Vacations

[FaithManor]

Yes. Dh works IT and not being at home near his work computer is the only guaranteed work break he can get. Vacations of an extended period are kind of sacred to management at his company, but a day off her or there, not so much and they think nothing of calling.

 

Some years it is simple and we stay at the lake at a friend's cabin. We used to camp, but I do not enjoy that and did it for years when the kids were little so now say "dry roof, cooking without mosquitos, with restaurant options". Every couple of years we save for something grander. The last time was a trip west to see the Bqdlands, Minuteman Missile Silos, Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, and Devil's Tower.

 

This summer is just four days in Cuyahoga National Park which is only five or six hours away.

 

We have traveled quite a bit with the kids. We have also traveled just the two of us. I went to France alone to see my sister, we traveled together to Egypt, and we took our middle boy to Iceland when he saved enough to buy his plane ticket and pay for an expensive excursion he wanted to take, we paid our way, the food, and lodgings.

 

Jamaica or Puerto Rico is up next. Our grown niece's and nephews want to take a couples vacation, apparently Dh and I are cool enough that we have been invited.

[rebcoola]

I think under your definition I have taken 1 in my whole life.  When I was 3 and my parents won a trip to disneyland.  We take a lot of long weekends camping or visiting the city.  We also take longer trips to visit family which are usually a lot of fun.  

[PeachyDoodle]

We take a weeklong vacation at the coast every summer, and have for as long as I can remember. Growing up, we were fortunate to have family friends with access to an oceanfront condo who invited us. It was cramped and the kids shared beds or slept on the floor, but it was fun! My mother says there's no way we would have been able to afford a vacation if not for our friends.

 

DH's family rarely took family vacations. His parents vacationed separately, each going off with a group of their friends. I think that's weird, but then I think a lot of things they do are weird. :tongue_smilie:

 

Now we go with my parents and usually my sister (and a guest, if she chooses to bring one -- she's not married). DH and I would have a hard time funding an annual trip on our own, but now that my parents are better off financially, they pay for the lodging as a gift. We stay at the condo belonging to our friends, or at another home belonging to other friends, so the rate is discounted. DH and I contribute most of the groceries. We cook in most meals and go out once or twice.

 

DH and I try to make another short getaway with just the two of us once a year or so. Often that is only for one night though.

[Farrar]

These responses really are all over the board.

 

We probably get one on average every year. Last year we went to Mexico. The year before that we went to Niagara Falls and briefly to Toronto. Before that it had been a couple of years, but we went to both Disney and spent a month traveling in southern Africa, thus the break from anything more than a quick getaway nearby or to go see family.

 

This fall we're going to Disney again (for the last time, and this time on our own dime). We're hoping to go to Australia before the end of 2019 to see friends while they're living there. That one will be expensive so it'll be a bit like Africa - other vacation killing.

[Alice]

Yes, on average two a year.

 

The kids and I go to the beach every year with my family. I'm an only child. My parents rent the house and invite us to come. Dh doesn't love the beach and doesn't get a lot of vacation time so he typically only stays for a long weekend and the rest of us stay the full week. 

 

We typically go on one longer trip a year (10 days). Dh and I both really love travel and have tried to pass that on to the kids. Depending on the trip and the year we might also go on smaller trips that are long weekends. 

 

I get money and time off every year for continuing medical education and we sometimes combine a vacation with a conference for me. The conferences typically have classes in the morning and then leave the afternoons and evenings free so it works well for a mini-vacation for the family. We usually do that if it's a year where we aren't taking as big of another vacation. 

 

 

[Zinnia]

We go every year, but my definition of vacation is much looser than yours. My inlaws live about 15 minutes from the beach. Sometimes we go to visit them. Sometimes we go to the beach, and we stay with them. We call the second a vacation.

 

We camp, we stay pretty lowbrow ($75/night), we eat from the grocery store, etc. But I love vacation, and it's worth it to me to do the penny pinching to make it happen.

[frogger]

We took our first family vacation (by your definition) this year. My son is 17 and I wanted at least one before we started losing kids to adulthood. We have done little camping trips and a major trip to visit relatives in various places in the lower 48. It would have been nice to afford more but we enjoy the little things we do to.

[SKL]

We try to do some international travel a couple times a year.  I figure I'm getting old, and if I wait until my kids are grown, I might not be able to do it.

