One more travel/trip thread to round out a long weekend coming up.
I loved when @TiggerDad (I think!) mentioned on another thread how after a long family road trip he asked his kids to write down the most memorable moments. The results were surprising - it wasn’t the expensive theme parks or other grand vacation spots - it was the beach!
To date, what has been your overall “BEST” (you determine the parameters of “best”) family vacation??? It might be just a weekend trip or it could have been a long extended multi-city visit. It might have been jam packed or low key.
We have a lake cottage so most of our vacation $$ over the years have been spent there and maintaining “there”. It is THE BEST for all of us.
But BEST outside trip? I’d have to say 2015 trip to Oregon. A three part trip where we first flew into Portland, drove across the state to Pendleton for a beautiful family barn wedding in perfect weather seeing and enjoying a great family event. After the wedding we drove back across the state stopping along the way for a couple of hiking spots along the Columbia River Gorge to Cannon Beach for a couple of days - fabulous beach walking, small town exploring, good food eating and relaxing. Part three was 2 days in Portland exploring the city from the rose gardens to great diners, and Powell’s bookstore.
It was just the perfect mix of family, exploring, busy and calm. The scenery was beautiful and different from home.
This is such an interesting question. We didn’t go on a lot of vacations, but we enjoyed each time we were away from home together. I have to ponder this one before I come up with an answer.
Our best vacations are when we can take a month or more off and mainly explore. We’ve done a couple of Western trips (one month and two months respectively hitting many national/state parks). I polled my guys on the first one - yes - they love nature the best in the same way their parents do. We’ve also done the Canadian Maritimes and Florida a few times with the family.
The best one on everyone’s list though was a month we spent in HI when my lads were in 8th, 6th, and 4th grades respectively. We pulled them out of school for this (Feb) and had a blast on Kauai, Oahu, and the Big Island with a little stopover on Maui to get the lay of the land. My youngest was 10 so we all got scuba certified and were more able to enjoy the underwater world as well as HI’s gorgeous mountains and canyons. We hiked miles. We ate whatever we wanted often from markets or shrimp trucks or plate meals. We snorkeled. We went diving, including with manta rays. H got a hat that said, “MWRJ - Men Without Real Jobs” and it became more or less our family motto.
If we could ever go back and relive a month, it’s that one. We all had a blast. There aren’t any traveling vacations we’ve disliked though - just tidbits within them - like we could have skipped Vegas and no one would have been disappointed. Skipping Bryce OTOH, would have knocked out 3/5ths of our #1 things we did on the same western trip.
We’ve travelled to lots of “destinations,” but I think the “best” title has to go to those 3-day tent camping trips to state parks when the kids were at that magical age where splashing in the lake and hiking up tiny mountains were special. When setting the marshmallow on fire was the biggest disaster of the day and nobody ever thought to Instagram the moment. When we tiptoed out for a 4AM outhouse run and saw a deer standing in the mist in the clearing under the most amazing stars.
I have trouble answering this one, because we have been fortunate to have a lot of great vacations (and some terrible ones). When the kids were young we had some wonderful summer and winter (skiing) trips to Colorado. We all felt like it was “our” place. When they were a little older we stayed at an eco-campground (tent cottages) on St. John USVI and that became another special place for our family (my husband and I just returned from a week there). We all went back together to St. John a year ago and that doesn’t rank as one of our best vacations even though St. John was as wonderful as ever.
My father and stepmother organized 2 memorable trips for our extended family (my stepsiblings,half brother, our kids and some spouses/SOs)- one was to Hawaii Christmas 2000 and one was a cruise Christmas 2005. It was good to all be together but to have some space to do separate activities.
We’d all agree on two. One was a dude ranch trip we all took for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. My kids & niece & nephew are still talking about it 15 years later and pining to go back. ? The other was our trip to Paris earlier this year.
Believe it or not…DisneyWorld. It was a surprise Christmas present for our kids one year. They got the tickets in their Christmas stockings and we left the following morning. They both said they would love to go back with us. It was just memorable. And yes, we know it will be a different trip with young adults than with elementary school kids…but we will probably do it…at some point.
@thumper1 , I’m right there with you. For some reason that 2005 WDW first time trip is the one that was truly joyful. The boys were still young, but old enough we could plan, talk and laugh about our day. The attractions were so cool, especially my favorite Soarin! The our joy on their faces, it makes my heart swell thinking of those 4 days. I know it’s so corny, but it truly is magical. We did all 4 parks.
We had an adventure family trip to Iceland. It was outstanding! We went snorkeling in the tectonic divide, horseback riding through lava fields, white water rafting, whale watching, and took daily breathtaking hikes. The food was wonderful and people incredible friendly.
