My best friend and I went on vacation with my parents, who are in their 70s. I wish we hadn't waited so long to do it.

• Discovering new places and visiting old ones was a blast, too, and I wish we’d done this sooner.

Going back to basics turned out to be the exact type of vacation I needed, with quality time well spent.

I left with a slew of special memories made with some of my favorite people all together in one place, and sure of one thing: We won’t be going another 13 years before doing this again.