The world is open again, right? It’s what we’ve all been waiting for. While it’s open again, nobody said it’s back to normal. Actually, we’re far from that. Even so, I’m taking the bit of normalcy I can grasp and determined to rock with it. We’ve been a bit more active as a family and doing things locally. I still don’t feel great about doing a whole lot of traveling. However, after being in this house for 18 months or so, we were ready for a change of scenery. My family has been taking small trips here and there. That’s one of the perks of living in Southern California. There are literally so many options to vacation and feel like you really went away.
We spent my daughter’s birthday, in July, on Catalina Island. We caught the ferry from Newport Beach, here in Orange County, and were on the island in an hour. It’s everything you’d want in an island getaway. We enjoyed the glass bottom boat ride and the beach among other things. My husband and I used to make it an annual day trip before we had kids. We hadn’t been since our son was born. He’s almost 12. It was so nice to return with both kids and my Mom.
Our anniversary is right after our baby girl’s birthday. We have never been able to getaway for our anniversary since having the kids. Being that my mom lives her now, we took her up on her offer to keep the kids while we took off. The husband and I went away and spent a few days on Coronado Island. It was so relaxing to ride bikes along the beach, sleep in and enjoy late dinners. We even went paddle boarding for the first time. I’m not good at it. I sliced my foot up on the rocks. It was a pretty brave adventure on my part. Just floating in the Pacific Ocean knowing I can’t swim (there was a life jacket involved).
We also did a quick weekend trip to Vegas. Then we headed to Palm Springs for our end of summer vacay. Everything was drivable in a few hours or less. Yes, I love California.
Whenever we are ready to take the plunge and take some international trips I’ve got a few places in mind I’d like to go.
Paris with the kids has been at the top of the list for some time now. The hubs and I got engaged there and I’d love to experience the city as a family. It’s been on my daughter’s radar for the last few years. Spain, Italy and Croatia are catching my interest too. Will we be going any time soon? Who knows. I’m just dreaming here. Especially since COVID seems intent on hanging around, I feel like I’m going to be stuck in dream mode for a bit longer.
In the meantime, I’ll stick to planning more trips along the coast. Maybe we’ll take on Northern California next. There’s Hearst Castle, San Luis Obispo, Ojai and Santa Barbara. Napa would be a great getaway for the Mr and myself.
Is there anywhere near you that feels like a getaway or are you braver than me and hitting the friendly skies?
