Do you have set vacation plans?

[soccerdad72]

We don't have a set rotation of places we visit - we like to mix it up and try different places most years.

We have our favorites, including Maui, which we'll be at later this month.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I take my daughter to dud e ranch every year in June. We have been going to a ranch since she was 6 so this year will be our 32nd year. We have gone to the same ranch in Colorado now for 10 years. Before thst it was another ranch in Durango and before that a wonderful place in Oregon that we went to for 19:years in a row before they closed. I’m 73 now and still love to ride although it is harder on the joints and back as the years have added up. But I will keep going every year as long as possible. since aulani opened we have gone once a year until covid. We went last year and are going before the transpacific cruise in a week. We hope to start going every year again. And every March we go to DW and usually stay at Old Key West For 10 days to 2 weeks. We don’t go to the parks much, if at all.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Do you work? Even in retirement I can't imagine that many trips in one year. And like I said, never had more than 4 weeks vacation a year when I was working.

Yep. I’m a nurse who works PRN.

 

[AndreaDM]

Nope, totally whatever we feel like doing! We too have friends that go to the same beach the same week of every year and go to the same restaurants, etc. There is SO much world out there to explore that it wouldn't work for me! We usually do 2 longer vacations - anywhere from 6-10 days, then 2-3 shorter ones over a long weekend. Sometimes we have destinations in mind, other times we've seen a great deal on a destination that we've never been to and jumped on it. Haven't regretted any of them!

 

[SandyinMonterey]

We usually don't have set plans for vacations. We do visit family every summer but don't consider that a vacation but it's anything but fun and relaxing (15 hour drive). I like to see and do new things though. Daughter goes off to college next year. Until we know where she'll land and cost, we're not opening purse strings for a vacations right now. But I do prefer to mix things up and go different places.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We try to do someplace new once a year or every second year.

 

[tvguy]

Yep. I’m a nurse who works PRN.

Ah, okay. My mom was a surgical RN full time for over 40 years and never got more than 4 weeks vacation. Of course she retired in 1985 and would faint if she was still alive and saw that the starting salary for an RN is three times what she made when she retired.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Ah, okay. My mom was a surgical RN full time for over 40 years and never got more than 4 weeks vacation. Of course she retired in 1985 and would faint if she was still alive and saw that the starting salary for an RN is three times what she made when she retired.

I work at a hospital and after ten years our PTO is 7 weeks a year. You start at 5 weeks and then at 5 years you get 6 weeks. Same with nurses. (If you are non essential and have off on holidays the time does come out of your PTO bank)

I also know plenty of nurses that rotate their 3 -12 hour shifts to have a 6 day stretch off once or twice a month. They vacation during that time a lot.

 

[aprilgail]

I like to go to different places each year for major vacations. Right now we are planning on Greece for 2024. Taking a mini 4 day vacation to Foxwoods Casino and Mystic from the day before Thanksgiving until the Sunday after it- Thanksgiving is one of mine and my daughters least favorite holidays so we are going to go away and escape it- ironically her husband loves thanksgiving so he is going to his parents house for the holidays LOL.

 

[tvguy]

I work at a hospital and after ten years our PTO is 7 weeks a year. You start at 5 weeks and then at 5 years you get 6 weeks. Same with nurses. (If you are non essential and have off on holidays the time does come out of your PTO bank)

I also know plenty of nurses that rotate their 3 -12 hour shifts to have a 6 day stretch off once or twice a month. They vacation during that time a lot.

Yeah, the normal schedule was five 8-hour days a week in my mom's day. She was a trailblazer when she and a couple of other nurses went on a four 10-hour shifts in the 1970's. And her last two years, she worked three 10-hour shifts a week, since her hospital gave benefits as long as you worked 30 hours a week. Not sure how she would feel about the 12 hour shifts because being a surgical nurse, there was a lot of overtime. You just couldn't leave at the end of your shift if you were in the middle of a case. When she retired she checked, she NEVER worked less than 40 hours in those last two years with overtime, it was just over three days. She said it took her two days of her four days off a week to recover so she could enjoy her weekend. And it cemented her decision to retire at 62. I think she would not have been a fan of 12 hour days BEFORE overtime.

 

[SC Minnie]

We do a mix. We enjoy going to Hilton Head Island every year. We use our DVC so stay at the same place but don't necessarily go at the same time. We like to try some new restaurants every time but we also have our favorites.

We've started going to new places every year too. Sometimes we'll repeat a location- we were in Hawaii 4 years ago and are going back next year. We just got back from 2 weeks in Europe.

Between those we try to throw in another kind of trip, a cruise or something.

I get 5 weeks vacation and we'll use 4 of them for trips. I like to save the last one to use a day here and there for myself. DH is retired so is always ready to go somewhere.

 

[disneydreamer781]

Pre-pandemic one WDW trip every year but going forward it will be at least twice a year. Getting older so I'm getting in as much as I can with DVC points. We also usually do a few days in midcoast Maine but may switch it up next year with a trip to Upstate NY plus the 2 WDW trips. I keep thinking about an Alaska cruise or a West Coast/DL trip but when pricing it out I just don't like what I'm seeing. If I finally do decide on the West Coast it will be on a cross-country train which I've wanted to do for a while now but it will not be a long stay in LA. I also just don't like the unknown and prefer routine. I'm very comfortable in my zone as traveling sometimes stresses me. I've also gotten very used to not having to pay for accommodations with the exception of GDT which for some reason I don't mind paying for out of pocket once in a while.

