Pre-pandemic, I would never imagine having the ability to travel to be taken away from me. It was 2019 and my family traveled to Canada for a week. We visited family members, stayed at a friend’s house and even binged on Netflix all day. After leaving Canada with bliss, I never knew that would be my last normal summer vacation.

My hopes of going away for another vacation in 2020 evaporated in the Spring. I never thought that staying at home and never leaving state would stink. After writing a gratitude journal every night, I made a sudden realization that I took summer vacations for granted and I was lucky to have one in 2019.

As I hoped to go back to vacationing in 2021 with the vaccine, my hopes were skyrocketed when my Mom made a booking for a 2 day stay and play Hersheypark at the Hotel Hershey in Hershey, Pennsylvania. I was pumped up, with energy waiting to burst and I decided to buy some swimming suits for the Boardwalk, a part of the park with water rides, a waterproof poach to protect my phone, a tiny version of my gratitude journal and get Spotify Premium for a 2 month trial for the road trip because I never felt this excited in a very long time. Before going there, I read a New York Times on how to enjoy a vacation without my phone, so I made some timer limits for games and Duckduckgo (the app that keeps my searches private, that I fell in love in my Freshman year).

On July 21st, my family hits the road and it feels so good to go out of state. As we arrived to the five star hotel, I saw the inside of it look so fancy and good. For the first time since June 2020, I took off my mask (excluding the shuttle bus for Hersheypark). I felt so nude without my mask because I had contemplated whether to wear one at the park before arriving. Also the hotel room looks so good. The first night, I tried in room service for dinner and it was so good, that I was immediately full. The next following day, we went to the Circular for the breakfast buffet.

I had mixed feelings about going to a buffet because I have never been to one since my 2019 graduation. I heard about workers having to serve food to the customers and the customers could not get the food themselves. To me that sounded very annoying to me. As I went to the Circular, I saw a lot of people serving food by themselves. I was scared of that reality of never coming back. I had eggs and bacon sandwich, along with some French toast, sausage and pancakes for three days and felt so savory and satisfying. When I arrived to Hersheypark, we quickly changed into our Bathing Suits and went to the boardwalk.

One water ride I was so excited to try was Breaker’s Edge. When I tried it, I was surprised with a huge drop and a lot of turns in the tubes. Then I did Whitecap racer to see who can get to the bottom faster. Tidal Force had an epic drop as well and I was thrilled. After some lunch at Nathan’s, I went to the lazy river: Intercoastal Waterway. Getting on a float was more harder than I thought, a lady helped me out and then I got to enjoy the calming river. I just sat on the float, allowing me to be in the present moment on a very hot summer day. My family ended the first day at Chocolate World, where I got to try a Birthday flavored milkshake. I was motivated to go to Chocolate World by an article from Popsugar. The taste of my very milkshake was very sweet and cooling on a hot summer day.

On Friday, we did coasters and other rides and visited ZooAmerica. Some rides I went on was the Superlooperduper, Great Bear and the newest of all: Candymonium. For the Superlooperduper, I nearly lost my glasses when I rode it. Before we left, my siblings and some of my close friends went on Candymonium and it was fast and very powerful with ups and down and twists. Everyone ended the day by going to the Circular for Dinner. I had mashed potatoes and cocoa ribs and it tasted so smooth and the taste was very deep and explosive. My family ended it all with a visit to the colorful Hershey Gardens. The place had a beautiful butterfly atrium and a charming outdoor garden.

My family and my Mom’s friend’s family went our separate ways and we went to a relative’s house. The last we visited the couple was in 2019 for my brother’s birthday.

This vacation to Pennsylvania allowed me to relax and unwind. I felt so charged after the long vacation after the past year. Another realization I made is that vacations are supposed to be for relaxing, not staring at my phone screen all the time