 

That said, I always bring work.  Sometimes we have work crises that we have to handle in the most remote locations, LOL.  But it's better than never getting away.

[Crimson Wife]

 I get money and time off every year for continuing medical education and we sometimes combine a vacation with a conference for me. The conferences typically have classes in the morning and then leave the afternoons and evenings free so it works well for a mini-vacation for the family. We usually do that if it's a year where we aren't taking as big of another vacation. 

 

I'm looking forward to doing this kind of thing once I (hopefully) get my certification as a speech therapist. Being able to write off the costs of travel and lodging on our taxes would make it far more affordable for us to do vacations. There was a conference this week in Lisbon, Portugal that I would've loved to attend since I've never been there and we could've tacked on travel to Spain since I've never been there either.

[TheReader]

We didn't in the early days of our marriage (we went annually to see my dad in St. Louis back then, driving 12+ hrs each way), but ever since our time in Brazil we've made it a priority. 

 

Brazil was fabulous for it -- by law, everyone gets 30 days vacation, and vacation pay is higher than normal pay, and you must take 10 days in a row minimum. DH had some wiggle room with that since he was an ex-pat (for ex, legally, weekend days also count as your days off; dh didn't have to count those, and didn't have to take 10 days in a row) -- AND Christmas was a 2 week break when his company closed, that didn't count as vacation. We really took advantage of all of that, and got in the habit of traveling a lot, though usually 5 days was our max just because we don't prefer to be away from home for more than that. 

 

Once we returned, he negotiated to keep the longer vacation time, and we budget both time (days off) and money all year so that we can take one "big" vacation, a handful of "long weekend" trips, and still have him home the 2 weeks of Christmas. He has also used airline miles to fly me to join him on work trips when he's gone to interesting places (I have twice met him in Buenos Aires for a weekend; since it's a work trip, the hotel is covered; flight was paid with airline miles, so my cost is only my food). 

 

There's so much of the world to see, and so few years with our boys still at home, we're trying to see as much as we can, while we can. Although, honestly, we'll likely continue bringing the kids along as long as they're willing to come. 

[Ausmumof3]

We caravan for a fortnight or so most years and sometimes longer. We get four weeks annual leave here plus public holidays and there is free or fairly cheap camping available as long as you don't mind it not being luxurious and maybe a bit remote. It is a bit of hard work getting set up to go but after that it's great.

[Guest]

Yes, but the frequency is not always the same. We have not gone for the past two years. Most years, we have taken a ski trip in the winter or early spring and a beach trip in the summer. We have done other things, like Disney, infrequently; more or less a five-six year interval.

[mommyoffive]

We didn't in the early days of our marriage (we went annually to see my dad in St. Louis back then, driving 12+ hrs each way), but ever since our time in Brazil we've made it a priority. 

 

Brazil was fabulous for it -- by law, everyone gets 30 days vacation, and vacation pay is higher than normal pay, and you must take 10 days in a row minimum. DH had some wiggle room with that since he was an ex-pat (for ex, legally, weekend days also count as your days off; dh didn't have to count those, and didn't have to take 10 days in a row) -- AND Christmas was a 2 week break when his company closed, that didn't count as vacation. We really took advantage of all of that, and got in the habit of traveling a lot, though usually 5 days was our max just because we don't prefer to be away from home for more than that. 

 

Once we returned, he negotiated to keep the longer vacation time, and we budget both time (days off) and money all year so that we can take one "big" vacation, a handful of "long weekend" trips, and still have him home the 2 weeks of Christmas. He has also used airline miles to fly me to join him on work trips when he's gone to interesting places (I have twice met him in Buenos Aires for a weekend; since it's a work trip, the hotel is covered; flight was paid with airline miles, so my cost is only my food). 

 

There's so much of the world to see, and so few years with our boys still at home, we're trying to see as much as we can, while we can. Although, honestly, we'll likely continue bringing the kids along as long as they're willing to come. 

 

 

Wow, Amazing.  I am always so jealous of other countries. 

 

 

We got bit by the travel bug about 5 years ago.  Before that we did night or two. 

 

Now I go nuts if we go 2 months without a vacation.   I like to travel. 

 

Some are 2-6 days and some are more like 3 weeks.   I like the longer ones better.  

 

We could save a ton of money if we didn't travel for sure.  And yes it is hard.  But I want to see so many places and I don't want to wait until we are older because you just never know.  I also really want to do it with my kids.  

