7 Tips for a Family Vacation

Thinking of embarking on a vacation with the whole fam soon? I think that’s a great idea! But I also think you should put some thought into some do’s and dont’s before you hit ‘book vacation’. A couple years ago, Nate and I went on a family vacation to Cape Cod and Niagara Falls with his parents and siblings and while we got to see some awesome stuff, there’s definitely some things we learned along the way. Here’s my suggestions below…

Limit the Number of People: The word ‘family’ can be a broad term so let’s just stick to immediate family as far as who will be going on this trip with you. So that would be parents and siblings and their S/O’s. Any more than that would be mega stressful I can imagine. There were 7 of us on our family trip and that was plenty! The more people you have, the more people you have to consider and keep track of.
To Fly or to Drive: Now that you’ve got your number of people decided on, how are you going to get there? We drove on ours and it took two days and two cars to get to our destination. Looking back, I would say it would be more expensive, but also more efficient to fly instead. This is because you have to stop so many times with that many people for breaks, as well as for gas with that many cars and hours on the road. It makes getting there even more of a lengthy drive. If your family is small-choose the car and hit the road. If it’s a big group-fly baby, fly.
This is No Time for Spontaneity: Leave last minute decisions and activities at home, people. When you’re traveling with X amount of people, you’re going to want to plan out EVERYTHING and thus get all your tickets and seats purchased ahead of time.
Speak Up: Don’t be afraid to tell the group if there’s something you want to see or do while on your trip. As long as you say so ahead of time (see Tip #3), then it should be fair game for anyone who wants to add in an activity. This is your vacation, too.
Find Alone Time: If your family doesn’t go for that activity you want to do, then this would be a great opportunity to do something alone. You’ll get sick of each other if you spend every waking minute together. Spending at least a day or evening apart on a multi-day trip is no big deal and it will give you a breather from the group.
You Don’t Have to Stay the Whole Time: Is this a week long trip as opposed to a long weekend getaway? If so, be part of the vacation for as long as you feel comfortable. Whether it be because you can’t get away from work, or you’re concerned with spending that much time together with everyone, I’m sure your family will understand if you can only stay for part of the time. I’ll bet they would rather you do that than not come at all, so don’t feel obligated to stay the whole week.
Discuss Your Financial Contribution: This can be brought up when everyone is talking activities to do on the trip, but I would definitely ask what your expectations are so you can budget accordingly. Are you paying for one part of the whole trip, only your needs, or nothing at all? However y’all work it out, I would at least have some kind of idea of what you’ll be spending.

There you have it! Those are my best tips to offer you if you’re planning a family vacation. The most important thing to do of course is to have fun and make memories!

Relocating South: What to Know Before You Go

Do you currently live in a northern US state and looking to head south? Before you relocate, there are a few topics we need to discuss so that you’re fully prepared and happy with your decision of heading down to the dirty south. I live in the north now, but I lived in the south for 22 years of my life. Here’s my list of tips, advice, and what to think about:

Fashion is delayed Certain fashion and hairstyle trends for men and women may appear to be a bit delayed in the south. The look on a lot of people will seem so ‘last season’. I’m not sure why this is, and it certainly doesn’t apply to everyone who lives in the south. By moving from a northern state, you may have the best style around! Speaking of fashion, people also tend to dress a little more modest and may gawk if you don’t. Individualism and expression with style is harder to find as well. People in the south are more comfortable blending in with their neighbor than standing out.

You’ll See Churches with Different Sects of Christianity Popular sects of Christianity in the south are Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal to name a few. It may be more difficult to find a church or religion that hold your beliefs here, as they differ from those of the north.

There are Dry Counties and Hours It’s very common for stores to stop selling booze by a certain hour of the day, not at all on Sunday, or even not at all in a particular county. They call them ‘dry counties’. If you’re one who enjoys a drink fairly often, I’d look up any possible dry counties in your state of interest.

