Monthly Musings; June 2022
It's the last Thursday of the month and that means it's time to link up with Holly and Patty for their Monthly Musings. The questions this month all center around summer travel!
1. My favorite summer destinations? This is only the second year we've ever taken a summer vacation so I don't really have favorite places to go. Having gone on family vacations in the off season for more than 9 years it's hard to enjoy any of the usual places we go since summer finds them more crowded and both hot and sticky but with our middle son in public school and on the track team (all spring!), summer is our only chance to sneak in a family vacation. We tried the beach last year in North Carolina and this year we're trying a trip to the mountains. Next year we're looking at the Florida keys or Hawaii or maybe even Bermuda so I definitely tend to think more about being near the water.
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| Tampa Bay October 2017 |
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| I LOVED this incredible view from our balcony! |
2. I much prefer warm trips! I see enough cold all winter long that I generally don't travel anywhere cold.
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| Myrtle Beach --September 2016 |
3. We actually have 2 trips planned this summer-- we'll drive to Tennessee but we're flying to Disney. Usually if we can get there in 1-2 days we'll drive.
4. I like oceans, lakes, and mountains-- anything nature themes is usually just fine by me!
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| Florida's natural springs-- fall 2014 |
5. My best travel tip is to travel in the off season whenever you can!
6. Budget tips are not really my forte... we tend to save a lot all year long so we can splurge big on vacations. We do try to rent houses so we can have a kitchen and save money not eating out. Again travel in the off season tends to be cheaper (we've saved nearly 1/2 of the cost of a trip before!).
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| Townhouse we rented on Tampa Bay |
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| The kitchen of our condo in Myrtle Beach-- my husband cooked breakfast every day! |
8. We typically plan our vacations in advance; nearly a year so! -- with so many of us and my boys all being the size of (okay larger than!) full grown men we need lots of room. I also like to write out an itinerary and have lists of things to do in the area, places to eat, etc. That said my husband and I have often taken last minute trips with little to no planning and that can be a lot of fun too.
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| Very last minute plan to Burlington Vermont for the weekend-- it rained the WHOLE time and we had no idea that the college in town had graduation that weekend so it was nearly impossible to find a place to stay! |
9. Typically our vacation include our immediate family with my mother- in- law tagging along (a habit we got into when the boys were young and my husband's step father passed away unexpectedly young). We love having grammy come along with us! Last year we vacationed near my sister's & aunt's home so we saw lots of extended family and this year my sister and sons will be driving to meet up with us for a larger family vacation.
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| 2011-- Storyland in New Hampshire |
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| Disney-- February 2012 |
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| Last year's trip to the Carolina's-- family photo with my sister, her son, and my aunt |
10. We don't have pets anymore but even when we did we never traveled with them. We usually have my parents housesit when we go on vacation anyway and they just took care of our pets when we had them.
Linking up with: Thinking out Loud,
It's so lovely to be able to travel again!
ReplyDeleteI don't think we ever really stopped! LOL. I mean we had those few months in 2020 where we were home but that time of year we would have been home anyway.
DeleteI am so with you with warm destinations and being near the water! Storyland!! Ah those are the yaers- we may try to go one last time this summer- so magical and kind of sad when those years end!
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of sad to realize my kids have outgrown so many of our favorite destinations. They're excited for Disney but I can already tell it won't be the same as they don't want to meet characters.
DeleteI prefer warm trips too. We have enough cold weather in the UK so the heat is always good. Fantastic photos.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I feel!
DeleteSo lucky to be able to travel off season for so many years! That’s huge! I hope you have two great trips this summer though! I’m the same as you are in many ways! Overpacking and I do want vacation to feel different so we splurge on certain things.
ReplyDeleteWe were so fortunate that we homeschooled and could make up our own travel schedule!
DeleteYou've taken some great family trips!
ReplyDeleteWe sure have!
DeleteI prefer warm destinations! You are lucky you were able to travel in the off season. When my kids were younger and could miss school easier we did that sometimes!
ReplyDeleteI miss it so much and am completely unprepared for crowds when we go places now! LOL
DeleteI think it's nice to not worry about your budget so much when on vacation. Then you really feel like you are on vacation!!
ReplyDeleteXOOX
Jodie
www.jtouchofstyle.com
Exactly! Though I fully admit that was one "skill" I had to learn from my husband as my frugal nature tended to follow us everywhere.
DeleteI love to travel in the off season! But, trying to figure out when that is anymore is kind of hard! Schools are going to balanced calendars and then you have to figure in college/university breaks! It seems like February and November are the best times to go! Loved seeing all of your past trips! I love Burlington...big city with a small town feel!
ReplyDeleteOur schools are still sticking with their traditional schedule and we often find that a quick Google search helps us find the "best" time to visit any area. We found that mid- Sept. to mid- Oct. was great for visiting many places as well as Feb... we never tried traveling in November though just because it seemed like November was always busy enough with Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas.
DeleteI am so happy that we are all traveling again. I try to budget for trips, but it never works. Ha.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I find it works best for me to have some money set aside and then if our budget goes over what I planned I don't have as much "belt tightening" to do after the fact.
DeleteI love traveling. I can’t wait to see where you go next. Bermuda possibly sounds lovely. Regine.
ReplyDeletewww.rsrue.blogspot.com
I've never been there but have heard it is beautiful!
DeleteI'm the house and pet sitter when one of my adult daughters goes on a family holiday. It's such a nice thing to do.
ReplyDeleteWe sure appreciate it! We've had so many things go wrong on them while we're away too; usually involving our pipes, our well, or our water so it's been wonderful to have the heads up before arriving home.
DeleteYou always have the Best nature photos! Thank you for joining us.
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you!!
DeleteYou are so lucky to have been able to travel in the off season! Good idea to book a house/condo. It's so helpful being able to prepare some of the meals while on vacation!
ReplyDeleteI love being able to prepare some of our own meals and having a washer/dryer is so nice too as we can get away with packing a lot less too.
DeleteI enjoyed your travel musings, tips, hearing about your vacations etc. We haven't been anywhere since January, so I am really looking forward to getting away when spring comes....hopefully.... these days we take our caravan. I like free camping in the bush (forest) where there is noone but us! Enjoy your summer, stay safe, and thank you for visiting my blog last week.
ReplyDeleteWe have been pricing out camper trailers and a new truck for it for just under a year now and are looking forward to trying out that lifestyle within the next few years as my husband moves closer to retirement (though I'm pretty skeptical that will ever happen-- he seems to always be working and I can't imagine him stopping).
DeleteWe are not big travellers but I think it will be easier now the kids are getting older. We really enjoyed our Europe trip in 2019, but right now we will be staying closer to home for a while, having had friends who were unlucky enough to be living outside the country when the Australian borders shut in 2020 - safer to stay home!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a good weekend :)
Away From The Blue
I definitely find travel gets easier and easier as the kids get older. Thankfully travel within the US was never really restricted so we have lots of space to roam while still being "home"
DeleteI prefer cold trips.
ReplyDeleteIt's perpetually hot in our tropical corner of the world!
That I could see.. I feel like we get fewer and fewer hot days in our corner of the world than we used to.
DeleteCold trips?? I didn't realize that was a thing. I mean, not by choice! Oh no. And I'm with you - save all year and have the best vacation you can afford! Great photos....so many fun memories through vacation photos! I always love them -
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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