[creekland]

Wow, Amazing.  I am always so jealous of other countries. 

 

 

We got bit by the travel bug about 5 years ago.  Before that we did night or two. 

 

Now I go nuts if we go 2 months without a vacation.   I like to travel. 

 

Some are 2-6 days and some are more like 3 weeks.   I like the longer ones better.  

 

We could save a ton of money if we didn't travel for sure.  And yes it is hard.  But I want to see so many places and I don't want to wait until we are older because you just never know.  I also really want to do it with my kids.  

 

This is us too - 'cept hubby and I were bit by the travel bug before birth I think.  I always tell people that's why I'm missing so many of the girl/woman or even human "typical" characteristics.  Before we were born when we were supposed to be in line getting those I was sidetracked looking at travel brochures...

[mommyoffive]

This is us too - 'cept hubby and I were bit by the travel bug before birth I think.  I always tell people that's why I'm missing so many of the girl/woman or even human "typical" characteristics.  Before we were born when we were supposed to be in line getting those I was sidetracked looking at travel brochures...

 

Ha.

 

Yeah I didn't grow up with it.  We went on some vacations, but not much.  

 

I did study abroad in college and some other vacations then. 

 

It just got on the back burner for years.  I am so sad it did.  Regret it.  I wish I had spent the money from our wedding on that. 

 

 

 

But yeah I love it now.  We just got back from one and I already looking into booking our next one.   Normally we have one booked already.  I like to go on a vacation and have another one booked after that so I am not depressed when I get home. 

[KungFuPanda]

Not really . . . maybe every 5 years?  We live in the Mid Atlantic, so it's easy to do day trips or long weekends.  We do this often enough that we don't feel deprived.  We don't care for crowds and after about 3 nights everyone is ready for their own rooms/beds.  Also, finding a place that is wheelchair accessible AND welcoming to our non-service-dog dog is tricky.

[Twolittleboys]

We generally go several weeks per year (not when kids were really little though). It used to be quite a lot of weeks but we have cut back quite a bit so we will probably do three to four weeks this year (or I guess two).

 

However, we have no extended family to visit and very rarely go away for long weekends (or even for daytrips). And as a single mother and being self-employed it really is the only break I ever get so it is pretty high up on my list of "necessary" things (for example we don't have a car, live in an apartment instead of a house, I rarely buy new clothes etc.). Also, we have taken quite a lot of trips to the US (we live in Europe) and what with the expense of the flight and the time change etc. it doesn't seem worth doing for less than three weeks.

 

When I was a child, we probably went on average on two one week vacations a year but most vacations were either in Germany, Austria, or Italy. I didn't travel farther than that until I was 15.

[creekland]

To share something cute... middle son (my now college grad) had done a poll about how many US states they had visited for one of his pals who needed data.  She's a teacher now in a high school.  She literally just posted a thank you to all who helped with the poll so her kids could do mean, median, mode, range, and a special thanks to the "49" data point so she could teach "outlier!"   :lol:  (He just showed it to me... the timing with this thread is impeccable.)

 

Don't feel badly if you haven't traveled as much.  The majority don't.  We are extremely fortunate that hubby's job can be done remotely while we're on the road.

[LifeLovePassion]

Yes! We make a point to each year take some just us family vacation time. We do trips with various extended family, and they are not true vacations to us as there is so much going on.

 

That being said, our main vacations have been to a rustic resort for a week. The cost is low for lodging at $400/week including tax and firewood we buy at the store. It is about 5 hours drive time from home. We bring our fishing boat and also explore the many nearby state parks and lakes.

 

We just did a bigger trip to the black hills and Badlands with a quick stop at devil's Tower. It was still a road trip, but we had to test our longer/bigger vacation tolerance level before flying somewhere.

 

Don't think we are Disney people, but maybe universal for Harry Potter. I am hoping to one day convince hubby to go see beaches and the Everglades some winter.

[sassenach]

In the summer we try to do at least a week, usually closer to 2, at a vacation home (almost always a friends').

 

Most years we try to get away for 3-5 days sometime during winter or spring break. This years' got canceled because of a poorly timed blizzard.

