Making Time to Play in Denver

I am one of those people who always thinks about extending business or otherwise required trips in order to create a bit of a fun or leisure element. I explored New Orleans for three days after a two-day work conference held there many moons ago, and I’ll be visiting a very dear family friend for dinner on an upcoming trip to New York. But I’m sad to say that most of the time I don’t get beyond the thinking stage of this kind of planning, and I usually end up rushing home after a business trip instead of staying for a few days to take a mini-vacation.

So this is a bit of “do as I say, not as I do” here.

One of my best friends from college, Stephanie, is getting married this fall outside of Denver, and I’ll be there for the wedding. I’ve already booked my flight (found a fab deal on cheap Denver airfare that wasn’t to be missed), although I still need to sift through the lists of hotels in Denver for my stay. I’m really excited to see my friends, but this trip, for me, isn’t about being a tourist.

My fall schedule is already filling up with travel and work obligations, and I don’t have time to extend my Denver wedding adventure to do any sight-seeing. I’ve been to Denver a few times, so I don’t feel too broken-hearted about that, although it’s been quite a number of years and I’m sure I’d find many new ways to enjoy it now. For instance, I just read about the gorgeous Glenwood Canyon 150 miles west of Denver, which looks like a lovely reason to get to Colorado all by itself (nevermind the gajillions of acres of other beautiful places in that state).

But just because I’m not going to stay and play in Denver on this trip doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look for ways to extend any “required” trip you ever take. In fact, if you happen to also be going to Stephanie’s wedding, then I highly recommend planning to stay awhile before or after and turning a required trip into a fun trip.

photo by Larry Johnson