The Weirdest Best Part of Trips

I just read Kris’s post, and now must add one. My then-husband and I moved far, far away from Seattle. We have friends and family there, and went back regularly. After a couple of trips we invented the big lie. We either gave everyone a bogus arrival date or a bogus departure date. Then we had a couple of days to do what we liked, sleep in, etc. I think everyone knew or suspected the big lie, but it made vacations great.

Once I was in Manhattan for work when I was 7 months pregnant. I had a terrible cold (pre-Covid, when you traveled anyhow!) and meetings all day. I was staying at The Beekman downtown in a beautiful room, and I cancelled my plans with friends in the city to eat a burger and french fries on my hotel bed while I watched Twister in my pajamas and, let me tell you, a more luxurious thing I cannot remember.

The first time I went to Europe with my family, we hit 7 countries in a month and a half. By the time we got to England, my mom and I were exhausted. We were staying in Bath, at a darling B&B, when we hit our wall. We decided one night to get a bunch of snacks, get in our deliciously comfortable beds, and watch Jane Austen movies until we fell asleep. It was the most perfect night and one I will always remember!

That is exactly why I adore days at sea when on a cruise. I’m relatively new to cruising (have been on three so far since 2018) and quickly found comfort on sea days. Since there’s no sightseeing to be done, and I choose smaller ships, my day stretched out before me to be filled with a leisurely breakfast followed by a mocha from the cafe area and staring out at the water while pretending to read and also listening in on many conversations around me. A brisk walk on the deck is followed by lunch at the buffet or fancy dining room, and then a movie or a book or a puzzle, a nap, a fancy dinner, then music in one of the many lounges, back to the room to watch a movie and it’s lights out. Bliss! There are enough days of staying busy in port that I’ve come to love days of doing nothing. Good for the soul!

My mother, sister and I travelled though Provance and did as much as we could, but my favorite memory is the leisurely morning we spent drinking lattes, eating pain au chocolat and looking at French magazines on the sunny rooftop patio of our funky, wonderful apartment- with a gorgeous view of Mont Ventoux.

I lived in Paris for a summer when I was 18, and now whenever I go back to Paris (luckily, I’ve been able to go back a few times since!)–I always have one night where I eat just like I did that summer. I pick up a $1 baguette, some grocery store cheese and a thing of boxed gazpacho, a dark chocolate bar, and a $2 bottle of wine–of course since this is France, everything is delicious even though it’s so cheap!–and have a little personal picnic. It’s always the cheapest, best meal of my trip–whether I’m my own, or with my husband or friends.

I have learned over many years of travels that doing a bit less frequently means seeing much more.

Oh, we had one of those nights in Paris, too! What is it about Paris…I was pregnant and we had taken the train over from London and walked forever…my rather large body was beat and we stayed in and watched movies on a laptop in our tiny hotel room (with an equally tiny shower!). I remember that so fondly.
P.S. I never waited in a line as a pregnant lady in Paris…somebody would always come and get me and move me to the front. It was so kind- I was so flummoxed the first time it happened!

It’s not possible to hit every place on your list. So don’t even try. That desire to visit 30 different spots is also what makes you end vacation more tired than when you began. Which is why I always carve out do-nothing time. Maybe that means sleeping late, having a leisurely breakfast and actually reading the books I schlepped. Or I’ll have an early dinner at the one restaurant I really want to try, then head back to the hotel, rock the complimentary robe and watch whatever awesomely bad movie happens to be on TV. Nothing says vacation like She’s All That.

I always feel that when doing unspectacular things in a foreign place like going to the movies, picnicking on the grass in the parks, spending the night in the hotel room, I can get an impression of how it might feel to live there. Also, doing nothing in a foreign place is actually doing a lot – you usually connect with the place even more, I find, because you can observe, listen, smell even better when relaxing.

This was during my honeymoon in Scotland. We did plan major things, but we were there for 3 weeks so there was time to slow down. My husband and I’s favorite memory was in Orkney. We were staying in town and passed by a quiet cafe. Honestly, it looked closed so we didn’t venture in but there was a sign outside advertising a coffeehaus the next day. The next day we didn’t have much planned so we decided to head there after an early dinner. It still looked closed. When we entered it was quiet but filled with people and then soon enough, there were stringed instruments and shanty’s being sung for the rest of the night. My heart swelled.

I have a very strict rule that involves NO planning on day 1 of vacation, and making two list… 1) Top 10 things I would like to see 2)Top 3 things from list #1 I must see. Somehow, by wandering and stumbling across towns, we have always managed to see everything on our lists, at our own pace. The highlight was definitely the Tivoli fountain to ourselves on a jet-lagged 5 am stroll !

