Family Vacation

Does anyone else find family vacations to usually end up more stressful than any vacation ever should be? Is it just me?

My family actually gets along pretty well at home. There are rarely confrontations and harmony is the presiding notion o'er the land. However, there's just something that clicks the second we get into the car to drive off to the "relaxing" time away. Inexplicably a trip to the beach will end with everyone pissed off riding home in silence because of one thing or another. So, with my four hours of free time (due to the aforementioned silence) I tried to figure out why a predominately happy family can just suddenly become of group of, for lack of a better word, haters.

My first thought was the change in mood was just an outpouring of stress that had been slowly building since our last vacation. But, that couldn't have been the reason seeing as everything had been harmonious up to the point. There had been no slow build up of angst. Next I figured it was the brevity of the trip. With two working professionals and two kids both having full time jobs, the most we could get away for was three days. But I don't think that was it, I mean it was our only vacation and we were savoring it.

I've deduced that it all came down to expectations. Everyone expected our vacation to be centered around something different. My sixteen year old sister wanted to spend all day everyday shopping, my mom wanted the family to sit around and play cards together, the old man just wanted to sit on the beach for three consecutive days, and I just wanted to find a bar that served the "not quite 21" community's needs. When everyone started pulling their separate ways, it all just started falling apart. We didn't spend enough time on the beach or do enough shopping and I was far to sober for my own liking.

I guess this trip is just a microcosm of daily life in our society. For some reason or another people don't make their expectations clear. Either they don't know what they want, or they're scared to be labeled as "pushy" or "self-centered." I think that one of the most selfless things that you can do is put your expectations out there for the world to see, and then, not be a complete dick when things go your way. At least then, there's no confusion.

Maybe its just me.