and for those around them. My friends inspire me.
Life is busy, and with Facebook, and tools like it, texting, face-time, etc. help us modern pioneers adapt, stay-in-touch and manage many things in our lives. Sadly, that can also handicap us slightly, by eschewing the personal for the digital. That’s where Choice Hotels wants to help us change that. The truth is, there’s still nothing like the face-to-face contact that can be replaced. If you have the choice, choosing to spend time in person with the people you care about, and who care about you, is precious.
This summer my family had the pleasure of spending two months in the Boston/East Coast area, due to my husband’s job. During that time I was able to connect with friends from my high school and college days, some of whom I haven’t seen in twenty years.
You know what’s great about seeing friends in person? It feels like no time has passed, and yet we’ve all grown into ourselves. All those silly things we worried about when we were teens, and young adults, don’t matter, and instead you find how settled and grounded we’ve grown to be. It just makes me ridiculously happy, and grateful.
I’ve very fortunate to have friends, such that when I’m in their company, I wish time would stop so I could just stay a while. They each have such positive energy, and interesting minds, and beautiful hearts.
This is why I’m so excited to connect with some friends I haven’t seen in person in long time, at a Choice Hotels. These are friends from my middle school and early high school days. I’m extremely grateful for how technology has kept us in touch with each other, and helping us plan our epic adventure.
We’ve found a weekend where we’ll get to hang out like we never did when we were underage, young kids who relied on rides from parents. Thanks to Choice Hotels we’re headed to the Napa Winery Inn, and I will be their designated driver, and documentarian. I can’t wait to tell you about the shenanigans, thirty-year old moms can get into.
Which friends or family would you love to spend a weekend with?
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Choice Hotels. The opinions and text are all mine.
//
Stephanie Porter
Aloha! I'm a food lover, joyful mother, travel addict, irreverent friend, hip-shaking dancer, car radio-singer, make-out lover, and writer. Love to travel? Join me. Cheers!
