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side·track (sīd´trăk): n. 1. A diversion from the main course.  2. A detour taken with children that you would never, ever take without them.
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I don’t remember exactly how old our children were when they developed opinions about travel. Two? Three? It doesn’t really matter.

What matters is this: one day they were harmless cherubs happily gumming Cheerios and staring at café ceilings, and the next day they weren’t.

The compromises were small to begin with. We bought ice cream. We stopped at playgrounds. We picked up souvenirs.  But these, it turned out, were gateway drugs. Before long we were making major itinerary compromises in the name of family travel harmony.

Tatty theme parks.  Donkey sanctuaries.  That sort of thing.

Sound familiar?

Among the many detours we have made over the years, a few stand out as particularly absurd.  This got me thinking that a weekly series on the topic would be fun and cathartic.

We’re calling it “Sidetracked”, and we hope you like it.  First up will be Sherwood Forest.

September 23rd, 2008 | by Jamie Pearson 8 comments