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The photos. You see them on social media. Magical, perfectly aesthetic mementos of a family vacation. A beautiful city, mountains, waves in the background. Everyone dressed nicely and smiling as though they'd reach their happy place.
A moment as perfect as the setting.
What goes on before and after the shot is life, and while vacations are important connectors and refreshers, raise your hand if you've ever had a 100 percent perfect time traveling.
I'm still looking for hands ...
I see my family's beautiful vacation photos and they always conjure positive memories for me. But, I also think about that time when Betsy had the flu in paradise. The time we got on the wrong boat and ended up on an excursion with a private wedding party. The times I got us lost.
Like our lives in general, our time away isn't always tidy.
We had another example recently when heading home from a summer vacation in the Boston area.
It was neat to be in an area of so much history during America's 250th birthday. We loved the sites, the food, the laid-back vibe. We caught a game at Fenway Park, which exceeded all expectations.
It was a great time -- and when it was over, we had a classic travel day ahead of us. We woke up at 4 a.m. to drive an hour and a half to the airport, where we had a flight out around 8 a.m. By noon, we'd be back in Ohio, ready to tag back into this crazy, fulfilling life.
Security went easy, and we got to our gate with enough time for me to have a cup of coffee and relax.
Mid-sip, the worker at the gate informed us that the flight was being delayed due to there being no crew for our flight.
Uh oh.
We looked at each other, knowing that we had a short connecting flight at New York's Laguardia on the way home.
We hopped in line, hoping to get more information, as did many others.
Just as we got to the front, the news broke: "This flight has been canceled. The next flight to New York likely won't be until tomorrow, same time."
This was going to be an interesting day.
We chatted with the worker. "Can you get us to Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit? Anywhere we can find a way to get home," I asked.
Nothing available, although she did say she would refund our flight cost if that is what we decided.
Time for a family meeting.
I was itching to get back to work, and my oldest needed to get back for summer sports practice. We all enjoyed our time, but home beckoned.
We could stay here, lug our bags around and do some more sightseeing. Or we could rent a car and power through it. I got out my map app. We could be home in about 12 and a half hours. Plus, who knows if we'd actually be able to get home Tuesday. I have had friends spend much longer in an airport waiting for a flight.
We took a shuttle to the rental car center, and 15 minutes later, we were driving a sporty Volkswagen SUV out of Boston for a fraction of the price it would have cost us to fly.
We tried to make it fun, as Betsy called up some road trip-style games. We talked. We listened to music. We admired the hills and small mountains of Western Massachusetts and Eastern New York. We stopped just a couple times to grab food, get gas or use the restroom. On a mission, we were.
Through it all, we tried to laugh frequently and complain sparingly.
Just after 10 p.m., we pulled into our driveway. My in-laws, who were watching our dog, met us at the door. Very excited to see us, they talked to us for a half-hour. After carrying our bags in, I slunk in my chair, barely able to contribute to the conversation.
It was a long day and I was to be into work at 8 the next morning.
I went to bed and the next day, told co-workers of our amazing time. The social media posts went up, and my phone's lock screen changed to a picture of my girls dressed up at the beach.
Being the realist that I am, I did share our oblong journey home during each passing conversation. Many miles, little sleep. A long day.
"It was a perfect time," I said as I ended each conversation with a smile.
Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier, Findlay, the Sandusky Register, The Advertiser-Tribune, Tiffin, the Norwalk Reflector and Review Times, Fostoria. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com.