 

 

[Rachel]

To share something cute... middle son (my now college grad) had done a poll about how many US states they had visited for one of his pals who needed data. She's a teacher now in a high school. She literally just posted a thank you to all who helped with the poll so her kids could do mean, median, mode, range, and a special thanks to the "49" data point so she could teach "outlier!" :lol: (He just showed it to me... the timing with this thread is impeccable.)

 

Don't feel badly if you haven't traveled as much. The majority don't. We are extremely fortunate that hubby's job can be done remotely while we're on the road.

That's pretty good!

 

I hung a giant wall map up in our school/playroom and we counted how many states each person had visited. My husband is at 42, I'm a few behind. The kids have all been to right around 25, they really want to get to all 50. The work and family trips can allow you to see a lot!

[The Girls' Mom]

When the girls were small we'd usually take a week long trip once a year or so.  Back when it was cheap, and we could cram everyone into one bed..lol.  As they got older, cost more, and grew opinions, the vacations started getting spaced out more.  The last one was about 3 years ago..a week long trip to NYC.  It was probably our last as a family, all together.  We found it very expensive, and we have too many different interests/dislikes for all of us to really enjoy it. Dh's health doesn't hold up well for that long either....at least not well enough for him to have a good time.  

 

 

[TheReader]

Wow, Amazing.  I am always so jealous of other countries. 

 

 

We got bit by the travel bug about 5 years ago.  Before that we did night or two. 

 

Now I go nuts if we go 2 months without a vacation.   I like to travel. 

 

Some are 2-6 days and some are more like 3 weeks.   I like the longer ones better.  

 

We could save a ton of money if we didn't travel for sure.  And yes it is hard.  But I want to see so many places and I don't want to wait until we are older because you just never know.  I also really want to do it with my kids.  

 

Yea, it was really amazing. Definitely one of the big perks we enjoyed while there. 

[teachermom2834]

We recently went to the beach for our first vacation in 4 years. We went for a full week which we had never managed before.

 

We found the beach to be good for big kids coming and going between the condo on their own as they wished and three bedrooms allowed everyone space. The last couple days people got grumpy and were ready to go home.

 

We like vacations and can rarely afford them. I put us in the category that enjoys it but we also like being home. We wouldn't like to go and go and go. It can be too much togetherness (hard to admit) and I get anxious about the cost and that limits my full enjoyment.

[solascriptura]

We take "real" vacations at least once a year and sometimes twice.  In the past, it usually involved a very long flight across the ocean, but we sometimes do road trips to Canada.  I'm extremely thankful and don't take this for granted at all.  Both my dh and I have wanderlust and some of our kids are catching the bug too.  So thankful!

[katilac]

Every year since the kids have been school aged. Possibly every year, but I'm not positive we didn't miss one in the haze of toddlerhood. 

 

 

 We live in the Mid Atlantic, so it's easy to do day trips or long weekends.   

 

That actually sounds very enticing to me! We are geographically challenged in that regard, alas. 

[Sherry in OH]

We've taken a lot of long weekend excursions, but most longer trips have been to visit family.  By your definition, we've had four vacations in 10 years.  Three of those included family.

 

 

[SemiSweet]

We take a couple a year but they can vary pretty dramatically. We sometimes take the kids and other times we don't. This calendar year includes 5 days in NYC (with kids), 9 days in Paris/London (without kids), camping in Salem, MA (with kids), a road trip to MI to visit family, and hopefully a long weekend at a cabin in Vermont in Oct. Last year our big trips included 5 days camping at Niagara Falls and 10 Disney/Cruise/Universal days.

 

I'm hoping to get to South America next year and maybe back to Asia.

 

Traveling is extremely important to me and dh. We both lived abroad at times during our childhoods, but didn't vacation as kids. After dh retires from the military we intend to try to spend two years on each continent sans Antarctica.

[Pam in CT]

We take a couple a year but they can vary pretty dramatically. We sometimes take the kids and other times we don't. This calendar year includes 5 days in NYC (with kids), 9 days in Paris/London (without kids), camping in Salem, MA (with kids), a road trip to MI to visit family, and hopefully a long weekend at a cabin in Vermont in Oct. Last year our big trips included 5 days camping at Niagara Falls and 10 Disney/Cruise/Universal days.

 

I'm hoping to get to South America next year and maybe back to Asia.

 

Traveling is extremely important to me and dh. We both lived abroad at times during our childhoods, but didn't vacation as kids. After dh retires from the military we intend to try to spend two years on each continent sans Antarctica.