All the Bugs! The summers here are much longer and therefore the bugs and insects hang around outside-or inside-for more months out of the year. Stock up on bug spray, and it would definitely behoove you to invest in a dehumidifier (thank me later). You’ll also see a lot of different species of bugs that are larger, and with wings!

Marrying Young It’s also common in the southern states to marry young-some people right out of high school even. The south gives a whole new meaning to ‘high school sweethearts’. It’s simply a way of life for some people there. I know several old classmates from high school who married the person they were dating at the time.

Long Summers As I mentioned earlier, a southern summer is long and hot. It starts getting warm here and there in March and you won’t see a chilly day until about November. In my personal opinion, it’s pretty rad that it starts warming up in March but honestly by October you’re ready for it to cool off and you still got about another month to go! Also, the summers aren’t quite as enjoyable as the temp can reach 100 degrees in July and August. Whew!

No A/C is in fact the end of the World Because the summers here are so hot, you’re gonna want to take central and car air conditioning quite seriously. It is possible to get a heat stroke and it sure makes it hard to sleep at night in the relentless heat. Most homes and cars will come equipped with this amenity, but be sure you don’t waste time getting it repaired if something breaks!

There’s a Lot of Strays People have pets here, sure but what isn’t as common is people spaying their animals, and they let them roam outside more often in an unfenced yard. That makes for a lot more stray cats and dogs than what you might see in other parts of the country. This always saddens me; I hate seeing all those babies without a home.

The Job Market This varies from state to state but there are a lot of industries hiring in the south. And a lot that aren’t. Trades and tech degrees and certificates seem to go a long way here, whereas 4 year arts degrees aren’t as thriving in the south. Word to the wise- whatever your educational background may be, scope out the job market in the areas you’re looking to move to before quitting the job you’re at now.

Everywhere you live comes with a list of pros and cons, and the south is no different. It definitely has its perks and I totally miss living in that area of the country at times. What gets me through is reading my list of books set in the southern US. I highly recommend reading these if you’re planning on moving to the south!

How to Feed your Wanderlust While Working a Full-Time Job

Sounds like a challenge, right? It can be. I am wanderlusting 24/7 while holding down a 40-hour a week job. I manage to travel multiple times a year. But how, you ask? How do I have time to fit it all in? Let me show you the way:

Strategy #1 Travel around a national holiday: Ok, so this is my best strategy and the one I most depend on to get all my vacations in each and every year. For our week-long vacations, we center them around a national holiday because we get one or two paid days off from work depending on which holiday you travel during. We are gone over Memorial Day week, Labor Day week, and Thanksgiving week. So, instead of asking off work for five days, we only need to request 3 or 4 days away. By doing this, we save several vacation days a year to put towards other trips!

Strategy #2 Negotiate more PTO at your job: Most corporations or large companies will give you any where from one to two weeks of PTO (paid time off) during your first year of working there, along with about 7 paid national holidays off in the U.S. That’s not much, I know. With my current employer, I receive 3 weeks and have from the get go. However, at my previous job, I was offered one measly week but that just wouldn’t do what with all my wanderlusting, y’all. So, I negotiated an extra week totaling two weeks instead, yaye! Negotiating vacation time when starting a new job is totally doable. I would explain to them that low PTO it is a deal breaker for you (put in nicer terms) and that traveling is something you deem highly important in your life. Hey, everyone’s got their hobbies, right? Yours just happens to be seeing the world and until teleportation is invented, traveling just takes time, simple as that. Up for a review at your job? This is another opportunity to ask for more vacation days. The worst they can say is no! But it’s worth a shot.

Strategy #3 Don’t just stick to one area during your whole vacation: You don’t really want to only hang out at the beach for a whole week, do you? Let’s get some bucket list destinations in! When I vacay, I try to hit up as many different attractions and activities as I can in one general area. I’ll stick to one spot for a day or two and then move on. Ok, so you’re not going to see everything that one spot has to offer, but what you gain is seeing multiple different cities, states, national parks, etc. in one whole trip by changing up the scenery! I’d recommend limiting the number of spots you want to get to as too many can be overkill and stressful but I would at least try to make it to a couple different destinations within a day’s drive from each other.