Our best was probably the trip we took when DS15 graduated from high school. We took an Alaskan cruise. It required us to unplug and enjoy lots of quality togetherness.
I don’t think I have ever had a bad vacation…except maybe the one to Main on a private island, there was nothing to do and there was no wifi or TV. I think the most memorable one was a trip to Florence with another family. They had 5 people and we had 4. We rented a very large farm house and a van. We played old music in the van - Brady Bunch, Sonny & Cher theme song, Patridge Family. The farm house had “character,” with a private pool and tennis court. We got lost so many times while driving around and we even lost our van one night (got tolled because we parked at a no parking zone).
Italy always feel like home to us, even though we don’s speak a word of Italian we still managed to communicate. Again, my kids grew up at Club Med - never had a beach house. It was our go to place whenever we wanted some beach time.
Most of our family vacations were beach rentals with extended family, and we loved these. Besides them, the one that most stands out was a trip down the Mississippi on a riverbarge (turned into a hotel). Started in Memphis, which we got to early to stay overnight and see Graceland (unexpectedly moving), Sun Studios and a couple other things. Stops at Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge. Several nights in NOLA. Besides the sightseeing and enjoying the different towns, some of the best parts were just sitting out on the roof deck watching the river go by. I read Life on the Mississippi while sitting up there. Kids were I think 15 and 12 and had a great time.
When DS was in 4th or 5th grade, I had to cancel a spring break vacation trip for work reasons. The work issue resolved itself early in the week but it was too late to reschedule the trip. We lived in the suburbs of the Bay Area at the time and I decided to see if there were some day trips we could take to San Francisco just for fun. As I was planning out a list of things to do, I decided to look for last minute hotel fares and found an amazing 3 night rate at a swank hotel just off Union Square. I told kiddo to pack his bag and we headed out.
Kiddo had been to the city before and has been there many times since, but this was a special time.
When my kids were younger, most of our family vacations involved renting a favorite condo in NH and just relaxing for two weeks or touring some place and then relaxing there for a week. We would tour places in Maine or Cape Ann in MA and do all of that but we also had a memorable trip to San Francisco and Yosemite, as well as one to LA and San Diego and one to Montreal and Quebec City and I suppose I would add Disney World also,especially the first time. We had a family tradition of keeping a list for each trip about funny experiences, funny roadside signs, meals, and so on and we still enjoy pulling those lists out and remembering those experiences.
Road (or fly) trippin with my family is my top thing to do. When the kids were little, I think we hit everything to see & do within a 4 hour radius. Disney was our first big trip in 2007. But it was beginning in 2011 that we started to do more exotic (for us) type stuff. We were also fortunate that my parents have taken us 2-3 times (3rd is in June!) to Europe for 2-3 week vacations. I am so grateful to them because we would have never been to do so much on our own.
We are also not chillin’ type vacationers. We prefer to be on the go exploring. We love amusement parks and touristy stuff, yes. But we also love history. One of my favorite memories was when we were at Rheinfels (Germany) just before closing. We had the castle ruins almost all to ourselves when a big thunderstorm came up and we wound up in the pitch black mines below with nothing but camera flashes to light the way. No concern for safety over there! nor at fort in Kormano (slovakia) where we found ourselves touring with a group of 10-12 y.o. schoolkids. The guide led us to the old empty pool - a 8-10’ hole with no rail and lined us all up along the edge. LOL! We also love hiking, and hike several trails each year. And my kids actually like museums - even as teenagers! My older S specifically wanted to see the Louvre in Paris. And on his own excursions abroad this semester, he sent me pics from various art museums and churches! Oh, and adventures. I love those! In the last year, we also went horseback riding and upside-down zip-lining in Mexico and indoor skydiving in Denver! I’m debating doing the real thing when I turn 50…
Every trip is unique. It’s hard to pick a favorite. But we have also learned to take the bad in stride. The stories we love to tell and retell are those that were NOT funny at the time. Now? We will laugh until we cry. Memories…
And another thing we do. My souvenirs are my photo books. the last few years, I let the kids make their own photo books from the trip. It is so interesting to see what they choose to remember and highlight vs me.
We did a multi-generation cruise to Hawaii back when my D was young (it was one of many group family cruises) - this one stood out as my D was old enough to really grasp the cool factor of traveling with her great-grandmother (GG)…they roomed together. Because of this thread I asked her for her favorite memory of the trip and it turns out she and her GG had many (MANY) into the wee hours chats about all things related to life and growing up. The one conversation she had that really struck a chord with her is learning that her GG was a founding member of NOW - my D said “I always knew she was cool beyond her time, but I had no idea HOW cool she was!” That trip was more than 20 years ago. Bless my grandma for all she did for women’s rights (she also happened to be a freedom rider…my kid is right…GG was one cool cat!).
