This time of the year here in the US signals summer vacations! And so I decided to write about a few real cool and wonderful vacation time words! Plus June 7th happens to be the birthdays of two real cool and wonderful poets as well – Gwendolyn Brooks and Nikki Giovanni. So I am also including some references to them/their work here and creating a quilt of vacation time words with fun tips and ideas for you to play with such words as well.

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The weirdest part of this post is that I first thought about writing about vacation time words (and with that exact phrasing). Next, I noticed the birthdays of these amazing female poets I have mentioned many a time on my blog and added the ‘real cool’ phrase to reference Gwendolyn Brooks. The weird part – seems like Nikki Giovanni has a book of poems titled – Vacation Time: Poems for Children!!

Since I had no idea about that book at all, it is a real cool coincidence!

Vacation Time Words are Real Cool and Wonderful

Now let us get going on a journey of words that will take you on your choice of vacation! Be it a sandy beach, or a scenic valley, be it the countryside or a bustling city, vacations allow us to take a break like Earl Wilson says so well in this quote “A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.”

They are our passport to adventure, excitement, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Vacations are also our time to do nothing at all. I love how this quote says it perfectly:

 “A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.” –Robert Orben

I am the vacation planner in my home; and while we all try to work together to decide where we are going, once the destination is set, I get to work. And I think I start vacationing virtually from that moment on. Planning means I research the place as much as I can and kind of visit it via photos, descriptions, and such! However, this summer, given my kids have other things going on for themselves – classes they are taking because they want to and have given me strict instructions not to pack the days with a trip to somewhere. 🙂

Instead, this time, I think I will just take a lexical voyage, have travel adventures with words, and enjoy vacations through the power of vocabulary! So here is to journeying with vacation time words.

Poem-ing With Vacation Time Words

Poem-ing today takes me back to a form I have talked about many times on my blog. This is the Golden Shovel poetic form. This is a fairly new poetic form created by Terrence Hayes in honor of Gwendolyn Brooks on her centenary year. It takes a line or multiple lines from an existing poem and uses each word as an end word in the new poem. Thus, this form pays homage to the original poet while creating something entirely unique.

My way of paying homage to both Gwendolyn Brooks and Nikki Giovanni is by using a line from a poem by Giovanni using the Golden Shovel (created for Brooks).

The lines I am using are from a poem titled ‘Paula the Cat’ from the book ‘Vacation Time: Poems for Children’ by Nikki Giovanni.

and I shall go off / to sea.

My Vacation Time Poem

And here is my vacation time golden shovel poem using the words from the lines above. Not really a poem I am happy about right now, but will work at this or another one again.. but kind of wishful thinking in so many ways!!

To See the Sea
Let all this end, get less crazy, you see, and
Then, I promise all of you (and me), that I
Will plan a grand vacation! Yes, I shall
Do so – a holiday so cool that you’ll go,
“Wow, mom! You outdid yourself. Now, off
You go and take some rest. I’ll clean up here. For I want to
Show my thanks, you see, before we head to the sea!”
~ Vidya @ LadyInReadWrites

Vacation Time Words For you

Take an alphabetical journey with these vacation words and phrases to inspire your poetic vacation writing:

• Adventure is waiting for you, and so is
• Beach bliss as you
• Cruise through
• Delightful Destinations,
• Explore and Escape with your
• Feet in the sand, and have Fun in the sun.
• Get away from everything,
• Hike in your Happy place, enjoy some
• Island time. You will get over
• Jet lag soon, so
• Keep calm and vacation on. Make sure you take many
• Leisurely strolls and
• Make Memories; Maybe in Mountain-scapes or while having
• Nautical adventures while you set your status to ….
• Out of office while you enjoy a bit of
• Paradise and some
• Quality time
• Relaxation is sure to be a part of life between every
• Sunrise and Sunset as you
• Travel and
• Unwind. Remember,
• Vacation calories don’t count. So make sure you indulge your
• Wanderlust and have an
• X-citing and X-hilirating time —
• Your time — and be all
• Zen!!

Vacation Time Reads

On My Blog

Here are a few vacation time reads from earlier; mostly bookish summer memories and a few others as well.

• If you are also homebound this summer and want to indulge in some holiday fun, here is a Wonderful List of Holiday Movies Based on Books
• 13 Tips To Motivate Your Teen to Read
• Sunday Scribblings #12: Summering Bookishly
• Scribblings #15: Bookish Summer Vacation Edition
• Books I Found on a Holiday That Delighted
• Bookish Moonlit Summer Nights
• Summer Reads of Childhood Today
• Bookish Journeys Captured in Photos
• Books That Inspire Travel
• Have Books, Will Travel
• Travel With the Atlas of Forgotten Places
• 13 Amazing Travel Books for Kids of All Ages

Randomnesses

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” –Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta’s quote above is so very true! I have found myself grasping for words and not finding them during vacations when we seemingly turn a corner and then – wow! A least unexpected something astounds us one way or another. Later – hours, days, or weeks later maybe – when I look back at those memories, I am able to make something of it, and sometimes it inspires me to make up poems or stories as well. A few find their way here too.

As for Ibn Battuta, one of the best times I read of him was in history class in maybe eighth grade. And then later, in a Bollywood song titled Ibn Battuta (which somehow stayed in my memory). While the song does not seem to have anything to do with this famous historical figure, it does feature the characters traveling and the lyrics do seem to reference travel itself.

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.” –Benjamin Disraeli

Other Related Reads

Amazing Expeditions

The House Takes a Vacation

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, what did you find most interesting about this post? What are your vacation plans (if your vacations are ahead of you)? Or where did you go/what did you do on your most recent vacations? Any interesting stories to share?

Ending this with another quote, this time by someone unknown, (reminds me of all those memes where we have people asking who is Anon!), and one that has a unique ring of truth:

“A vacation is like love – anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia.” –Unknown