Vacation Dreaming

[twinmomma]

The talk of vacations in the Monday thread got me thinking.... Who's dreaming of a vacation? What are you hoping to do this year? 

[twinmomma]

I'm trying to figure out what we can realistically pull off for early June. It's beau's 40th birthday and I want to go away somewhere with him. Unfortunately, it won't be warm enough for drive-able beach weather, so I'm not sure what to do.

[supertrooper1]

This is where we went last week. I highly recommend it. The Zilara is adults only and the Ziva is family friendly. You can eat at restaurants at both resorts. Food and service were amazing. We loved having a swim up room. We booked through Costco and got a great deal.
www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/dominican-republic/hyatt-zilara-cap-cana/pujia

twinmomma, we went for my 40th birthday last week. The hotel had a cake waiting in our room, put a happy birthday sash on our door and our resort "butler" made reservations at the restaurant of our choice and they sang happy birthday to me and brought a cake to the table.

In February, we bought a timeshare package that needs to be used within a year and plan to use it for a week in Hawaii this fall/winter. Beau's son and his fiancé are going to Hawaii in September for their honeymoon and asked us to go. I don't mind going with them, but I don't want to go on their honeymoon!

Beau is fixing up the toy hauler trailer we purchased and we plan on doing long weekend trips to Eastern Washington or the Oregon beaches with our motorcycles.

[186momx]

I want vacation so bad. Realistically DH and I won't be fully vaccinated until the end of summer. April 1st opens up for 60+ and the unhoused population here and then free for all on May 1st. I know tons of 65+ that still can't appointments...

Hoping for some long weekends with our friends in East Oregon. Maybe a couple camping trips but those are not vacation at all for me. We have to replace the roof, buy me a new vehicle, and I'm pretty sure DD will be getting braces this summer so there goes any and all vacation funds.

I'm thinking Hawaii next May. Originally I told DD we would go before she turned 10 but then pandemic and she turns 10 in June so that just won't be happening.

[madringal]

We were supposed to take DD1 to HP World in April last year for her 12th birthday gift, and she just turned 13 and we obviously still haven't gone. I would love to be able to take her later this year, but we have nothing booked and won't until things improve significantly.

My family usually rents a lake house in Michigan with my sisters and their families for the week of the 4th. We cancelled that last yer, but this year all the adults will be vaxxed so we are still planning on going.

[rere]

Dd and I are going to Orange Beach AL for spring break with our pod friends next week. Dh has to work will have just received his 1st shot, DS has to work.

We will both be vaccinated by the end of the week, and DHS 50 birthday was last week, but we are going to celebrate in May with a Gatlinburg, TN trip, no kids. He wants to get up, grab coffee and food and go to the park and hike, then come back grab some food, with no kids arguing and have drinks on the balcony. Repeat for 2 days.

We were going to the Bahamas in June for DS'S graduation. However with the testing requirements and the kids not being vaccinated, we changed plans. We wanted to have clear, blue water, white sand and things for the kids to do. So we picked Clwarwater FL, outside of Tampa.

Dd turns 16 in June, she wanted to camp with friends and swim. Thankfully we have some pod families with her friends and thankfully we hang out with a lot of nurses and 1c workers, so hopefully all will be well.

I have a lot of pent up get me the hell out of this house after being locked down this winter and the job from hell over the last year.

[twinmomma]

supertrooper1 the Ziva/Zilara resorts are really nice! That one is brand new, I did a hard hat tour when I was down there while they were building it.

I can get a good deal on my resort through work, and have free flights, but can't decide if I'm comfortable with it yet.

[sdlaura]

We have a lot of trips planned. Nearly all adults in our family and friend groups have had at least their first vaccinations. Vacation planning/looking forward to vacations is my favorite thing, and I figure everything can be changed/cancelled if necessary. We have to fly if we want to see any of our family. My baby is almost a year old and hasn't met FIL who he's named after. Given that our kids are under 10, and that early 2022 I think is the earliest there would be vaccines for that age group, we will be flying before they're vaccinated (with masks and other precautions).

