Vacation Inspired Stories

Vacations can be great content for storytelling. Memories of trips past are one of my go-to sources for telling non-fiction family stories. You can also use the fun and novel surroundings as a Spark for Inspired stories told while on the trip.

Both types of stories serve as souvenirs that cost nothing and take up no luggage space.

Last summer our family vacationed at a lake house in New Hampshire. Besides swimming, kayaking, and board games, there weren’t a whole lot of activities to keep the kids busy. It was a remote location that had few attractions and amusements. By the morning of the second day, to occupy themselves, the kids were making up competitions (and subsequent arguments) about who was doing a better job at fishing, rowing, etc.

That afternoon as my two youngest sons were napping, my oldest asked to watch TV. I didn’t want him to spend his afternoon indoors when we were surrounded by so much natural beauty. I convinced him to go outside with me and snuggle in an Adirondack chair next to the lake.

After a few moments of relaxing he asked for a story. I didn’t have anything ready so I quickly looked around for inspiration. My eyes went up to the sky and I caught sight of a group of dragonflies doing acrobatics above our heads… a Spark! I went on to tell him a story about three dragonfly brothers named Swoop, Dive, and Flap. Based on that morning’s sibling competitions and drawing on the myth of Icarus, the story unfolded as one where the three dragonfly brothers kept trying to see who could fly highest. Two of them dropped out of the competition at reasonable altitudes but the third just wouldn’t quit and ended up with his wings scorched by the sun. As he fell back to earth, his brothers saved him.

That night, my oldest son wanted to recount for his younger brothers the story of the dragonflies. Then the rest of the trip we made up more stories about the three dragonfly brothers. This group of characters ended up being the main keepsake that we brought home from that week. We didn’t continue this as a regular running series of Inspired stories past that vacation week. However, there are times that during other stories, my sons will prompt me to make the dragonfly brothers reappear and interact with the newer characters we have created. It is a lasting memory for my sons of that New Hampshire lake vacation.

It was a free souvenir that didn’t even take up any luggage space on the return trip.