Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for March 02, 2021

Something Calvin and his parents can agree upon: all want to believe Calvin was adopted.

You’d think Calvin would appreciate the summer vacation at least.

I thought Calvin was bought at Kmart. (as for cruises, I’ve never been on one myself. I mean I was once invited to go on one, but my parents disagreed even though the friends said they’d help pay my way.)

My dad adored camping so I lived that life. Calvin’s dad isn’t wrong.

And it builds character!

What a rip off! Calvin has to go to camping for the next 10 years.

Saving money in a nutshell.

Why do you hit your head against that wall?

Because it feels so good when I STOP !!

A cruise ship is a hotel you can’t leave, sometimes with a mall. I hate malls, so no thanks.

All kids, at one point in their life or another, wonder if they were adopted.

Welll actually we found you in a dumpster when you were born!!!

Well that’s one way of saving money.

What’s worse, Calvin is that you’ve probably inherited some of those stingy genes!

What Calvin really wants to know is: can he be returned (like clothing you’d ordered online that didn’t fit) and to where? >8^0

“You’re adopted!” Satisfied, Calvin?

Mom’s shoes and Calvin’s shoes look the same only hers are bigger.

That sounds like Dad.

Um, Calvin, I hate to tell you this, but if they had a choice, would they have picked you?

I’m convinced. It’s a good thing kids are cute; that’s why we keep them. /s

I read a blurb online where a woman gave birth and insisted the baby wasn’t hers and wanted tests done to prove it. The staff conferred and told her that the tests came back saying that indeed the baby was hers. She accepted that.

Great philosophy Dad!

I do like Calvin’s Dad

And it builds character, Calvin.

There is a certain logic to that. However, we’ve been on several cruises and I’ll still take that as a vacation.

I once read about a guy who was on a luxury cruise. He noticed that the staff made a big fuss over an older woman who was also on board. He asked a waiter who she was, whether she was the owner, the captain’s mother or something like that. She wasn’t anyone special like that, but she had been on that ship many times before. She had figured out that it was cheaper to live on a ship with first class service than to live on land in a retirement home, so she decided to spend the rest of her life going from one luxury cruise to another seeing the world, and she had been doing that for many years.

We travel in a cargo van with a queen-sized bed. I call it a steel tent.

Calvin, no worries. No one would adopt a kid like you.

Can you imagine Calvin…tent camping? Gives me the shivers, just thinking that.

Roughing it is okay guess. If you have to. …nope. I can’t do it. Give me a hotel and a body of water. When I’m on vacation I want good food, plenty of sunshine, and a bar. And ,for all you hard chargers, I don’t want to carry any of that with me in a pack.

If he had a little more tact, he would have asked his mother if “Dad” was really his stepfather.

Actually, Dad is quite a lot like a grown-up Calvin. He’s learned responsibility, but the sense of humor and the mischief are still there.

Too much water…

Makes sense to me.

If you were adopted, ‘Calvin’, they wouldn’t have kept you but they know of no way to get rid of you—DCS won’t even take you ! ! ! ! !

So Calvin’s dad fully admits that camping sucks. Guess when they go, he lives in such denial that he thinks it’s pleasant until the last day.

No, Calvin; your Dad is just cheap.

Our family decided to have a “summer house” in the country instead of a vacation – so instead of a week long fun relaxation, we were packed off to the country – far away from all our friends – with no TV and only public radio – all summer long. We were expected to put a lot of work into the garden and landscaping – unpaid child labor.

In retrospect, it was a lovely way to grow up and I really value it – but at the time I’m sure that I thought I was being terribly abused.

All my miserable camping experiences were Boy Scout related – and never all that miserable either.

Yep, Dad’s a Lawyer.

“why not a camping trip” his dad would say

Well, the father’s idea would certainly make for a smoother transition back to the work week.

That’s often their fantasy, too.

Dad is exactly right for once. My vacations are so bad the rest of my life does feel luxurious.

The final mention of their camping trips, despite the family not going on one last year. I do have to kind of agree with the comparison thing, though when my family and I went on such a luxury cruise in 2008, we had a lot of fun, but it sure felt great to be back home again afterward!

Eat a live frog the first thing in the morning and the rest of the day will be so much better,

Sup

As a people, we have spent a couple of generations aspiring to foreign vacations. We have expended a great deal of treasure and gotten a pandemic in return. It always seems strange to me that you have to travel thousands of miles to get a “cheap vacation”.

We were avid tent campers for many years. Believe me, coming home to hot running water was the acme of luxury.

My idea of camping is having to stay in a two-star hotel. While I’m not rich, I think part of enjoying a vacation is staying in a really nice place, so we budget our trips accordingly.

That’s genome talking. Calvin has a match for his wits in his father.

But if trips are miserable and boring everyday life is a vacation, when do you unwind and cut loose?

cuz vacations are for building character…

I really wish we’d met Calvin’s grandfather to get some perspective on his father’s methods of child rearing…

You’re not adopted, Calvin, but that can be arranged.

dude this isnt actully a real comic from TODAY this was like way back 1980s. I have the complete calvin and hobbes book which has evrey single comic. im just saying

The last calvin and hobbes was made in 1995 december 31st its discontunied

ouch calvin you know you can get seasick gout and drown on a cruise not to even say that many cruises end in sinking ships

I took my vacations on a smelly black submarine, sometimes for as long as 6 months. I know dad’s point of view well.

Your parents tried to get you adopted, Calvin, but you kept on being returned.

As Augustine(?) said “A cruise is like going to prison with a chance of drowning.”

Is Calvin Adopted? He is so different from his parents. He also does not look like either of them

One of my favorite vacations was a Lindblad cruise. That said, it is awfully expensive.

Oddly enough, I almost agree with Calvin’s dad. When I visit foreign nations, I usually think I wouldn’t want to live there, so I appreciate home better. But that doesn’t mean I regret the visits while they’re happening.

Besides, you’ll get COVID, or at a minimum, Norovirus.

“Calvin, go do something you hate! Being miserable builds character!”

https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2020/12/04

Man, this one got me – I haven’t laughed like I did with one in ages.

I wonder if Dad had a thing about Buck Rogers and his adventures when he was a kid.

Cruise ships are not my cup of tea. Captive onboard a big ship for a long period of time. Not for my generation!! None of my people were onboard the Titanic either.