-DH and I are going away for 1 night kid-free for his 45th bday in early May. Just to a local-ish resort in Laguna Beach. My parents and our babysitter will split the kids for the night.
-I'm meeting two (possibly three) girlfriends in wine country near Santa Barbara in mid-May. All of us have birthdays within a 2-week period in May and two of us are turning 40.
-First weekend in June, we're going to a fancy resort in the desert for the weekend with two other pod families. Just bringing our older two kids and leaving the younger two with my parents.
-4th of July and week after we're meeting a bunch of friends for RV camping and then a beach house in Oregon.
-August we're going to see family on the East coast, and renting a house with DH's sister and her family, and the grandparents. We'll stay with my family also for two nights.
-October/fall break we're going to Hawaii with the two pod families and my Portland BFF and her family (and hopefully our babysitter and her husband will be coming too)

This all sounds insane when I write it out -especially with four kids. The only trip where we'll be staying in the same space with another family is the August trip with two cousins also under 10- everything else is separate RVs/hotel rooms/houses. Luckily we have lots of airline miles.

[mommyatty]

We usually book through Amex, using Amex points. So yesterday DH checked our Amex points and freaked out because they were almost all gone. Turns out someone who wasn’t us decided to book a trip to somewhere in Asia using our points. We reported it as fraud, and they won’t be going anywhere but hopefully to jail. And I’m getting a new Amex card.

I think we may book a trip to Hawaii. That feels safer since they’re requiring tests and have low transmission rates. I just have to get DH on board. I won’t do Florida because no masks and it looked crazy there over Spring Break. Punts Cana looked fun but CDC strongly discourages travel to the DR right now, so no way would DH sign off on that one.

[waverly]

We are still doing driveable trips only for the family since the kids are not yet vaccinated. Spring break is about 6 hours south with a heated pool and hot tub and lots of hiking.

Planning a girls beach trip this summer and all should be vaccinated by then since it is August.

That’s as far as I have gotten.

[divanerd]

We are only driving going to the Henderson in Destin for spring break
Oak Bluffs this summer and Long Island to visit family

[mae0111]

I really want to take the kids to AZ - Phoenix, then drive to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, end up in Scottsdale. DH smd I did a similar trip pre-kids, and I’ve always wanted the kids to see the Grand Canyon. But that probably won’t happen until next year.

I’m hoping DH and I can sneak out of town fir a couple of nights in the late summer or fall. Probably local.

[erbear]

We are supposed to go to London, Paris, Provence, Amsterdam and Bruge in June, rescheduled from last June. It is not looking likely

[k3am]

Our spring break involves a 4 day/3 night get away with our neighbors (how are we not sick of them?!?!) to a drivable air BNB. It’s in the middle of wine country and has plenty of entertainment..

There’s a swim up bar, grotto, sand volleyball court, arcade, shuffleboard, etc. We’re going to pay to have them heat the pool, since nights will still be chilly and the pool won’t maintain the heat from the day.

[shakinros]

All adults in our extended families (including us) will be fully vaxxed by mid-May. And every family unit has at least 1 person with long-term diagnosed anxiety, so our plans are a bit cautious!

Driving to see the in-laws this weekend for Easter. Everyone in that group in vaccinated except DH’s sister, so we’ll visit with her outside.

Then a week in the Poconos with my brother and his family at the end of July. Driving.

Then a visit to my parents in GA in august. I will be insisting that DH must get on a plane for this.

That’s all we have planned. Maybe an in-state campground with friends at the end of the summer?

What I’d really like to do is a resort trip in Mexico or DR (or Puerto Rico since we don’t currently have passports). Disney World. A girls trip to anywhere to celebrate my 40th birthday last year. A few nights without DD, even if we just stayed home.

[twinmomma]

k3am, That looks AMAZING. I'm so jealous. We don't have fancy AirBNBs like that around here.

[erinshelley21]

I want to go where k3am is going.

I really just want to go almost anywhere. DH and I are hoping to rent a cabin in Broken Bow, OK in the fall. Not sure where we are going in June for a quick getaway with the kids. Probably a Michigan beach.

Ideally DH and I would go to an all-inclusive in the fall, but he's pretty against flying at the moment, so drivable anniversary trip it is.

