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  Dialogue - Guidelines & Suggestions

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

David & Christine Baldiga

Connie Francis sings a great and up beat tune that most of us know and sing - Vacation, In the Summer Sun. July is one of the most popular months for family vacations, and destinations are as varied as the weather in New England.

But vacation shouldn't mean a vacation from dialogue. Quite to the contrary, vacation and dialogue go hand in hand. As a matter of fact, when we pack our suitcases to go away, we always include our dialogue books so we can 10 and 10 while away. And for those of us that see carrying our heavy and very intimate dialogue books on vacation as an obstacle, we have been known to write a letter on a napkin, a menu, the back of a hiking map and even an airplane magazine page.

It is not always easy to dialogue on vacation, and we have run into a few obstacles along the way. Some of the obstacles that kept us from our daily dialogue have been: wanting to get on with the day, finding a space to dialogue, and having others see us dialoguing. Of course being in tight spaces and our children being in strange places make dialoguing difficult, but we also found that vacation was a great place to have family dialogue time.

Choosing to dialogue on vacation certainly has benefits galore. Dialoguing while away means increased unity and intimacy as we learn what is memorable and rewarding for each other as well as discovering shared memories. Dialoguing on vacation means less chance for conflicting expectations for that day.

Here is our list of great vacation places we have dialogued over the years:

Library courtyard
On a mountaintop during a hiking lunch break
On a sandy beach
At an outdoor concert
Airport waiting area
By the side of a cool stream
In a tent
While waiting for our meals at a romantic restaurant
While waiting for our table at a romantic restaurant
While traveling in the car (drivers not allowed to write or read while
driving!)
On a hammock
At the ice cream stand
At the park
On a houseboat
On the porch in the middle of a thunderstorm
Under the boardwalk!

Here are some of our favorite vacation Dialogue questions:

How do I feel being here with you right now? DILD
What was my strongest feeling being in a strange city today? DILD
What has been the most memorable part of our vacation so far? HDIFAT?
What am I most thankful for on this vacation? HDIFAT?
What would I like to do tomorrow with you? HDIFSTWY?
What was the best part of today? HDIFSTWY?
HDIF when the kids fight in the car?
HDIF about finding time to dialogue while on vacation
What is my most memorable vacation memory of the 2 of us? HDIFAT?
Where would I like to vacation next? HDIFAT?
HDIF about travel? Hotels? Airplanes? New places? A strange bed?
Being on vacation with you reminds me of. HDIFAT?

We challenge you do enhance your summer vacation by bringing along your dialogue books, and taking the time for dialogue.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N in the summer sun

Put away the books, we're out of school
The weather's warm but we'll play it cool
We're on vacation, havin' lots of fun
V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N in the summer sun

We're gonna grab a bite at the pizza stand
Write love letters in the sand
We're on vacation and the world is ours
V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N under summer stars

Yeah, we'll hop in a jalopy to a drive-in movie and never look at the show
We're gonna hug and kiss just like this and I can't wait to go, go, go

We're gonna mashed potato to a jukebox tune
Park your car 'neath an August moon
We're on vacation till the start of the fall

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N, we're gonna have a ball, go!!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N, gonna have a ball

Uh-huh, we'll hop in a jalopy to a drive-in movie and never look at the show
We're gonna hug and kiss just like this and I can't wait to go, go, go

We're gonna mashed potato to a jukebox tune
Park your car 'neath an August moon
We're on vacation till the start of the fall

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N, we're gonna have a ball, yeah

Click here for a printable version (PDF, 8KB)