Does you family take "family vacations"?

[kage_ar]

We don’t do formal vacations - DH and son will tag along on business trips sometimes… For using that PTO from work, we take trips to our home town - about 6 hours away - and visit family/friends.

In the next couple of years, we do plan on taking a big vacation to Rome (before DS graduates high school).

 

[sparkle]

What a fabulous question!! Thx for posing it!!!

I feel, personally, that there is just no better way to spend money than on travel. Epecially with your family. For these are memories that are so much richer than any possessions, that money could every buy! So much more worthy and important than a nice new 2005 mini-van, a nice 4 bedroom home with a pool, all kids having their own room, plasma TV, all the gadgets a kid could ask for, etc., etc. These are the things, i.e., travelling, adventures, kids will always take with them–memories…right?

We, as a family, even though we are very poor among my kids’ and their friends’ standards, we have 2 used broken down cars, (but no car pmt) an OK home, but we haven’t re-painted or re-lanscaped yet crappy lawn-----(makes me sad as a wife—like the Malcolm in the Middle house-)-----we have alot which God has given us, the ability to travel alot, and this is a total priority for us.!!! I feel it makes us who we are today. And it is a definite priority. We also have lots of pets, another priority for us.

We know some families who have an absolutely perfect home. I mean gorgeous! Not a pin out of place. Out of a magazine. Neat, tidy, eveything matching, yet they have no pets for their kids. And they go no where—ever. I think this is sad. But–to each his own right? Guess, we’d have alot nicer home if we didn’t go away so much. Oh well, it’s fun! This weekend we hope to visit Disneyland for my 12 yo’s b-day. A surprise. Expensive–yes-----going in our old rattler of a car----but oh what memories we’ve always had there. I love it still in my old age. Always will. Disneyland will always be tops in my book!!! So I say, travel–travel–travel-----

God Bless~~

 

[ckbrown]

We have 3 boys (17, 14, 11) and are going on our second long family vacation EVER…leaving the end of this week! The first one was about 6-7 years ago for about a week, we took a beater motohome to Cheyenne WY (husband was in the rodeo) then followed the Oregon trail sites then Yellowstone then Jackson Hole then home. Fun memories! Almost got hit by lightening up near the Tetons. Cooking with dutch ovens at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Watching dad at the pro rodeo and cooling off in a water trough. Me doing my exercise walk and noticing the difference of higher elevation. Seeing all the trendy stores and tourists in Jackson Hole. Staying at an RV park with a hot springs pool. Seeing moose at Yellowstone and beautiful scenery and amazing geysers. The AC going out on the way home in 100 degree weather. The rattling creaking beater motorhome which bucked and jumped whenever the fuel got to 1/4 tank, so we had to stop and fill up again.

Oldest son is going off to college in southern CA the end of August so I said we HAVE to do another family vacation this year, even though we have a struggling retail business and are working to live below our means & pay off personal debt, etc. We have a little nicer but still used motorhome this time, planning a trip from Oregon to visit relatives in San Francisco 2 days then a 2 day trip to Disneyland (we are staying at an RV park within walking distance and have no expectations other than “sampling” Disneyland this time). The boys want to go on a few rides and do the ESPN Sports Center thing.

Then road trip through Vegas & visit Hoover Dam (we enjoyed a PBS special on it several years ago)…then one day to “sample” the North Rim of the Grand Canyon then Bryce Canyon Park in Southern Utah… (we will plan a “real” Grand Canyon visit in a few years)…then home through Idaho to relatives in eastern Oregon then home. 9 or 10 days on the road. Fuel will be our major expense and is budgeted for, Disneyland is the main “splurge”. We will park at WalMarts or county fairgrounds or alongside quiet roads or relatives’ homes to save money on RV parks…and will eat almost all meals from our frig and coolers. No real agenda, have printed out some info on each site from the internet and have a great atlas to follow. Mostly just enjoy what each day presents!

My biggest problem has been accepting that it is OK to enjoy God’s blessings and to ENJOY this upcoming vacation. I have had such a focus on paying off debt & living thrifty, it is hard to sometimes ENJOY LIFE. I prayed about it Sunday with a prayer group and feel God’s smile that I am INTENDING to enjoy this joyous opportunity to be with my family and enjoy His marvelous creation. And that He has blessed us with jobs to pay for it and a more reliable vehicle to travel in!

 

[Mamamull]

We go camping – we have a pop-up camper so I have electric, air conditioning and a nice dry bed when it rains.

We leave radios, televisions and game things behind and get to spend some time together. We don’t usually drive too far – three hours at the most and stay someplace with showers and bathrooms.

We then hike or check out historic railroads or other such things. It is nice change of pace and we usually just go for three or four days at a time. Our older son gets homesick even with his blankets, etc. Go figure.

We take several of these cheap trips – we are starting late this year – but we going on our first trip in early August.

BTW, we make it a point to find a Catholic church and attend Sunday mass.

 

[StSusanna]

We actually only started doing the family vacation thing 3 years ago. This past Fall is the first time in 15 years that my husband took a whole week off to make it a good vacation. Usually, the cost, even camping, is so costly that we have only been able to spend a three night vacation someplace local. This year we went to Yosemite and plus we hit one or 2 campgrounds that were local, one on the beach and one in the mountains. That is all we have funds for this year, but we are looking forward to next year.

 

[Ray_Scheel]

We go on several trips a year. Most are brief, like 2-3 days in San Antonio or Dallas/Ft. Worth when I have a long weekend. However, we just spent nearly a week in McAllen, in the “Valley” area of S. Texas. That included a dash across the border and a day a South Padre, as well as mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle (National Shrine). We kinda cut back on trips while the kids were younger (and first had a rough start on life as well), I’m hoping to start regular camping trips again this fall.

 

[KCT]

contemplative:

I Family 3 gathers at the lake near me. Family 3 has a priest/uncle who celebrates Mass at the local Church when here on vacation

What lake do you live near? My brothers and I were planning to rent a house on Canandaigua for Christmas, but my dad died and my mom will be moving to MD.

Now that my mom is moving, we won’t have vacations in the Finger Lakes any more. We did go to Rome for Christmas as a last hurrah vacation before kids start college. When the kids were small, we used to travel w/ dh on business, so we had mini vacations in San Francisco, Nashville and Columbus. --KCT

 

[Compos_mentis]

My fam hasn’t had an actual vacation in…so long I really can’t remember an actual vacation We’ve travelled to visit the rellies now and then, but it turns out to include an amount of stress that doesn’t constitute a true vacation. We do want one though, and hopefully we’ll have a chance at one next year.

 

[Naphali]

When our twins were 4 months old we scraped up enough money to spend a weekend in Williamsburg (45 minutes away) The next Summer we took our first family vacation back to my husband birthplace, Wildwood New Jersey – and we’ve been back every year since (actually it makes 3 times after this year, we’re working on a tradition) –

Because we homeschool we always go the week AFTER Labor Day when everything is still open but most of the tourists have gone home – it’s cheaper, quiet and lovely – ahhhh –

Then a few times during the year we have “mini-vacations” where we spend a long weekend doing something fun and within a few hours drive so we can sleep at home –