b"Are We There Yet?A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. What are you waiting for?BY TAMARA STECKLERSummer is a lovely time to travel to Martha's Vineyardno plane ride required.A sourdailyall enters ourformulating the ultimate getaway. Tohelp,Everything from deciding the best routinesbe- time to travel, considering work and comeroteschoolschedules,navigatingticket andourand hotel sites, and figuring out what mindswan- you want to do once you arrive, can dertosome- make planning a trip akin to visiting thingmorethe dentist for a root canal.exciting than the monotony of day-to-day living, itsseasonedtravelerssuggestbeginning inevitable that getting away from itThen panic sets in as the specifics of what, where,your planning at least eight weeks in advance, to en-consciousness. Sometimes its a spa afternoon or justandwhentaketurnsbatteringyouralreadyex- sure cost savings and allow for sufficient time to re-a staycation for a day or two (warning: not possiblehausted mind. You slowly back away from the lap- search. Maplewood resident Judy Rubashkin, a trav-with children afoot) but sometimes you need more:top, thinking youve only wasted three hours, andel advisor with Alice Travel and an ardent vacationer, Sometimes, you need a real vacation. remembering that the South Mountain Reservationwho has been to more than 25 countries, often with So you clear the kitchen table, pull out all youris just a walk away and, after all, Costa Rica is justher three children in tow, plans her next trip as underutilized, yet dog-eared, travel guides, make atrees too, right? Your dream begins to cloud over andsoon as the last one is completed (and sometimes cup of coffee, and begin the wondrous journey offade away as quickly as it came. Maybe another day. before!). According to Rubashkin, The first two de-planningtheperfectescape.ExcitementripplesBut it doesnt have to be that way. cisions to be made are location and budget. All else through your body as you fire up the travel websites;Planning a vacation should be fun and exciting,stems from those determinations. So, will you opt your brain buzzes like a thousand bees, imaginingand for some organized people with excellent execu- for a quiet villa in Belize, an all-inclusive resort with all the wondrous places you have always wanted totive functioning, it is. But for most people organizingactivities for the little ones, or a sightseeing excur-go. Your fingers bring you to the search bar over andand executing a vacation may cause you to need an- sion to a faraway city? Do you want an international over again, as you begin the pre-vacation journey ofother vacation and thats not exactly the point, is it? experience, or would you prefer the beauty that lies 20/ matters magazine / summer 2022"