 

 

That is... beyond awesome.

 

I have a friend who's run marathons in each continent.  Including Antarctica.  She's my hero.

[creekland]

That's pretty good!

 

I hung a giant wall map up in our school/playroom and we counted how many states each person had visited. My husband is at 42, I'm a few behind. The kids have all been to right around 25, they really want to get to all 50. The work and family trips can allow you to see a lot!

 

I told him to ask what the mean, median, mode, and range were due to my own curiosity.   :coolgleamA:

 

I regret not getting to Alaska, but the economic downturn hit and then we needed to do college visits, etc.  Such is life.  They'll have that as a Bucket List place with their families I suppose.

 

 After dh retires from the military we intend to try to spend two years on each continent sans Antarctica.

 

We haven't set a time limit for ourselves (thinking 18 months or so in a location), but we want to hit all the continents in depth too.  Right now we're on pause while we're caring for our parents.  We're needed here.  Seeing the Eclipse is our summer plan/hope and then, if we can swing it, getting to see Petra late this fall while youngest is studying in Jordan.  The Middle East area has never been on my "desired" list (being an independent female who bristles at much of their lifestyle rules in places), but I'll get over it long enough to see Petra.  Some things are worth it.

 

Antarctica (for a visit) is definitely in our bucket.

[Lady Florida.]

When I was a kid (before age 10), we camped for 2 weeks every summer.  We didn't travel to visit family; everyone lived in the same area, no more than an hour away.

 

When I was 10 we moved from NY to CA, and vacations changed.  We didn't camp so much, and didn't go as often. 

 

 

 

That's how it was for us though it wasn't always camping. Sometimes it was, sometimes we stayed in a hotel. But our family was all in the area so we didn't go to visit family.

 

When I was 13 we moved to Florida and the annual vacations stopped. What we did then was host family who all suddenly decided they need to visit us and go to WDW (free hotel rooms at our house, as well as free tour guides). 

 

Right.  Dogs -- love them, wouldn't want to live without them, but they are serious vacation restrictors, lol.  For years when we went somewhere we couldn't take the dog we left ours with my parents, to the great joy of both dog and parents, but now that they've moved we have significantly circumscribed the options at significantly higher expense and hassle.

 

Our Sheltie (my avatar) went with us when we did travel, whether it was to Tennessee to visit dh's grandmother or a "real" vacation. We became quite good at finding pet friendly hotels along our route. We also camped at pet friendly campgrounds. In general though I agree with you. Dogs make it harder to travel either because of having to only go where they're welcome, having to board them (expensive!) or having to find someone who can watch them for you. Cats are easier. :)

[mommyoffive]

We take a couple a year but they can vary pretty dramatically. We sometimes take the kids and other times we don't. This calendar year includes 5 days in NYC (with kids), 9 days in Paris/London (without kids), camping in Salem, MA (with kids), a road trip to MI to visit family, and hopefully a long weekend at a cabin in Vermont in Oct. Last year our big trips included 5 days camping at Niagara Falls and 10 Disney/Cruise/Universal days.

 

I'm hoping to get to South America next year and maybe back to Asia.

 

Traveling is extremely important to me and dh. We both lived abroad at times during our childhoods, but didn't vacation as kids. After dh retires from the military we intend to try to spend two years on each continent sans Antarctica.

 

 

So cool.   With the kids? 

 

I love reading blogs of people who are traveling the world.   I would do it in a heartbeat. 

[Pam in CT]

...

 

Our Sheltie (my avatar) went with us when we did travel, whether it was to Tennessee to visit dh's grandmother or a "real" vacation. We became quite good at finding pet friendly hotels along our route. We also camped at pet friendly campgrounds. In general though I agree with you. Dogs make it harder to travel either because of having to only go where they're welcome, having to board them (expensive!) or having to find someone who can watch them for you. Cats are easier. :)

 

 

I know, right?  I    :001_wub: Sheraton and more recently Klimpton.

 

We try hard to take ours anyplace we are driving to, and as you say we generally can figure it out and, God bless Sheratons and Klimptons, it's certainly cheaper than paying someone to take care of him.  Last year we took him on a canal boat for 5 days, and though he was visibly relieved to get back to terra firma it worked out OK.

 

But my dog doesn't fly, and that's a Travel Limiter.

[EMS83]

Not so far, nope!

