Monthly Musings: Summer Travel

Hello! How is your week going? Ours has been pretty lowkey, and I’m not mad about it!

I’m linking up with Patty and Holly for this month’s Monthly Musings.

This month’s topic:

With a couple of trips planned this summer, this is the perfect topic!

1. Favorite summer destinations:

I’ve shared before, but we love Siesta Key, Florida and go there most years for vacation. We also love the Charleston, SC area, and have stayed in Isle of Palms and Folly Beach a few times through the years.

2. Warm or Cold Temps?

In the summer, I definitely prefer warm temps especially if it means my view is the ocean.

3. Are you traveling this summer? Flying or Driving?

We have both flying and driving on the agenda. We’ll be flying to Mexico soon, and then we will drive to KC to see family in July too.

4. Ocean? Lake? Mountains?

Seeing the ocean typically only happens for us once a year, so that’s always a preference.

That being said, I love a lake. It’s nice when we can float in the lake on a summer afternoon.

I do love the mountains too, but that’s usually on my radar more in the spring or fall.

5. Best travel tips to share?

Find you a Travis White who will do all the research? haha Really though, I’m not travel tip expert, but here are a few tips:

• I make a list(s) for everyone.
• I use packing cubes to stay organized.
• We attempt to book dinner reservations ahead of time.
• We ask others who have been to the location for tips and recommendations when we can.

6. Vacation budget tips?

I’m definitely not an expert on budgeting tips either, but….

We have a list of places we’d like to go, and try to budget accordingly. If we know we are going on a bigger vacation in the summer, we may go somewhere more local for only a couple of days for Spring Break.

We typically only eat out for dinner. That being said, if we have a big lunch out, we will eat dinner in. Usually, one morning we will have breakfast or brunch out, then have a lighter lunch of sandwiches and dinner at home. Of course, many of our vacations have been to Trav’s aunt’s house in Siesta Key where it feels likes home with a fully stocked kitchen and patio with grill. That’s definitely a huge help!

7. Overpacker? Underpacker?

Uh…my worst nightmare is having underpacked! 😂

I just purchased another set of packing cubes. We now have them in blue, teal, and gray. The kids and I use them the most.

Also, random, but do you follow @Bruncwithbabs on Instagram? I just saw her packing tip of using a hanging sweater (or shoe?) organizer. You hang it in your closet, and put each day’s clothes in a cube, then you can just fold it into your suitcase. When you arrive, you can just pull it out of the suitcase and hang it in the closet. I wonder if this would help me not overpack!

8. Vacation planned in advance? Last minute adventures?

Well, like I said, we usually have an idea of where we’d like to go in the summer, so those are usually planned out in advance. Fall and Spring Breaks are usually planned at the last minute since we don’t go too far away. Since we have family out of town, I usually rotate when we go there (Thanksgiving or Christmas and then usually in the summer).

9. Group vacations or immediate family?

Most the time, our vacations are with immediate family. As much as we’d like to go with extended family, sometimes it’s just too complicated with everyone’s schedules especially as my kids have gotten older.

That being said, we have a group trip planned for Fall Break with friends, and we are looking forward to it.

10. If you have them, do you travel with pets?

Before we had kids, we used to always take our Boxers, Shiloh and Scout, with us when we’d go to KC for holidays. We never took them on vacation though and use a dog sitter. We do the same with Homer and have someone stay with him when we are gone…usually for holidays too.

This post has me excited for our July adventures! Where are you headed this summer?