2019 is just weeks away, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start planning next year’s amazing vacation destinations! While cliché places like Hawaii or Cuba are always an option, these 5 destinations will provide you real adventure, romance, and family bonding.

If you love fine dining, the Arby’s in Pembroke Pines, FL will be an amusement park for your taste buds. This restaurant has repeatedly earned Yelp reviews ranging from 0 to 1 stars. Just look at the delicious food made from scratch.

The floor staff is known to be on break most of the time, allowing for the family to spend a lot of time complaining and bonding over the dining experience. Don’t forget your mace! Crime runs rampant!

If the sea is calling your name, then go “sea” a Doctor, because water can’t talk! But if you like to get wet, the Flint River Boat Tour and Swim Lessons Experience is the vacay of a lifetime. You’ll bathe in the rich ocean water and feel younger than ever.

Bring your friends and family along, as Captain Jack (no relation to Disney’s character) takes you to the best places Flint, Michigan has to offer. And after the tour is done, feel the refreshing cool water against your naked back in front of strangers and nomads.

You’ll never think about where your bodily waste goes down the toilet the same ever again!

Did you know Jesus rode dinosaurs! Watch out Jurassic World! Your park has some holy competition! Ken Ham’s Bonnie County, Kentucky “Museum” is filled with facts the liberal media doesn’t want you to know about! Bring the kids or bring your hot significant other. This museum, unlike The Getty, welcomes you with open arms. Tiny tiny T-Rex arms.

Here piggy piggy piggy! This little piggy went to the market. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy went to the Hog Hotel. And that little piggy became bacon.

If you love hearing Jim Gaffigan talk about bacon, you’ll love this pig factory in the heart of China. The kids will love picking out their own little hog and hearing it scream in agony before eating it for breakfast or on a BLT the next day.

The Madonna Inn on the Central Coast in beautiful California is known for its romantic atmosphere and inspired theme rooms. Just look at these amazing room experiences:

Whether you want a futuristic or old fashion room, the Madonna Inn is your hideaway to that second honeymoon or first honeymoon or if you just want to have a night of intimacy without hearing the kids scream about some stupid video game you bought them last Christmas that you regret everyday purchasing because they fight about it all the time even though you got two controllers but noooooo they wanted another controller that was an extra $60 you can’t afford on your construction salary.

​I digress. The best kept secret room is the North Korean Room.

Spend the weekend in the underbelly of luxury with this real-to-life room. You’ll feel like a prisoner of love with that special someone. There’s no bed, so you’ll be frolicking on the floor without much of a choice. The room only costs $1600 a night, and all prodeceds go to the Glorious Leader in North Korea.

Make 2019 the vacation year of your dreams with these 5 destinations you won’t find in the AAA travel guide!

One year ago today my cousin Logan died. 25 years old, his vices took his life and our family has been dealing with the tragedy since then. As his oldest cousin on his mom’s side, my role was different than the other cousins. I was his babysitter, his tutor, and his oldest friend in many ways.

He allowed me to be silly when the other cousins wanted to be “cool.” As he got older, our relationship changed. I tutored him a couple summers, as he struggled with reading comprehension in early elementary.

He liked playing tricks on me. He once set off a couple fart bomb toys in my Jeep Cherokee. Boy was I mad. But he just laughed and I got over it.

Too often, as we age, our lives change and connecting with cousins and relatives becomes too challenging. People move. People get married. People become estranged. But Logan and I stayed in touch over the years. As his struggles grew, we did grow farther apart, but my busy schedule was just as responsible.

Believing that a member of the family will always be there cannot be the way in which we schedule family gatherings. All of us should be willing to make time, as we do not know when the last time will be.

The healing process after is hard. And anniversary dates such as today sworm up old feelings that got pushed down when being strong was the only acceptable emotional reaction.

I took Logan’s passing very hard. Realizing his life was no longer on this earth, but that his soul had moved on to God’s eternity, I didn’t do comedy or anything else for at least a month. I had some pre-committed shows in November that I did, but mostly, I read, I cried, and I processed the pain.

Yet each day since, I haven’t really come to grips with his passing. I simply just moved on. Recently, I saw First Man, about Neil Armstrong’s personal struggles while reaching the goal of landing on the moon. Watching his daughter die, as well as fellow NASA astronauts, he struggled through, and I started to tear up, thinking about his life and my cousin Logan. Grief might not be seen, but’s ever present.

I don’t know if we ever heal. As Frodo told Sam, “some wounds go too deep,” and the battle scars and missing limbs of the heart and soul cannot be replaced. But that’s why there is hope.

Hope is all we can have now. The hope that redemption and resturation is possible. Not the hope that Logan will return. King David said that message about his stillborn, “He cannot come to me, but I will go to him.” No, the hope I speak of is that a new day will come, a new sunrise will open up the skies of our spirit, and that we can honor him by not repeating the past, and helping those who face similar trials. Logan had lost some hope. Therefore I must honor him by hoping in a tomorrow I cannot see, and living as if I can accomplish his desired good works in how I live my life. With humor. With tenderness. With love.

He lived a short life, but a rich one, filled with love, adventure, and loyalty to his friends. My emotions stem from a place of leadership, as the eldest cousin, but my head knows that he would be the first to say to me, “You gotta move on, Paul. I made my choices. Now go make yours.”

So that’s all I can do and will do. And writing this blog is one way in which I move on. And next year I’ll report on how I’m doing again. Until I no longer feel that need.

For I know the journey is complex and doesn’t end in this life. We are not just food for maggots, as some may say, as Shakespeare wrote through his characters. I may not know what the other side looks like; I have an idea though, based on how I view God and his Son. And that gives me hope when I need it most.