Help me brainstorm 25th anniversary trips

[Kidlit]

Dh and I will celebrate this milestone in 2024.  We're in the dreaming stage so nothing is off limits.  We've thought about a cruise (Alaskan or Disney) and also just regular trips.  We tend toward going and doing, though the older I grow, the more I like relaxing and doing nothing. We're considering trips with kids (who will then be 20, 18, 14, and 11) and without.  Ideas?

[Lori D.]

We had honeymooned on Vancouver Island, BC, and returned for our 25th anniversary (without children).

It's a lovely place, and as the locals say, it is visited by "the newly wed and the nearly dead" -- so I guess we hit it on both ends of that saying... 😉 🤣

Edited January 7, 2023 by Lori D.

[Kidlit]

11 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

We had honeymooned on Vancouver Island, BC, and returned for our 25th anniversary (without children).

It's a lovely place, and as the locals say, it is visited by "the newly wed and the nearly dead" -- so I guess we hit it on both ends of that saying... 😉 🤣

Ah!  How could I forget--we honeymooned on PEI, Canada (lifelong Anne of GG fan here, accommodating hubby 🥰). It's the opposite side of the country, but worth a revisit. 
 

other ideas?

[gardenmom5]

14 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

We had honeymooned on Vancouver Island, BC, and returned for our 25th anniversary (without children).

It's a lovely place, and as the locals say, it is visited by "the newly wed and the nearly dead" -- so I guess we hit it on both ends of that saying... 😉 🤣

Hey - I've visited many times when I was not in either of those groups!   We even stayed at some resort north of Nanaimo because I wanted to go further up the island.  (The crossing from Tswassen was nice - and the water was flat.)

1 minute ago, Kidlit said:

Ah!  How could I forget--we honeymooned on PEI, Canada (lifelong Anne of GG fan here, accommodating hubby 🥰). It's the opposite side of the country, but worth a revisit. 
 

other ideas?

The Teahouse in Stanley Park in Vancouver was used as the location for where Anne sings.  I don't remember all the details - but it was an active restaurant at the time.

[Kidlit]

Just now, gardenmom5 said:

Hey - I've visited many times when I was not in either of those groups!   We even stayed at some resort north of Nanaimo because I wanted to go further up the island.  (The crossing from Tswassen was nice - and the water was flat.)

The Teahouse in Stanley Park in Vancouver was used as the location for where Anne sings.  I don't remember all the details - but it was an active restaurant at the time.

Very cool!  I might've known this once but had forgotten. 

[ScoutTN]

Our 25th will be in 2027. Hoping to go to Charleston, SC in the spring or fall. Definitely without kids! Who will then be 20 and 22. 

If we had a bigger budget, we’d do Hawaii. 

California wine country?

New England at peak leaves? 

Someplace lovely and warm in February?

Do you like natural spaces or cities? 

What time of year?

 

[athena1277]

I’ve wanted to take a big anniversary trip, but we have various physical issues that limit our options.  I have decided that a trip by train would be a great option for us.  Amtrak is meh, but there are others that are really amazing.  Look up YouTube videos where people document their trips and show everything that’s offered.  The best ones are outside the US.

[TechWife]

We went to Paris for our 25th.

[Kidlit]

13 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Our 25th will be in 2027. Hoping to go to Charleston, SC in the spring or fall. Definitely without kids! Who will then be 20 and 22. 

If we had a bigger budget, we’d do Hawaii. 

California wine country?

New England at peak leaves? 

Someplace lovely and warm in February?

Do you like natural spaces or cities? 

What time of year?

 

We enjoy both natural spaces and cities, actually.  Most of our family trips have been to cities lately, but we are hoping to take DD17 (and the rest of the family) to Yellowstone for a senior trip.  DD18 chose NYC as her senior trip destination, which we also turned into a family trip.  
 

We were both teachers when we married, so we got married in June.   DH could possibly be retired from his ps admin job by then. I have recently changed from teaching to public library work.  Summer is pretty busy at the library; I am the children's librarian and will direct the summer reading program, etc.   All of that is to say that we aren't necessarily tied to a time of year (though I guess we might be if we take the kids).  As a lifelong resident of the Deep South, I am averse to vacationing anywhere during the summer that will make me suffer heat and humidity like I already do at home UNLESS close proximity to the ocean is involved. 

[ScoutTN]

17 minutes ago, TechWife said:

We went to Paris for our 25th.

Cool!!!

[Kidlit]

17 minutes ago, TechWife said:

We went to Paris for our 25th.

That sounds amazing!  I've been to Paris only once, and dh has never been. 

[Kidlit]

18 minutes ago, athena1277 said:

I’ve wanted to take a big anniversary trip, but we have various physical issues that limit our options.  I have decided that a trip by train would be a great option for us.  Amtrak is meh, but there are others that are really amazing.  Look up YouTube videos where people document their trips and show everything that’s offered.  The best ones are outside the US.

I will look into this!  I actually have a bit of travel anxiety, and a train trip might be quite enjoyable for me. 

[1234]

Dh and I are planning an anniversary trip to Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park. We had originally planned for fall of this year, but oldest is getting married in August so we decided to wait until fall of 2024.  I’m super excited and ready to really start planning it all!

[Kidlit]

Just now, Joker2 said:

Dh and I are planning an anniversary trip to Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park. We had originally planned for fall of this year, but oldest is getting married in August so we decided to wait until fall of 2024.  I’m super excited and ready to really start planning it all!

That sounds lovely. Dh and I actually drove up the east coast to PEI on our honeymoon and enjoyed our trek through Maine.   I'd love to go back there!