My husband I were in Florence mid-way into our 3 week vacation and I had been dragging him from art museum to art gallery non-stop. We were wandering around when we spotted an English showing of Iron Man 3 in a old, old theater. We had a great time, and it was really refreshing! It wasn’t what we were ‘supposed’ to be doing, and it was the best thing for us to do at that moment. We still remember it vividly!

This post enlightened me to the fact that I really need to sit for a minute and determine exactly which type of vacation I need a particular trip to be: Sightseeing? Adventure? Relaxation? Then I can feel good about making it a “___” trip and not worry that it

My husband gets really excited when someone gets sick on a trip and we stay home. We’ve only traveled to Hawai’i, where I’m from, the past few years, a couple times/year. Our trips are so busy w/hanging out with friends and family it feels nothing like the relaxing trip it should be. I start off w/out plans, but run into people out and about and end up with dinner/lunch/beach plans and suddenly we’re rushing to the beach, rushing home to get ready, rinse, repeat and we are so exhausted, we need a vacation when we return home just to recover. But seriously, what a problem to have.

Perfect timing to read this post! We’re getting married in a few weeks, and then honeymooning for a week in Spain. We’ve got 2 nights in Barcelona, then we’re going north to a small town called Olot where we will be staying in a beautiful old house, eating breakfast and dinner with ingredients gathered from the garden. I cannot wait to RELAX.

I’m with you!! Here’s memorable vacation veg outs with my husband.
Orcas Inn (RIP) drinking wine, an apple, and smelly cheese in the claw foot tub.
After walking all over Paris – stinky cheese, bread, wine, CNN, calls to check on kids back home, laughing at our incredibly small shower.

In the first few months of dating my boyfriend and I took an week-long trip to Italy. We both got the flu (me the first day, him the second) and subsequently never left our hotel room except for pharmacy runs and to go to the airport. Even though it was a drag to miss out on Italy, we only remember it as a special, magical time of getting to know each other and falling in love. Quiet times really are the best times!

My husband and I (pre-marriage) lived in Spain for a few months during college. We took weekend trips to beach towns, the mountains, and France, and it was the most life-changing summer. 10 years later, we were a year into parenthood living 15 hours from the nearest family members. My mother-in-law gave us the best 8 year wedding anniversary gift, by flying out and staying with our little boy for a full week so we could take a trip alone. We flew back to Spain, hit up a couple of the spots we visited during our college trip, and felt absolutely no need to see the major sites, since we’d already done it years ago. Everything felt familiar, even after all that time, and we virtually spent every (late) waking hour strolling, sipping wine, lying in the grass/on the beach, and doing whatever the hell we felt like doing from moment to moment. We’ve done a fair amount of traveling with lots of sightseeing and adventure, but this was by far the most magnificent trip we’ve ever experienced. (Some of that could be related to 12 months of little sleep and baby-raising!)

My boyfriend and I went to New York last year – it was my first time. We rented this great airbnb with a little lounge room and great couch and it was just so lovely to have a place to chill for a few hours every day and not rush. He’d read papers while I read, watched Netflix or online shopped. Then we’d go out in the afternoon and not come home until late. Such happy memories.

Most of my favourite memories from the trips I’ve been on in the last five years have been the moments of doing nothing. There is something about relaxing together and letting the day happen to you that breeds it’s own kind of magic!

We’re going to Paris this summer, but I really doubt if my Chevy Chase Vacation kinda husband is going to stand for any downtime…. Thanks for sharing an awesome post!

My bff and I did a contiki to Eastern Europe last year. As you can probably imagine it was jam-packed but during our free-time every single day we wandered through the old-town squares and inadvertently ended up browsing in bookshops. Also, people-watching! One of my best memories of the trip is sitting on a bench outside St Stephens basilica in Budapest for three hours eating ice-cream and guessing about the lives off all the people we were watching!

Agreed! I always have to remind myself that “you can’t do it all”. My husband and I hiked the West Coast Trail for our honeymoon and we had planned lots of sightseeing in Victoria, BC before we started. Being so tired from our wedding, instead we ordered take-out, stayed in our hotel room in bathrobes and basically slept for 2 full days. I’ll always remember those days as some of the best – something about the coziness was so romantic.

Love this! I completely agree that it’s a great idea to plan for a few days of lazy lounging even when you’re on holiday! I recently went on my first solo trip to Amsterdam, and had planned my days pretty well (museums, neighborhoods to visit, cafes to stop by for lunch, shops to browse, tulip fields, etc.), but made sure that my last day (which coincidentally was the only sunny day!) was completely open before my flight home that evening. I went to one of the biggest parks in Amsterdam, sat on a park bench with some snacks, and relished the feeling of the sun on my face. I even made some puppy friends! :) It was definitely one of those small but intensely happy moments.