Went to The Big Island, HI. Spend a fortune but it was worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went to Tennessee- Smoky Mountains. Gatlinburg, Cades Cove, aquarium, zip lining, clingman's dome, Anakeesta, forbidden caverns, the Island...our second time and still no where near enough time to see and do everything. Love it there!

Where do you stay when you go? How was the drive?

We stayed in a cabin about 15 minutes outside of Gatlinburg. Very secluded, woodsy, and it had a hot tub on the deck, which was nice. I found it on Airbnb but there are a lot of rental websites for that area as well. And it was cheap! 2 bedrooms and a loft, 2.5 baths, very nice and updated, I paid $275/night. All in all, a very budget friendly trip.

Drive is long, but not terrible. Took us ~9ish hours with a few stops for lunch, bathroom, gas, etc.

+1 on the drive. I didn't go to TN this spring break, but have in the past. The drive feels so much shorter and more relaxing than going to the beach down 95, even though it's the same amount of time in the car. I think it's just a nicer drive and you're not always waiting for the inevitable traffic on 95 to become unbearable. It's a great place for tweens/teens who are starting to be too cool for vacation because there's just so much to do there, they can't help but have fun doing something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are near Asheville. Loved not having to fly. We have a great Airbnb. Going to do a day trip to Knoxville tomorrow.

We drove to Asheville too. Spent one day at the Biltmore Estate and then hiked and explored a ton. Also loved not having to fly.

We did this last summer and then drove on to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Beautiful scenery. I wasn’t a big fan of Gatlinburg, but there’s a ton of kid-friendly stuff there. Like the other poster who went there, we enjoyed Anakeesta.

We are in Portugal.

Left Dulles Friday night 4/8. We gave ourselves 3+ hours and breezed through security around 7:15 PM. There were no lines anywhere. (Note to self: Leave next Spring Break late Friday night again)

Arrived Lisbon airport, where the queue for passport control was 2 hours and 45 min. Then one checked bag didn't make it, which took another hour to sort out. (There are some changes taking place here with one police unit taking over the passport control units so we were told they are woefully understaffed.)

We spent another 1.5 hours at Lisbon airport the next day trying to get our hands on the lost bag that had made it on another flight in. Folks working at the airport are trying hard, but the process is a little convoluted. There was almost a mini riot by a bunch of people trying to get their hands on their bags, and we were all crowdsourcing advice on how to navigate the system.

Haven't left Portugal yet. Had a mini myocardial infarction trying to book COVID-19 tests through one service which was totally booked, and us having to drive 2.5 hours out of the way to get to a site that has availability. Then found another service that should be OK (fingers crossed). Will report back on outbound adventures, and how long the line is to get back in at Dulles.

It was chillier earlier in the week, but today was sunny and 70 and a gorgeous day for a boat ride. I've been to other parts of Portugal before, but am now in love with Algarve.

We’re in the mountains west of Asheville. The rental is gorgeous, the views are breath-taking and relaxing, and the house has everything we need. There are plenty of options for day trips, but it’s also easy to just chill at the house. Lots of breweries, hiking, etc.

That said, it’s not an ideal fit for our family. I’d rather get out and do something, DH and the kids are harder to motivate. I wouldn’t care, but when we stay in the house too much, people get irritable. There’s also way, way too much Trump paraphernalia around. When it’s coupled with bumper stickers like “Joe and the Ho have got to go,” that’s too much for me.

Ultimately, I think this area is good if you want to be isolated and surrounded by beautiful scenery. Otherwise, meh. Too much driving.

Anonymous wrote:Is 2-3 days enough in Saint Louis?

Yes! Especially is the weather isn't great. We've especially enjoyed the City Museum, the Zoo, the Art Museum, and this wacky indoor 80s-themed mini golf course with a ton of pinball machines. Lodging and food are reasonable. The park where the zoo and art museum are is very Central Park-like - it's massive and lovely. We're not that far away in Chicago, so we've not felt compelled to do it all in one trip. I think a day at the zoo and a day at the City Museum would be just perfect for a long weekend with kids in the 4-11 age range.

On the list for future trips: the Arch, the Science Center, the Magic House children's museum, the National Museum of Transportation, and the Laumeier Sculpture Park.

Anonymous wrote:I would love to hear costs if anyone wants to share. Seems like SB is always just so pricey to travel anywhere.

We skied Breckenridge and spring break was actually cheaper than going in Jan/Feb/Mar. Lodging prices drop a lot the first week in April. We rented a ski in/out townhouse (2 bedroom, 2.5 bath with a garage) for $1600 would cost more like $4500 for a week in peak season. Due to the elevation conditions were still incredible.

Between lodging, flights and rental car (turo) we spent $4000. Didn't include things like groceries, dining out, airport parking and all that. We also already have Epic passes and our own gear so that wasn't included.

Is 2-3 days enough in Saint Louis?

Currently on a trip to Seattle and Portland. Don’t want to jinx anything, but so far the only thing I’ve really noticed that seems like maybe a consequence of the pandemic is all the closed restaurants and stores. And much of both cities seem to just shut down by 6 pm. But travel wise haven’t encountered anything horrible ( so far, not trying to tempt the gods of bad luck) because of Covid. My rental car broke down but was able to exchange it pretty easily and readily.

Colombia. Great trip and super cheap except the airport getting out was a nightmare, got there 3 hours early (for an 8am flight!) and had to sprint to the gate to avoid missing the flight.

Anonymous wrote:I would love to hear costs if anyone wants to share. Seems like SB is always just so pricey to travel anywhere.

For Barcelona, I think plane tickets were about $800 per person, so definitely reasonable for Europe, and we had a beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bath AirBNB for just over $1600 for the week. We were also impressed at how reasonable the food was—we weren’t eating super fancy but we had excellent tapas meals with wine for us and 2 kids for 100 euros or less on multiple occasions. Obviously there are cheaper vacations to be had, but it felt fairly reasonable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went to Tennessee- Smoky Mountains. Gatlinburg, Cades Cove, aquarium, zip lining, clingman's dome, Anakeesta, forbidden caverns, the Island...our second time and still no where near enough time to see and do everything. Love it there!

Where do you stay when you go? How was the drive?

We stayed in a cabin about 15 minutes outside of Gatlinburg. Very secluded, woodsy, and it had a hot tub on the deck, which was nice. I found it on Airbnb but there are a lot of rental websites for that area as well. And it was cheap! 2 bedrooms and a loft, 2.5 baths, very nice and updated, I paid $275/night. All in all, a very budget friendly trip.

Drive is long, but not terrible. Took us ~9ish hours with a few stops for lunch, bathroom, gas, etc.

I posted here last week needing help to decide where to take my 11 year old for a last minute trip. We decided on Williamsburg. Left Monday, by the time we arrived she wasn't feeling well. Tested positive for Covid on Tuesday morning so we drove right back. Such a bummer. Now I'm just taking care of my DD who is quite sick and wishing this week could be over already.

It blows my mind what people are spending on these trips.

Anonymous wrote:I would love to hear costs if anyone wants to share. Seems like SB is always just so pricey to travel anywhere.

PR poster. Flights around 3k. Resort base is probably 3300 and then whatever leaks and drinks we’ve charged here … probably 4000 all said and done. Another 1000 on Uber, meals out, tips, excursions. All in, probably 8-9k.