[saraha]

For our 20th we took a train across the country to Portland, stayed in the city and site saw, did a waterfall tour that picked us up at the hotel as well as a few others from different hotels and took the train back. We got a sleeper and it was fantastic.

[MEmama]

2 minutes ago, Kidlit said:

That sounds lovely. Dh and I actually drove up the east coast to PEI on our honeymoon and enjoyed our trek through Maine.   I'd love to go back there!

If you liked PEI and Maine, have you looked at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia? We’ve been a bunch of times (though funny, not since we moved to the northeast) and always found it magical. Different—more rugged—than PEI, but gorgeous. 

[Kidlit]

Just now, MEmama said:

If you liked PEI and Maine, have you looked at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia? We’ve been a bunch of times (though funny, not since we moved to the northeast) and always found it magical. Different—more rugged—than PEI, but gorgeous. 

I have not!  Thanks for putting it on my radar!

[Kidlit]

1 minute ago, saraha said:

For our 20th we took a train across the country to Portland, stayed in the city and site saw, did a waterfall tour that picked us up at the hotel as well as a few others from different hotels and took the train back. We got a sleeper and it was fantastic.

That sounds amazing!

[Terabith]

Not a popular tourist destination, but you could come see the monolith.  

[Kidlit]

Just now, Terabith said:

Not a popular tourist destination, but you could come see the monolith.  

I have missed much of this monolith discussion.  I need details. 🤣

[Soror]

Our 25th is in 2024 as well. A lot is going to depend on finances.

If we somehow end up with lots of money- New Zealand

A decent amount of money - Iceland, Ireland or Scotland (we've been to Ireland and Scotland but would love to go back)

More expensive US- Alaska cruise

Balling on a budget (likely)- go back to Sequoias and camp (DHS favorite ever and very up there for me), New England in fall road trip (never been), or another NP. Cabin if we can afford or tent if we need to stay cheap. We'd have to price driving there vs plane and car rental.

[freesia]

Our 25th is in 2024, too. We got married in January and had a budget honeymoon bc he was headed to grad school. I would love to go somewhere warm—the Florida Keys, maybe?

[Kidlit]

8 minutes ago, Soror said:

Our 25th is in 2024 as well. A lot is going to depend on finances.

If we somehow end up with lots of money- New Zealand

A decent amount of money - Iceland, Ireland or Scotland (we've been to Ireland and Scotland but would love to go back)

More expensive US- Alaska cruise

Balling on a budget (likely)- go back to Sequoias and camp (DHS favorite ever and very up there for me), New England in fall road trip (never been), or another NP. Cabin if we can afford or tent if we need to stay cheap. We'd have to price driving there vs plane and car rental.

All of those sound wonderful!  I've been to England but would love to visit elsewhere!  And the cabin in a NP also sounds wonderful. 

[Kidlit]

1 minute ago, freesia said:

Our 25th is in 2024, too. We got married in January and had a budget honeymoon bc he was headed to grad school. I would love to go somewhere warm—the Florida Keys, maybe?

I've never been to the Florida Keys but have always wanted to go!  After several Christmas trips to cold destinations, I decided our next winter trip would be somewhere warm.  We went to the Crystal River area of FL and did a kayak with manatees excursion last December. This December we took a quick trip to Atlanta to take our younger kids to the aquarium because they didn't remember going years ago (& indeed it might've been before the youngest was born). 

[freesia]

5 minutes ago, Kidlit said:

I've never been to the Florida Keys but have always wanted to go!  After several Christmas trips to cold destinations, I decided our next winter trip would be somewhere warm.  We went to the Crystal River area of FL and did a kayak with manatees excursion last December. This December we took a quick trip to Atlanta to take our younger kids to the aquarium because they didn't remember going years ago (& indeed it might've been before the youngest was born). 

That sounds so cool. Maybe we should go kayak with manatees!

[Kidlit]

2 minutes ago, freesia said:

That sounds so cool. Maybe we should go kayak with manatees!

It really was a lot of fun.  All of the kids enjoyed it, which is no small feat for our age span.  We still talk about it. 

[whitestavern]

For our 25th (2022) we did a road trip of eastern and southern France. We ended up bringing the kids as dd graduated college that year and we thought it might be the last time the four of us did a big trip together. No regrets. It was amazing. This year we are doing a road trip in Andalucia. No kids.

Some of our top vacation spots that I’d recommend/do again: St Lucia, Acadia NP, Jungfrau region of Switzerland, Charleston/Savannah, Ligurian Coast/Cinque Terre Italy, Paris, southern Utah NPs.

Bucket list: Alaska, Portugal, several areas of Canada, St John USVI. 

[Kidlit]

1 hour ago, whitestavern said:

For our 25th (2022) we did a road trip of eastern and southern France. We ended up bringing the kids as dd graduated college that year and we thought it might be the last time the four of us did a big trip together. No regrets. It was amazing. This year we are doing a road trip in Andalucia. No kids.

Some of our top vacation spots that I’d recommend/do again: St Lucia, Acadia NP, Jungfrau region of Switzerland, Charleston/Savannah, Ligurian Coast/Cinque Terre Italy, Paris, southern Utah NPs.

Bucket list: Alaska, Portugal, several areas of Canada, St John USVI. 

Sign me up for any or all of those! Lol

[Kassia]

We did nothing for our 25th because of childcare issues (went to ds2's track meet).  Our 35th was last year and we didn't go anywhere due to a bunch of family obligations and Covid concerns.  I desperately want to go somewhere but am not good with planning a big trip.  We've done all inclusives with the kids (all grown now) for the past several trips and used to rent a beach house and just hung out on the beach before that.  It's been a long time since I actually planned a vacation.