[SemiSweet]

That is... beyond awesome.

 

I have a friend who's run marathons in each continent.  Including Antarctica.  She's my hero.

 

 

We haven't set a time limit for ourselves (thinking 18 months or so in a location), but we want to hit all the continents in depth too.  Right now we're on pause while we're caring for our parents.  We're needed here.  Seeing the Eclipse is our summer plan/hope and then, if we can swing it, getting to see Petra late this fall while youngest is studying in Jordan.  The Middle East area has never been on my "desired" list (being an independent female who bristles at much of their lifestyle rules in places), but I'll get over it long enough to see Petra.  Some things are worth it.

 

Antarctica (for a visit) is definitely in our bucket.

I definitely want to go to Antarctica, I just don't want to spend 2 years there.  

 

So cool.   With the kids? 

 

I love reading blogs of people who are traveling the world.   I would do it in a heartbeat. 

 

The older two will be off in college and the little one will be high school age, so if he doesn't want to do it we may delay a couple years and just do it ourselves.  We have and will continue to make every effort to be completely debt free so we can escape with our savings and retirement and have fun.  Haha.  

[6packofun]

I just got back from my first "real" vacation in years and it was just a long weekend.  We very rarely get to go anywhere for trips and the only reason I was able to was because my 21yo daughter paid for the room at a waterpark where there was an anime convention she and my 2 other daughters wanted to attend!  (Cosplaying, etc.)  We all sort of chipped in for other stuff but it was mainly funded by my daughter.  That was humbling.

 

They had a blast, I got to relax and (just being real here) get a little break from our youngest and life in general!  I don't know when we'll ever get to go somewhere again.  Maybe a few years, just with dh.  I'm very very grateful to have adult children who still want to hang out with me and have me along on an adventure!!  :)

[Dmmetler]

For the last 2 years (and in a few weeks, this year) DD has gone to a summer program on a college campus. Since it's far enough that it's not reasonable to take her and drop her off, DH and I have rented a house and enjoyed the week with just the two of us. Each year we go in a slightly different direction.

 

It's been awesome.

 

We also usually add a day or two when DD goes to Herpetology conferences.

Edited June 6, 2017 by dmmetler

[mommyoffive]

Like some pp, our definition of vacation and yours differs.  We pay for all of ours (except when my mom joins us, then she pays more than her fair share by choice).

 

We travel a ton, but hubby is self-employed so we also need to keep income coming in.  We'll be gone for a week or a couple of months, but often he'll be taking nights or other "down time" like when others are showering and get some work done.  We see it more as relocating and adjusting hours to explore new areas.  Many times we camp (tent).  Sometimes we splurge - like our month in HI - almost all oceanfront condos except when at Volcanoes NP and staying there.  If we were independently wealthy, we'd likely be on the road (or sea) 24/7 just meandering along (see my avatar).  Since we aren't (independently wealthy) we do the best we can.  There will be whole days off for hubby now and then, but no actual trip is work free if it's at least a week long (our shorter stuff - 2 or 3 days - can be work free).  We try to get away at least once per month.  Some of those are to see family (most are right now due to health issues).  During high school years, many were to see colleges, but we still did other things along the way.  EVERY year since our wedding we've gone on an Anniversary trip, but many of those were short ones.  He knows better than to be working on those.   ;)

 

I grew up with annual vacations at Christmas - to FL to see family, but also stopping at Disney once they opened - and summer (not to family).  I had been to all but three states east of the Mississippi River by the time I went to college (and two Canadian Provinces + a small bit of Mexico).  My own kids had been to 49 of the 50 states (missed Alaska), all of Eastern Canada (except Newfoundland) and a couple of foreign countries before they graduated.  Hubby grew up with a vacation cottage owned by his parents and Airstream camping.  Both of us have travel genes.  We only settled down because we needed something to pay the bills (and wanted our kids to have a "hometown").

 

So neat.  I honestly have no idea how many states I have been too. Never even thought to track it.  People that track this fascinate me.   I wonder what really counts as being there?   A stopover on a flight?  Driving through?  Do you have to stay a day?  A week?  Travel all over the state?  

Where some states a complete bore?

[Seasider]

Growing up the cost of basics (especially housing, healthcare, and higher education) were much lower relative to incomes so vacations were way more common. My parents had a lower income (in inflation adjusted dollars) but a LOT more disposable cash for things like vacations

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think we had more "disposable" time, too. With kids in different activities and/or working, it's hard for everyone to get time off together.