[mustardseed2007]

We did do WDW. I already posted about that. It was just ok. Pretty stressful but not terrible.

In June right after school lets out we have a beach house at the crummy beach that's an hour from us. Although the beach is crummy I'm looking forward to it. I think after that we'll go to my ILs cabin in the Texas Hill Country and visit some wineries and just be in the country.

Basically I am yearning for short trips in quiet places where it's mostly just our family spending time together. Disney was too hectic and I was too keyed up about everything.

[mellym]

k3am, could you share the link to that Air BNB? Looks amazing!

We are going with another couple to Hawaii in August for our 15 year wedding anniversary. DH found out he is going to a conference in Nashville in July for work so I might tag along for the weekend. DH's family has a house near Tampa and my in laws want us all to go there for their 40th wedding anniversary in November. My MIL asked my DH about it last week and we haven't really talked about it yet. I don't think I can stay in one house with all of my extended in law family...

DH is fully vaccinated and I will be after tonight. Yay!

[mommyatty]

I may be successfully advocating for a trip to Hawaii this summer because of Hawaii’s testing protocols. That would be awesome. The other option is a dude ranch somewhere like Montana where there aren’t a lot of people. But DH and DS are kind of sissy and complain animals stink, so I would rather do Hawaii.

[k3am]

mellym sure!

abnb.me/sMyVIYwTefb

It’s a little pricey.. but we figured we’re going in on it with two other families and none of us have had real vacations in a while..

[vasc]

We are doing a nearly-two-week road trip to NY state in June to visit some elderly relative. Camping two nights in Letchworth State Park while there, then going back home via Hershey, PA, for two nights. We are also going to drive through the parts of Virginia where we used to live going up and coming back down.

DD has two weeks of camp end of June, early July.

Doing another three night camping trip to a state park on a major lake in July.

We’ve already reserved the same cabin we went to last year in the Smoky Mountains for Thanksgiving.

[twinmomma]

I talked to beau about the tropical vacation idea for his birthday and he's not comfortable with it. Not due to covid, just with staffing the restaurant and going away when the weather would be really nice and they'll hopefully be busier. Maybe by the fall. We don't have the kids for Thanksgiving this year, so we've talked about going away just us for that long weekend.

We did find out that my parents are planning a wedding celebration for my brother for the end of July, so we may turn that into a longer stretch up at the lake. They eloped during covid, so my parents are going to do a cookout for family and friends this summer.

[186momx]

mommyatty, have you thought about taking the kids and leaving YH home if he doesn't want to travel?

[mommyatty]

Apr 6, 2021 14:49:58 GMT -5 186momx said:

mommyatty, have you thought about taking the kids and leaving YH home if he doesn't want to travel?

I’ve threatened him with this, but going alone with two kids who have very different interests and energy levels would be terrible.

[k3am]

I feel the need to point out that the price on our Airbnb has gone up a crazy amount since we booked! I’m far too cheap to book somewhere that’s close to $3k/night.

[sandandsea]

DHs family is trying to book a replacement for the cruise that was cancelled last year. Everyone was all in for Hawaii but then his parents almost hit the floor at $400/night hotel rooms for the summer months. They were expecting close to $200 because “they’ve been three times and have always gotten good deals. “ They also only go during the off season, don’t care about pools or kids activities or beaches.
So we are back to square 1.

[mae0111]

We are doing our annual beach vacation within driving distance. My ILs aren’t coming this year. It will be weird because DD1 isn’t coming either - she will be away at camp. It will definitely change the dynamic of the vacation.

[xctsclrx]

I am leaving for the beach for an girls trip in 28 days!!!! that's the only vacation planned due to potty training DD. Next summer I have convinced DH that we are going on a family vacation and a couple vacation.

We haven't been away together since Nov. 2019 and it wasn't a great trip because I was so insecure about my body and depressed. I really didn't realize how bad it was until that trip. I can't wait to go away with him again.

[mommyatty]

So I was looking at dude ranches in Colorado. I was actually looking for family camps, but that led me back to dude ranches. Omg. Hawaii would be much cheaper.