Every year, my family becomes a group of dirty hippies.

It starts by methodically selecting the essentials to cram into the Subaru. After every inch of the car has been jammed with camping supplies and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, we start our journey to The Land of Do As You Please.

Because even the labeling, color coding, routine-type family needs to throw out the manual from time to time.

The Land of Do as You Please has a few key attributes:

-         It is filled with other Do as You Pleasers, specifically hippie parents with wild-haired youngsters running around barefoot.

-         Folk music fills the air from noon to night.

-         Doing as you please is frequently encouraged.

The kids get as dirty as they please.

They play in the river as long as they please.

Bedtimes are enforced whenever the adults please.

This land requires plenty of motherly restraint, but the wine definitely helps.

To me, its one of the best vacations of the year because:

1. We get to spend the whole weekend with family and friends in a natural, artistic setting – not something the 8 to 5 working family typically encounters.
2. We do things here we wouldn’t do any other place – like hang a dunk bag full of dishes on a tree to dry, or happen upon a troupe of professional cloggers dancing on a homemade stage by moonlight.
3. It brings out a side of myself that feels amazing – taking life a little slower to the sound of the fiddle and banjo.
4. It shows my kids another side of people.

The weather can be tricky; the campfire smoke will end up in our faces. But at the end of the weekend, there is an incredible feeling of togetherness that escapes the fast-paced world we return to.

I always leave the campground wistful for that simple life… where the biggest concern is wondering who will start the campfire in the morning for breakfast.

Find time to embrace the simplicity of living – through your own hippie fest or anywhere love, art and community gets a standing ovation.

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