Where to Spend this Vacation

There has been a major dilemma for us at present. Where to go for the year end celebrations. I've been in the US for a year and a half now. Except for one person, all others of my family are in India. So there is no family here to spend the Christmas or New Year with.

But a host of friends have gradually taken the place of my family here. Most of them are my Equal Half's colleagues, their wives, and their children. Then there are also his acquaintances, whom he had met in various places, on various occasions, and with whom close ties have formed over the years.

And one such family, with whom we spent last Christmas too, Have invited us this Christmas Eve too. Amazing how an unrelated group of people could become so close to you. We attend their birthdays, weddings, other anniversaries. When there are public functions like Solstice Parade, etc. we meet on the roadside and watch the parade go by.

We have lunches and dinners outside too. We are making a program to visit Big Bear early next year. We've been wanting to visit Los Angeles together as a group, but that has not materialised. Maybe because LA is so nearby.

So it is friends who have become the center point of vacations. When there are people and friends around, do we need a better place to go to? Aren't we all social animals?