Strategy #4 Consider a weekend getaway: I love a good week-long trip so I can see all kinds of different places over one vacation. However, something can be said about a weekend getaway. Pick a place that’s about a half-day’s drive and leave on a Friday after work. This way you’ll get all of Saturday and most of Sunday to go exploring! By traveling this way you get to fit some traveling in without dropping a lot of cash and you won’t have to use any vacation days!

That’s it-that’s how I do it, folks! If you love traveling as much as I do, where there’s a will there’s a way so try these out this year to meet your traveling goals. Comment below how you manage to travel often while working full time!

6 Things to Know Before Visiting Miami

Miami is an awesome city to visit! But, there are things I wish I’d known before I went so I was better prepared and faced less frustrations on my trip! I’m hoping the followng six pieces of advice will help you:

There are Beggers: I am not referring to homeless people here…instead I am talking about the restaurants. We noticed specifically in Miami Beach while walking up and down the streets restaurant employees would nearly be begging you to come into their restaurant for lunch or dinner. I thought this was strange as I’d never seen this anywhere else in the country before.
A Trip to Miami Makes for a Pricey Vacation: This is an expensive city to visit! It’s so worth the cash you’ll be dropping here, but just letting you know so you can plan and budget accordingly.
Forecasted rain=no rain: We visited Miami in October which is their ‘shoulder season’. Heavy rain is expected in Summer, while little rain is present in the Winter here. However, if you see on the forecast that it will rain every day on a Fall trip, don’t listen! It was supposed to rain our whole time here and we didn’t get one drop-at least not during the day while out and about.
It’s HOT: Miami gets extremely warm-even at night! I don’t think this place ever cools off. You’ll be sweating in pants for sure so dress for hot weather!
Street parking is a pain: We rented a car for our Miami trip and drove all over town to different sites. If you can find a free spot, it may take you a while to figure out how to actually pay for it! And you definitely want to pay, because you will totally get towed or ticketed. Several times we went to pay at a machine and it would be out of order and/or wouldn’t take card or cash. The best thing to do is park then pay through their app Park Mobile. It will prompt you for your zone number (listed on a sidewalk sign) and then you can enter in your card info to pay.
Opt for a land animal: If you’re like me you’re thinking ‘Oh, great we’re in Miami so I’m going to stuff my face with all the seafood!’ Yeah, I don’t advise that. I tried a few fish plates at various restaurants thinking they’re going to be amazing because we’re right on the ocean and all and was disappointed every time. It wasn’t until I switched to beef and chicken plates until I truly had a delicious meal in Miami.

I wish for none of the above to deter you from your Miami excursion. It’s a wonderful place to visit! Check out my other posts on Miami to read more about this oceanside paradise: Where to Eat in Miami that Won’t Break the Bank and What to do in Miami.

9 Tips for Visiting Las Vegas

Have you ever been to Las Vegas?? If you haven’t, you must go because it’s incredible and an experience you won’t forget! We went for the first time a couple years ago for my golden birthday and our 2 year anniversary and had an amazing time. BUT, we learned so much of what not to do and what to prepare for when we go next time! Read below for my 10 tips to help you out on your visit to The Entertainment Capital of the World.

Tip #1 Say yes to being part of the show: We went to see Blue Man Group (eek!) and they put on such an incredible show! When we walked in to take our seats, we were asked by one the employees if we wanted to be part of the show, though we didn’t get much details beyond that. I was hesitant but Nate was all for it so we agreed. About 30 minutes in, they came and grabbed us where they put us way in the back, and gave us much better seats closer to the stage. We were pretending to be ‘late’ to the show so everyone could boo us but we got spotlighted and all these ridiculous alarms went off-it was really fun and I’m glad we got to be part of the experience!

