My husband and I love to travel, so do our children. We have traveled to Texas, Canada, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Minnesota and Iowa on family vacations or weekend trips. We always have fun, make memories and of course face challenges.
Copyright: hamik / 123RF Stock Photo. Used with permission
It has been a number of years since we took a family vacation. Probably 2009, if I remember correctly. Money has been tight, plus we have chosen to become farmers. Summer is our busiest time on the farm with our CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture), markets, egg and chicken business. That is one of the downsides to farming. One of the agreements Robert and I had when we decided to farm was that we’d still take vacations. Well…we didn’t realize how long it would take to recover from a bout of unemployment nor did we expect another season of unemployment so soon.
Like the author of this article on P&Geveryday™ titled, Why We’re Skipping Summer Vacation, I admit it is kind of hard sometimes when we hear of others taking their family vacation. I also confess to being green with envy sometimes. But like Christie Tate and her husband, we realize this is the season of life we are in. Extended family vacations are not in the cards for us due to our commitments at home.
That does not mean we cannot take day trips to Chicago to visit museums, the zoo, Navy Pier or the Shedd Aquarium or travel other short distances. It just means it will take a bit of planning on our part to make sure everything at home is taken care of first.
P&Geveryday™ has a section on Travel Tips that will be useful to parents planning trips with children. P&Geveryday™is committed to making every day just a little easier by helping you achieve a life full of rewarding moments. Every day. The site aims to inspire, support and empower you to unlock the extraordinary potential in your everyday life. It offers a variety of topics, helpful articles for family life, delicious recipes for the 4th of July, etc. Check out their informative P&Geveryday Facebook page too.
Do you plan on taking a family vacation this summer? If so, where? If not, why not?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
I can greatly relate! I have a family of four, and money is quite tight at times when it comes to vacations. My husband and I are going to New Orleans next month, thanks to a Mother’s Day sweepstakes I won on Facebook.
No we don’t really take vacations, but I do get sad when I see others going on vacations and we are not.
We always took a vacation every 18 months/2 years. Last summer we moved to Texas though and there is SO much to see in the local area that we probably won’t be taking a vacation for a while now, especially since we have our daughter starting university in fall and our vacation funds will probably be funding higher education instead
Probably not but that’s due to unemployment for my hubs as well. I need to check out those tips so we can do more staycations and day trips!
We are going on a cruise this summer, but we aren’t always able to do that. Summer can be special whether you stay home or go on a trip. It’s all about being together and having fun.
We don’t take as many vacations as we would like to do money issues. I do like to get away for weekend camping trips though several times a year.
Not this year, but we plan on taking a few days here and there.
We aren’t taking a large vacation this year, just our yearly vacation to the Dells. We’ve had no time this summer for more, nor do we have the money.
We pray that we can go on a vacation one day soon. We haven’t been on one in over a decade.
We will not be going on a family vacation this summer. We have went for a short getaway since our youngest was born, but we think he’s too young for the beach or going anywhere for a full week. He prefers his own room for naps and bedtime!
When we lived in our RV and worked in campgrounds, we didnt take a vacation for 13 years. None of our friends or family understood that even though we were in a campground, we were working and not on vacation.
We didnt take vacations for years. We have just recently gotten to a place where we can take them and so we take them often – HOWEVER they are always little weekend jaunts. I think we would ALL go nuts with a week long vacation… Mike and I are both WAY too addicted to work… we are true Workaholics lol
I can relate to this! I’ve learned that the memories aren’t based on where you go though. We have had some pretty memorable staycations.
Summer is the perfect time for vacations. I love making summer plans with my family. I’m glad to hear that you’re making plans and P&GEveryday is helping to make that happen.
We did some weekend trips but I think it’s awesome to do staycations too and explore your own city!
We are vacationing, just in a different way – since we’re making a cross-country move from TX to NC, we’re going to be vacationing along the way, then moving in, then going away again before my husband goes back to work and the kids start school.
Staycations are such a great idea!! Especially around here on Long Island where we are so close to beaches and museums and a bunch of other festivals and other free activities across the island! Although some times getting away is nice, having some one else cook for a change!!
Our family vacation plans were changed because we are moving. I hope to make some weekend getaway plans though. We shall have to see how the move and money goes.
Yes and no. Our family vacation(s) are mini trips camping around California… or visiting family. Nothing HUGE or massively expensive.
We’re going camping this summer, but no big vacations for us either.
When I became the bread winner around here I accepted right off that vacations would not be happening for awhile. We are getting more settled now… maybe next year or the one after we will take a real vacation.
I’m going to go visit my daughter this summer, so that’s going to be fun. I haven’t taken a BIG vacay in a while though.
We have never taken a family vacation. We do outings and such but with 3 dogs, it’s just not practical. Maybe one day but for now we are fine just relaxing here during the summers.
We went to Myrtle Beach 2 weeks ago for a week and it was so relaxing!
We are doing “staycations” this year. Taking the kids to all the museums and attractions within a 2 hr drive. Then in September during school we will go to Disney (cheaper then).
But I feel your pain. We don’t take yearly vacations either.
We’re not going anywhere this year because we have a 5 month old at home so it’s just too hard to travel {plus we’re still paying his hospital bills}. Hopefully we’ll be able to get to California next year.
We will actually be taking a trip without our kids this summer while they spend a week with their grandparents in California. Although I am looking forward to our time away, we always have a lot of fun being close to home as well.
WE are planning a trip to St. Louis later this month. We are visiting a farm. I am looking forward to it.