"It's your turn," Olujay told me immediately after he returned from the HR office.
My annual leave was approaching and it was the company tradition to sponsor the worker's vacation.
"Welcome, you can have your seat."
I was eager to hear about the offers available to me, It is a one-month vacation and I am always looking forward to it since it is the only time during the year I get to create beautiful memories with my family.
The company's offer is really cool, you can either travel alone to an international country, travel within the country with your family or take cash.
"The company's policy has changed and we can no longer sponsor families joining our workers on vacation," HR said to me.
"Why? That's breaching of contract, this wasn't the deal," I replied
"That wasn't the deal but we had to put a lot of things into consideration. There is global inflation and a family vacation won't be a good idea with the company finances at the moment," she replied.
I felt down,the meeting ended and everyone in the office could tell something wasn't right with me for the rest of the day.
On my arrival home that night, one of my brothers had returned for the summer holiday break. As days passed, my other siblings arrived and I could tell that they came prepared for the family's yearly vacation. It was the only time we get to bond since they were busy in school and work was taking my time as well.
"I haven't gotten your feedback about what we discussed?" HR asked some days after.
"I am really sorry about that, the cash will do," I replied.
I started planning for the holiday because it has to be a memorable one as well but the cash is not enough to do our regular vacation.
After deep thinking and research, I concluded that we would be going on a road trip.
"We are doing something different this holiday"
At dinner, I broke the news to the family and they paused to listen. Immediately after I mentioned a road trip, they were more excited. I didn't believe they would like the idea so we planned everything with the money available for the vacation.
The preparation started since we needed more than the usual things we do travel with. We got all items and crowned it with a Van home, it was really comfortable.
Our first stop was a beach, I fell in love with the place because of how neat and quiet it was. Initially, I thought it was a VIP kind of place but after I enquired, I found out it was open to everyone.
We parked the van, got our mats and set out to have a feel of the beach.
I lay on the mat chatting with Mom while my siblings played volleyball, I eventually joined them and we got to know Mom played volleyball as a student. She taught us a few tricks and it made the game super exciting.
At sunset, we started preparing to leave.
"Son, don't you always wish to pass the night at the beach?" Mom asked.
"Yes, it is but I am not sure if it's safe" I replied.
"Let's make that wish come true, we are men and nothing should scare us out here." One of my siblings replied.
We agreed on staying so we looked for a small mart where bought drinks and fish.
That night was one of the most beautiful in my life. I do never have thought of sitting under the stars at the beach grilling fish with my family.
We chatted, sang, and played games, our stay there lasted for two days before we moved on.
Our next stop was a waterfall, we have only seen them in documentaries and movies.
Taking a shower under the fall was irresistible, we all jumped in the water and it was the best swim ever. We climbed rocks but couldn't do that much because of Mom.
We touched down at the zoo and also tourist centres we came across. Our final destination was the national reserve, I have heard a lot about the place and wasn't disappointed.
The price of the hotel at the park was on the high side so we decided to sleep on the bus. We were out till late at night admiring nature.
We closed all windows except the big one on the van roof for ventilation and we all slept off. I was fast asleep when I heard a scratch on the van, it was as if an animal with strong claws tried climbing the van.
I heard the sound again but it was louder this time and everyone woke up. I stood up to lock the window on the roof and to my surprise, I was staring directly at a lion. I moved back gently and it jumped into the van.
It was too late to do anything so I grabbed a lamp and we all rushed out of the van. We watched the lion as it walked around in the van and it was good to see it trapped. More lions came out of the bush. It was a pride and it looked as if they were hunting.
I started shivering and immediately regretted choosing a road trip. The lions came towards us and immediately one of them pounced on me, I found myself on the bus again.
I was screaming and eventually woke everyone up before I realised that it was a dream. It was morning already and I looked around before getting out of the van.
I told my family about the dream and they couldn't stop laughing. We spent a day extra before returning home and the whole trip took us three weeks.
Despite not going on a plane or lodging in a five-star hotel, it turned out to be the best family vacation.