Why Vacations Are Important

If you ask me, travelling has very little to do with the destination. It's much more about the transformation that happens inside: shedding the stress, recharging your soul and discovering who you are.

(Camden, Maine, August 2011)

We all want to live a simple life. Most of us do not (myself included). But if we're lucky, we can visit places that remind us to keep striving for one.

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Stage One: Letting Go

(Camden, Maine)

The lake was called Megunticook, the hideaway was called Crane Island and there was just one cottage on it, accessible by boat during daylight hours. When our friends invited us to come stay with them, there was only one possible answer.

(Crane Island, Maine. August 2011)

It was a strong-minded house, built of wood and stone, nestled in a thicket of pointed firs and positioned on the bow of the island like a figurehead on a ship.

Inside, the sofas were plaid, the rugs were braided and the walls were knotty. So delightfully quaint did it feel that if Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney had suddenly tripped into the room mid-song, no one would have batted an eye.

Every day was a reminder of how little you needed to be happy.

Water + fake mustaches = "Mom, that was the best day ever."

There was a long dock that could be used as -- take your pick -- a departure point for adventure or a meditation platform for lazing and gazing.

On our last night, we ate dinner cross-legged on the dock and talked until the sky became thoughtful with clouds.

The sun sank behind the trees, there was time for one final swim...

...and then the stars blinked on, illuminating the night with possibility.

Up next...

Stage Two: Venturing Out (Mill Valley, California)

(All photos by Lisa Borgnes Giramonti.)