If you ever want to take a really nice road trip for your vacation, may I suggest a driving tour through New York State.
There is nothing that compares to it. 
Leave New York City out of the equation.
Starting at the New Jersey border, in the space of 3 hours, you can drive through a multitude of differing geographic,cultural and historical regions. I know because yesterday I took that drive.
As I drove north on the NY State Thruway, I passed through the Hudson Valley region, The Catskills, The Capital District,The Leatherstocking Region and eventually ended up in the Adirondacks. It was quite a drive and had it not been for the incessant sheets of rain pummeling my windshield, it probably would have been a wonderful trip.
This was not a vacation for me. I was heading off to a reunion of sorts.
27 years ago, I hired a fellow who had just finished a 7.5 year vacation courtesy of the correctional department of the great state of New York.
He worked for me for the next 20 years.
In a very short while after we met, he became much more than another employee. Within 6 months he was one of my most trusted and valuable managers.
He had also become my friend, a friendship that has grown for almost 3 decades now. 
2 weeks ago, my friend returned home from anther NY State penal vacation.
The minute he walked out of the front gates,he asked his ex who had come to pick him up if he could borrow her phone. 
"I need to call my boss" he told her.
Even though we have stayed in touch through letters, it was great to hear his voice. 
The greatest part was that this time he sounded different. 
Something had changed.
Lucid ,excited yet a bit somber, he said"Boss, I'm done!".
I believed him.
I had never heard this from him in the past. There was always a fresh start, doing the same nonsense that had afforded him these fully paid vacations. 
In the past, he headed right back to the same streets and the same communities where he had learned and honed his skills.
"Boss, I made arrangements to go live in a shelter,miles away from my old haunts". "I don't need  or want that anymore'" 
"I want a life."
Something in his voice sounded sincere.
I am still uncertain if my trip up north was to see an old friend or to look in his eyes and see if in fact he had truly come to a crossroads in his life.
In either case, I wanted to support my friend.
27 years is a long time and much water has passed beneath that bridge.
The home he is living in has about 20 residents. 
It's a nice place.
There are rules to follow and a structured regimen to be adhered to.
My friend is soaking in every bit of it.
Grasping at every opportunity to make the right choice, I see in him the same commitment that has grown in me to never go back to where I once was.
There will be no applause coming from me. 
Lord knows, over the almost 3 decades I have known him , all of his history is of his own choosing.
I will be there to support him.
Not financially.
 I am not in that position nor does he need me to be.
Not with a job. 
I no longer have a position to offer.
I will be there as his friend. 
No one knows better than I do how important having friends can be.
Shavua Tov!