Real Talk: Mini Kur

The question of the week: “Why didn’t all five of you travel to Spain together?” 

I’ve given some quick answers but here is the real story.

Disclaimer and Spoiler Alert: The following post includes a lot of “penthouse problems” as they say in German.

My original vision for this Fall anniversary trip was a two-week splurge at a nice resort in Greece. For a trip to be a vacation it needs the following components:

• Childcare

Ok, I guess the list stops there. Not cooking, no car rental, and having lots of things to do close by are perks. But really, it’s all about the childcare.

My geography plan shifted a bit when we found out some friends would be living in Malaga for the year. Additionally, I thought Spain would be more affordable as we are trying to save for Paul taking time off work to learn German. I booked round trip tickets to Madrid for around 1000 Euros. My plan was to train to a hotel with childcare and then to our friends in Malaga.

After hours of research, I found that virtually every hotel offering childcare starts at four years-old and up. Additionally, we couldn’t find a single hotel that could accommodate five in one room or apartment. I also didn’t have much luck finding a water park type hotel as there are no heated pools past September. 

I put together a plan B itinerary through Madrid and Cordoba. But honestly, I wasn’t very excited about it. I did more research to see if we could affordably bring our beloved babysitter. No dice. It all comes down to this truth, travel with kids feels like a business trip to me. Maybe I get to see some cool things, but at the end of the day, I am there working. Also, traveling is a lot harder than being at home. 

Meanwhile, our plans kept on changing. I had to rebook train tickets and airbnbs three different times. On the last change, I told Paul, “I don’t want to go.” Honestly, I would rather just stay home than rebook this one more time.  It was especially sad to jump ship on our anniversary trip, but I was pretty well done.

After staring blankly off into the distance for about an hour while “awfulising”, as my therapist calls it, I remembered that I once found mid-week cheap tickets to Malaga. And voila, a new plan was born. Paige and Carmen would stay back for three more days, and the boys would train around Madrid and Malaga. I already flew once with the boys by myself to Madrid in 2019, so now Paul could see the city with them.

Hugo's first visit to Madrid's Plaza de Oriente.

I stupidly planned on just doing my “work” etc while the boys were in Spain but then remembered that I really should be taking this time to rest. Because, as we know, I still have a ten day business trip coming up. So, I did a mini Kur.  The key to my Kur is:

1. Reliable childcare
2. Exercise each day
3. No cooking
4. More blogging
5. More sleeping
6.  
   Cake

Thus far I’ve checked out the church we’ll likely attend once Paul speaks more German. I’ve gone to two yoga classes. I’ve dined with three friends. Tomorrow I am going to a sauna with a friend while Carmen is in Kita. I could happily stay here another week enjoying the Kita childcare. But, duty calls.