Winter Holiday Travel

Parent Cafe
1

The carry on travel thread has me dreaming of another family trip. We have been so fortunate to have several amazing family trips over the years. Our opportunities to travel are severely limited these days. Our oldest will not be available this summer due to an internship. Next summer will be much of the same and it is likely that our next will not be traveling with the family after HS graduation (reaching for a military academy). We are thinking we could carve out 7-12 days over Christmas/New Year’s time that might work for everyone for a last family vacation.

Looking for ideas of destinations that you have enjoyed in December/January. We typically explore cities, love history, culture, and architecture but we also love the outdoors: hiking, beaches, lakes, etc… We have only ever traveled in the spring and summer.

We have never been to an island or anything tropical. We have never cruised. There will be 5 of us. Most of us would be happy to sit on a beach but that will only be good for my husband and 2 of the kids for a few days. They are looking for some exploring or something other than sitting on the same beach for a week. We will be departing from the Mid-Atlantic region.

Any suggestions? Where have you gone that you’ve loved? We are open to anything right now and then we will look at the logistics.

2

Here’s a thread from last year that might give you some ideas: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/2091238-do-you-ever-go-away-over-christmas-holidays-not-including-family-visits-p1.html

3

Maui offers lots of beach sitting opportunities, but also plenty of hiking to be had, snorkeling is great, you can go to other islands if you choose to, and there are lots of nice restaurants at multiple price points. They do have an aquarium, but not so much in the history/culture department.

4

There is a 10 day Royal Caribbean cruise that departs out of Baltimore. We did it…and it was great. There are a number of other cruises departing out of NJ ports. Check those out.

What about an all inclusive in a nice warm place.

5

I was actually going to say Hawaii, like @1214mom . But I was going to say Honolulu, then do an island hop. We took our young adult sons and they really like Oahu, lots to do. Half the island is big city gorgeous, and the other half is more rural and gorgeous.

Don’t do a cruise. It’s easy to feel ancy if you like to be put exploring.

San Diego is a great place, as it’s temperate all year and has tons to do and explore. It’s also only 2 hours from LA, if you want to do a day trip.