Tip #2 Rent a car only to explore outside the city: If you plan on leaving the strip for a day or even two, then definitely arrange a rental car to head outta town. But, if you’re wanting to stay put right on the strip for the duration of your trip then Uber, Monorail, or walking is the way to go. The strip is very long and high traffic so you’ll be waiting at light after light forever to get to your destination.

Tip #3 Your excursion out of town will likely be packed with people: We went to Zion National Park for a day and it was so busy with people. Of course, all the national parks that are a day’s drive from Las Vegas are all the really popular ones whether you’re going to Arizona, California, or Utah to hit up a park. Just don’t be disappointed if your intention was to get away from the crowds in Vegas only to run into more large groups of people again.

Tip #4 Expect to shell out the big bucks: Las Vegas is so not a budget destination in the US. Expect to pay top dollar for all that you do. I’m not saying that all that you’ll see and do isn’t worth the money you’ll be spending, just don’t fret about the cash you’re dropping. It’s wise to cap your spending at some amount, of course, but I would say focus more on having a good time.

Tip #5 Huge Crowds: As I mentioned in #3 above, there are huge crowds all over the strip. We traveled here in October which is considered the shoulder season and STILL there were so many people everywhere you went. This didn’t bother us, but if you’re someone who simply can’t stand the crowds then I would say visit during a very slow month.

Tip #6 Bring cash with you: This is a good rule of thumb for traveling anywhere, but I specifically remember in Vegas always needing more cash than we had on hand at some places we went.

Tip #7 Wear comfortable shoes: I know literally everyone and your grandma will warn you of this before visiting Las Vegas, but wear comfortable shoes!! I mean it! And I don’t mean sandals, either. Bring some sort of tinnie shoe to wear for walking up and down the strip, or your feet will pay the price.

Tip #8 Don’t be coerced into paying a higher tip amount than your comfy with: Some of the employees who make their living off tips may try to persuade you into paying a higher gratuity amount than necessary. Don’t give in to them! Simply say no and walk away. It’ll put a bad taste in your mouth if you succumb, plus you’ll already be dropping a lot of dough on this vacation as it is. Stick to what you think is fair for a tip and leave it at that.

Tip #9 Try not to be offended by what you see on the strip: While visiting Las Vegas, you’ll see everything from little to no clothing donning some people, to homeless people going through withdrawals, and even shocking public performances, as well as advertisements for female company. Hey, it’s Vegas baby, so try not to let any of those things take away from enjoying yourself while you’re here.

I hope this list helps you when planning your trip to Las Vegas! We had such an incredible time here, we can’t wait to go again soon with all that we learned from our first visit.

Why Traveling by Car is WAY Better than by Plane

Alright, so hear me out. Traveling by car is soooo much better than traveling by plane. I might be biased ’cause I REALLY hate traveling by plane, but there are actually several benefits to choosing a road trip rather than hitting up the airport to get you where you need to go. Let me explain…

REASON #1–You’ll save money: I’ll start with the obvious here. Overall, it is cheaper to drive than it is to fly. Especially if you’re traveling with at least one other person because you can split the gas bill. Sure, there may be times when you can find an uber cheap plane ticket, but most of the time those puppies will break the bank. Flying over the holidays? Forget about it. Airlines jack their prices up when they know everyone is trying to get to and fro for events and family gatherings. Just drive!

Reason #2-In some cases you will save time: So let’s say it’s a good rule of thumb to show up at a major airport (O’Hare, LAX) around 2 hours early. And tack on anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour and a half to get to the airport. Then, once you’ve boarded your plane, you’ll wait another 15-45 minutes to lift off. Finally, depending on where you’re going, you could be in the air for several hours. That’s a whole day of getting to your destination- so why not drive? I’d rather spend all day in a car rather than all day in my car, THEN at the airport, then in the air, then getting a lift to my hotel.

