San Diego: adventures, lessons, and reflections

Opinion/Resources/Teen Perspective

By Teen Opinion Contributor Maggie Verdught

Photos: Contributed

Last week, I went to San Diego, California, with my parents! Every big experience in life comes with its own joys, challenges, and lessons. I want to share some of my experiences with you!

This trip was very special, because it was my senior trip. My parents want to do this with each of my siblings as well. I’m a junior, actually, but next year it doesn’t work for us to go on a trip. So we did it this year! After driving six hours to Kansas City, we left my siblings there with my aunt and uncle, and went to the airport.

We spent two days traveling, and two full days in San Diego. Just for some background, we went to Coronado Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Torrey Pines, Little Italy, Sunset Cliffs, and Old Town. (Not in that order.) It was amazing! I want to explain my perspective on what I thought were the best parts, challenging parts, and what I learned from this trip. Let’s jump in!

The best parts

We ate a LOT of delicious food. It’s hard to choose a favorite because most of the cuisines were different from each other. If I had to choose, I’d say my favorite meal was the first one we had, in Old Town. This is a quaint area with strong cultural influence from Mexico, and we went to a very authentic restaurant. I ate the best tacos I’ve had in my life. So far.

My favorite place that we went was Torrey Pines. I originally didn’t want to go there because the pictures I’d seen on the internet were of the hiking area, and for some reason, I thought that it didn’t have a beach. I was wrong. Torrey Pines definitely has a beach, and it’s gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful waters, and mountainous cliffs right next to the ocean… I loved it. And we hiked for a while there, too, which was also very fun.

My favorite thing that I did was run on the beach. If you know me, this is unsurprising. It’s the middle of track season right now, but I would’ve wanted to run on the beach either way. Well, I ran next to the beach, not on it. But it was amazing. Especially the first full day we were there, it was just exhilarating to be running, alone and free on the path. My parents walked together on the beach while I ran, and I held my phone while I did so for safety. It was fascinating to me, how much I kept looking around at people, as if I would recognize someone. Of course I didn’t know anybody! Yet the human brain is constantly looking for connections and recognition, and it was so interesting to be surrounded by strangers in such a beautiful place.

The hardest parts

All families struggle to get along with each other on family trips. Especially with sleep deprivation and our own inherent selfishness. This showed up a lot on our trip. My dad and I don’t get along very well, and this was a difficulty throughout the trip, especially on the second full day in San Diego.

I made a mistake that day, and my plan for the afternoon backfired. I had planned for us to arrive at Sunset Cliffs around 2:30 pm, and hike on the trail for a few hours. Then, we would find something to eat, and watch the beautiful sunset. That did not happen. I didn’t know that the “trail” was not really a trail, and there wasn’t much opportunity to hike anywhere. Furthermore, the cliffs were quite dangerous, and there were no actual stairs to get down to enjoy the beach. This all happened during one of the hottest parts of the day, after we were already tired from the morning. Getting an Uber is expensive, and we had driven all the way out there to stand under the hot sun. Understandably, my dad was upset with the situation.

I was frustrated with myself. I felt terrible. Ultimately, we stayed for a while, to try and get the most out of the situation and see the views. Then we went back to the hotel and watched The Office together, recuperating before dinner. The problem wasn’t really the detour in this situation. The problem was that I let my parents’ feelings of frustration dictate my own emotions, so I struggled to enjoy the rest of the day. I needed to be the best version of Maggie that I could be – glorifying God by respecting my dad, even though we weren’t seeing eye to eye. That was the hardest part of the trip.

What I learned

I’ve already shared quite a bit of what I learned through this trip, but I’ll sum it up here. First off: live in the moment. It’s so tempting to take a million photos and feel like you’re floating as you race through the day, but slow down. Yes, it was a short trip, but there were times when I should have stepped back more to be fully present. It’s okay to take breaks.

Another lesson is that you should communicate accordingly. Accordingly, meaning that depending on who you’re with, you should modify how you communicate. In this case, I was with my parents. I know them, and I know how they want me to communicate with them. Sometimes I wanted to complain or just explain at length about why I didn’t want to do something. But that was never effective, because that sort of thing doesn’t get through to my parents. Respect is always the best way to go, no matter how difficult it may be. Respect others’ boundaries and understand how they want to communicate, so that you have the best time possible.

Lastly, something I learned and regret is that I didn’t thank my parents enough. This was probably another point of tension with my dad, because perhaps he didn’t think I had an attitude of gratitude. In reality, I was extremely excited and grateful to my parents for the opportunity to go on such a special trip. But I didn’t verbalize that enough! Tone and attitude matter a lot when you say it, but it’s important to thank people frequently when they give you such a gift.

Conclusion

I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about my special trip to San Diego. God is so good, and it was such a blessing to be there. Travel shouldn’t be an escape from our lives. It should be an enhancement, an excitement, and an experience that draws us closer to God. His creation is magnificent, and it’s wonderful to go beyond our usual bubble and experience something different. Have a great rest of your week!

 

Psalms 19:1 (ESV)

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

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Maggie VerDught is a high school student who enjoys learning about culture, news, and politics.

She is passionate about sharing the truth, especially with her generation. Maggie loves to run, read, and write poetry in her spare time.

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