[Pam in CT]

So neat.  I honestly have no idea how many states I have been too. Never even thought to track it.  People that track this fascinate me.   I wonder what really counts as being there?   A stopover on a flight?  Driving through?  Do you have to stay a day?  A week?  Travel all over the state?  

Where some states a complete bore?

 

 

:laugh:

 

We keep a family list of both countries and states.  Our "rule" is that we have to stay overnight and see at least one legitimately local "thing" (i.e., not an Applebees) for it to "count."  Airport-only stopovers don't count even if there's an airport hotel involved; car drive-throughs don't count even if we stop and see a state park or something, unless we stay overnight.

 

(For me: 50 countries, 37 states.  Each family member has a different count, though.)

[creekland]

So neat.  I honestly have no idea how many states I have been too. Never even thought to track it.  People that track this fascinate me.   I wonder what really counts as being there?   A stopover on a flight?  Driving through?  Do you have to stay a day?  A week?  Travel all over the state?  

Where some states a complete bore?

 

With the boys we tracked it on a map.  They colored in a state when we had visited it.  We counted everything (but airport stops were never a thing), but we also took back roads and tried to find something to explore - even if it was watching crops get harvested in ND. We wanted to see the lay of the land - the towns - the people.  

 

We had a rule that we couldn't eat at any restaurant we could eat at around home (chains) so discovered plenty of mom and pop places.  It was quite common to be noticed as someone new and strike up conversations with waitresses or owners.  Some owners even made their specialties for us or came out to ask how we liked what we ordered.  We've been the first folks from PA some waitresses had ever met... lots of cool memories we'd have never gotten traveling interstates or stopping at McDonald's.  

 

Then too, since we were roadtripping we also stopped at grocery stores and bought picnic foods choosing to eat at a local park.  My guys could play with any kids - and kids willingly accepted them into their groups for our time.  One of my best memories comes from seeing my boys interacting with various races and genders - all over.  Kids don't know there's supposed to be racism!  This also happened at campgrounds.  In HI we were at a beach and my boys were boogie boarding.  I was standing on the beach watching Spinner Dolphins (my favorite) and overheard one older lady asking another if she was ready to go back.  That lady replied, "Just a minute.  I want to take some pictures of the native boys out there."  She was taking pics of MY boys.  Uh... it was their first time ever in HI.  In someone's scrapbook they are natives though!   :lol:

 

With countries we don't keep track as a family - except for Canadian provinces.  To me and my guys Canada isn't a foreign country mentally.  My mom lives on the border (can see Canada from her street - just look across the river).  We go there so regularly it's just another place not something exotic.  We often forget to count it as a country...  Anyway we haven't done as much foreign travel due to the economy tanking.  We wanted to get all 50 states (and whatever in provinces) in first, then head international.  We've been places individually or in pairs - Greece, Jamaica, Haiti, Bahamas, Mexico, France, Cote D'Ivoire, Panama, etc, etc, etc, but not together as a whole group - hence - we don't count them in the same way.  If we could have all traveled together, we'd have counted them on their own world map.

[Wheres Toto]

Growing up vacations were always done with my grandparents, never my mother.  She just couldn't afford to take the time off, or for the vacation itself.  Most of these were driving - for me it was up and down the east coast.  My brother went on a 3 week trip with them to Alaska but I was in a wedding that summer and get car sick, so 3 weeks of driving was a nightmare idea for me.

 

Other than when dh was self-employed and we stuck to long weekend camping trips, we usually took a week or two every year.  Often camping.  Last year we went to Florida for 2 weeks, a week in Disney and a week with family.  Then we took a week camping in Pennsylvania at Cherry Springs. This year we went to North Carolina camping for two weeks (just got back Saturday in fact).    I tagged along on a work trip to Greece with dh about 7 years ago, but no kids.   

 

For a while, at least one vacation a year was due to oldest dd's dance Nationals.  We did Florida, Cape Cod, and a lot of the Jersey Shore for that.  We're only 2 hours from most Shore Points, so weekend trips are easy.

 

I already told dh that 2 years from now, I want to take a trip out west.  I want to see the Redwoods, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, etc.  I've never been out west, except quick work trips to San Diego, San Francisco and LA.