Reason #3-You can make fun stops along the way: Next exit- largest ball of yarn, anyone? Whatever you see along the way that fancies you, you can actually stop and get outta your car to see it. Antique shops, photo ops by the ‘Welcome to…’ sign, fast food chains that don’t exist in your state, whatever it may be it’s always nice to have the luxury of being able to hop outta the car to see or experience something cool. You can’t do that on a plane.

Reason #4- Planes are scary: I am sure we’ve all read the statistic about how in general planes are safer than cars. They’re still scary. Ugh, the liftoff and touch down always makes me nervous, I have to squeeze Nate’s hand every time. Sometimes it takes me a while to get used to being in the air as well. I always remain calm and am able to distract myself, but not gonna lie-I feel way better in a car.

Reason#5-You can hit up multiple destinations in one vacation: I always want to try to cram in as much as possible on our trips and hit up different sceneries and destinations. I’m not getting any younger here and I want to see it all dammit! When you’re traveling by car it’s all too easy to head to the next spot in a neighboring state or within the same one.

Reason #6-You will have your vehicle with you at all times on your vacation: Rental cars? Yeah, no. I want the car that I know and love, thank you. When you travel by car, you’ll have the peace of mind of always having your car with you everywhere you go. No waiting for an Uber driver, or making a stop at the rental car place only to wait in line or be informed that they don’t have your reservation down at all, actually.

Reason #7-More resources exist for road trippers: In this day and age there are hella apps (and blogs!) out there to assist with whatever you need help with as far as traveling by car goes. There are apps to help you find cheap gas, available hotel rooms, food at the next exit, etc. I always feel so much more lost at the airport, it feels good knowing I can whip out my phone to find out where we can snag dinner somewhere close by or whatever it may be.

Reason #8-Start and stop whenever YOU want to: There always seems to be so much waiting at an airport, and someone else is dictating your schedule for you- deciding when you get to leave, and even when you get to use the bathroom. There is SO much more freedom when driving. Potty breaks, lunchtime, and when to stop driving for the day are all decided by you/your travel company and no one else.

Reason #9- More privacy: Whether you’re traveling by car alone or with other people, you will get all the privacy you want. I always hate when other people can hear my conversation with Nate on the plane. In the car, we get to talk to each other (and bond) the whole way and we get our car all to ourselves.

Reason #10- Traveling by car is cleaner: I’m not a germaphobe by any means, but airports and planes really are gross! Lots of people get sick from riding in planes and so many people are coming and going in airports all day long. Germies. Ew.

Reason #11- Comfort: They really pack you in like sardines on planes, with little leg room and reclining room. You can move the car chair back as much as your heart desires and even nap without waking up with a serious crick in your neck if there’s someone else with you who can take over driving.

Reason #12- You can bring so much more luggage and extras of anything: I hate being forced to decide what outfits I’m going to wear throughout my trip, so that’s why it’s awesome having room in the car to pack a few different options of tops, shoes, and jewelry. Plus, if you’re the outdoorsy type, you can pack bikes, kayaks, and pretty much anything else you want in or on the car for your trip.

Reason #13- You can bring your pets: The fur babies can come along with you in the car much easier than on a plane. With a car, they’ll be with you the whole time and you can let them out whenever they need a break.

Reason #14- Experience different topography: You get to see all the different topography and climates when driving state to state. The temp, weather, vegetation, and altitude can change in a matter of hours and you can see so much all in one trip!

Reason #15- You know you’ll get to your destination: All you need to do is drive and when you’ll get there depends on how fast you drive. Airlines overbook flights and planes will take off without you, best believe it.

We LOVE taking our vehicle when traveling. We find it so much easier, cheaper, and a much better experience overall as opposed to flying. Of course, there are instances where flying make more sense but we drive unless it’s absolutely not possible!

Ashley Americana