 

[dvcgirl67]

No set vacations other than we used to always spend two weeks somewhere in Europe in the September-October timeframe. We haven't been to Europe since Covid though because everyone is going to there and I've heard from friends and family that it feels crowded. So since we began traveling again in 2022 we've been to Cabo, Costa Rica, Hawaii (Oahu and Big Island). 2024 we've got Panama for 10 nights in January and South Africa for 16 nights in September. 2024 will definitely be the biggest spending year we've ever done for travel. Beyond that...not sure, but man we loved Costa Rica so I can see us heading back there soon.

 

[Magical2017]

We like to get to the lake each year for at least a long weekend, but otherwise mix it up with somewhere new each year.

 

[leebee]

We are pretty "loose" with our vacation planning, although I've learned if there is someplace we really want to go, we need to plan ahead.
For the past 5 years we've spent a week or two at a cottage on the southern Maine coast, about a 5 min walk to the beach. However, the owner sold her properties to another company and the price has increased almost $1000 a week, so we are reconsidering. I'll miss it- it's a sunny, cheery place to be and my sister, brother, and their kids (all adults now) live in that town, and it puts me within an hour's drive of extended family, so it's a nice vacation, especially when we go for 2 weeks- good balance of family time, beach time, "us" time, but that'd be another $2K. Not sure we can swing it.

I (or DD and I) also go to Disney once a year, but they are very budget-based trips. Sometimes we don't even get park tickets, just go to stay onsite and soak it all in! However, we are planning a week-long trip in January '24 to take the resident 7-year old on his first Disney trip. This will NOT be a budget-friendly trip, but it's also not an "over the top" trip. All airfare is on points, we have rented a 4 bedroom pool home for $230 a night, we have about $1200 in ticket money on account with Disney (from trips canceled due to covid). We always do breakfast "in the room" but this trip we'll be doing most dinners at the house, too. OH and I have about $1100 in Disney Visa rewards to offset other ticket costs. Only thing I'm struggling with, budget wise, is renting a large SUV or minivan.

I guess I should also mention that i JUST booked a solo trip for me, 4 nights in November. Staying at ASMu, with a 2 day PH. I've been to Disney enough that I know what rides I want to do (nothing that goes around in circles or has big drops) so half-days in a park is usually enough. I'll do a park day, have a break day, do a park day. I'll probably hop to Epcot for Food&Wine for dinner both nights. It's "been a year" here and I need some alone-time, so Disney, here I come!

 

[amylevan]

Yes and no.

We’ve camped at a lake in Pa for a week every summer for the last 10 years (except for this summer because we couldn’t get 3 sites for the same week; camping is best with friends). We do have sites again for next summer.

We’ve done 2 weeks at the same campground in the Outer Banks for the same time in June for the last 4 years and we have reservations for next summer.

Other than that, no, we go to different places and different types of vacations.

 

[hhisc16]

My wife and I tend to every year have a short getaway to Las Vegas, a long weekend at the beach, a long weekend to the mountains, and a cruise. Then every other year or so the cruise gets replaced by a theme park trip.

We went through a phase before covid where we included international destinations but have not yet returned to international travel. The value does not seem to be there like it was 4 years ago.

My brother in law and his wife does the beach. They have set weeks where they are at the same beach, same hotel, same restaurants, same everything every year. It is what makes them happy. I suggested they look into a timeshare but they looked at me like I was an alien and said then they would be forced to go to the same place every year.

Do you find you do the same trip year after year or do you mix it up?

yearly since buying dvc in 2020 we visit DHHIR for the beach and WDW.

next year we are trying DLR, but still using dvc points

 

[Turn the Page]

We go to WDW the week before Labor Day just about every year. I think next year we may change it up a bit though.

DH and I travel somewhere just the two of us every fall for our anniversary. This year is St. Augustine, FL and Savannah, GA. This will be our third trip to St Augustine together, he has been a couple times before we started dating. We love St. Augustine but after you have been there a couple times probably not enough to keep you busy for a whole week so we are splitting our time with Savannah, GA this year. I think he was in Savannah once when we were in high school but I have never been.

Last year we went on a Mediterranean cruise. Next year will be our 9th anniversary but I'm not sure we will do anything quite so exotic for that one. I think this year and next year will prove to be expensive years, we have to buy a new car this month and we have some pretty extensive home repairs that need to be done, so next year may be more domestic and saving up for a more exotic trip for our 10th anniversary.

ETA: We have stayed at a different B&B each time we have been to St. Augustine but that doesn't mean we wouldn't do a repeat stay if we find a place we really love. I have high hopes for the one this trip.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

My wife and I tend to every year have a short getaway to Las Vegas, a long weekend at the beach, a long weekend to the mountains, and a cruise. Then every other year or so the cruise gets replaced by a theme park trip.

We went through a phase before covid where we included international destinations but have not yet returned to international travel. The value does not seem to be there like it was 4 years ago.

My brother in law and his wife does the beach. They have set weeks where they are at the same beach, same hotel, same restaurants, same everything every year. It is what makes them happy. I suggested they look into a timeshare but they looked at me like I was an alien and said then they would be forced to go to the same place every year.

Do you find you do the same trip year after year or do you mix it up?

I don't know if others do this, but I tend to do a lot of travel for work and usually try and combine work trips with vacations, especially since most of the work trips are international.

 

[jimmymc]

I make it to Disney World at least once a year, usually twice, but the time, length, and resort can vary. My college friends and I meet up at our old fraternity for homecoming every year. I also go to my parents' house every year for Christmas, but that doesn't quite feel like a vacation.

Other than those, the trips are pretty random.