I’ve been in Corolla, NC ( which is the part of the Outer Banks region of North Carolina) since Monday staying with dear friends for the Thanksgiving holidays. My very capable team of Mary Lou, Judy, Teresa and Gary are on the island watching over all our guests and taking care of any and all needs. Which allows me to see what it’s like from the view point as a guest for a change! I’ve also been able to meet with acouple of very well established vacation rental companies here in the Outer Banks including the very inovative Doug Brindley of Brindley Beach Vacation Rentals. Visit his website should you ever decide to visit ! http://www.brindleybeach.com/
Here are some of my learning points from the week which I’d like to share:
- Gathering together is extremely important for humans. Most of us do not like to be alone and to have a chance to come together, especially over the holidays is so important. Our group includes Donna’s 82 year old father who lives in a Masonic Home and like all the rest of us who are in our 40’s-50’s- we’re all enjoying just eating together, talking together, even just sitting around together watching the occassional TV show!
- The vacation home needs to create space for people to be together in a warm, welcoming enviroment. Because so many of us are so busy each day, every day when we finally do get a chance to get away, we need to go somewhere that feels like home- but better. The homes need to have all the items you need to cook if you want, comfy furniture to be able to curl up and nap if you want ( our dear Fred has mastered the napping skill for all of us here!) and be a home you’d like to own if you could!
- Information on the destination to help create memories of a lifetime. We took an amazing 3 hour jeep tour today to see the Wild Mustangs of Corrolla today! More to come on that experience in another blog… The vacation home needs to have info to make it easy for you to figure out how you’d like to spend your day- be it walking the beach to collect shells, work out at the local gym , bike ride the streets or shop the local sales ( all of which I’ve done the past few days)
- Technology- everyone of us, including Sam who’s 82, brought their laptops to stay in touch with work and with friends and family who aren’t here with us. At one point, everyone of us was on our laptops! This is so very, very important on a daily basis, yes even over the Thanksgiving Holiday. I no longer believe you can leave it all behind. 99% of the world needs to stay connected on some level, even if it’s just to your family- which is certainly the most important people to be connected to.
- Pets on holiday…. Annie the Dog is here with us. She is walked daily by each of us during the course of the day, I think she’s the excuse to be outside in this glorious fall weather . When a pet is part of your family, to leave them behind is almost un thinkable- so a pet friendly vacation home is very important to many of us.
I truly hope that I’m already applying all these learnings to our Mermaid Cottages, but if I’m not, this certainly has been a GREAT reminder to do so!
