Summer Travel Plans 2016

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 11

Coddles to those travel bloggers that get their schedules out at the beginning of the year and actually stick to it. I'm always hesitant to share our travel plans too far in advance in case things change. But we're excited about having so much time together this summer before I return to grad school {in a different state} and we go back to a long distance marriage. We want to take complete advantage of our time and are being optimistic by making all the travel plans.

{nantucket summer 2015}

Utah

Being east coasters, we head out west at least once per year. For 2016, we picked Utah. I've already shared all the details as to why the heck we would want to go to Utah, but this one minute promo video explains it best! Basically, it's going to be an epic week long road trip through the southwest, touring the national parks that make up the Mighty Five. We adore being in nature and are thrilled to be spending an entire week camping and hiking at the best travel destination of 2016! Added bonus, we're using rewards points from our travel credit cards, making this trip nearly FREE. 

Maine

Maine is my newest love affair. With all those lobsters and lighthouses, how can you not be in love? I wish we could spare a couple of weeks to just drive through Maine to see all the sites, but real life has put the kibosh on that. However, we can spare a few days and are headed to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor Maine. 

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New York

If you remember, we had to cancel Husband's birthday trip to Lake Placid and the Adirondacks. It was meant to be a ski vacation, but there wasn't enough snow. We still want to go to the Adirondacks because Tom's childhood best friend lives there. Hopefully, we can make it this summer. Only instead of skiing in the mountains, we would hike.

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Chicago Illinois

Ah Chicago Chicago (had too)! With all the camping and hiking planned this summer, I would love for us to spend a few days exploring a new major city. Tom had a conference in Chicago last Fall and really wants for us to go there together, but Chicago is one of the most expensive cities to visit in America, making the budget a big concern.

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We've already booked accommodations, but everything is tentative for now because what we're willing to spend is a lot lower than what a trip to Chicago actually cost. That aside, we are determined to make this work. Whether or not this trip happens really just depends on our budget planning and travel hacking skills. Wish us luck! 

Bring on the Day Trips! 

I've started a fun new series…the day trip diaries. With being centrally located right near Boston, we are hoping to do a few day trips around New England this summer. Day trips will give us the opportunity to experience new places, without taking too much time away from our schedules or having to worry about overnight expenses. Winning Combo! Your guess is as good as mine as to where we will actually end up because New England is filled with quaint coastal towns, but here is what's currently on our wish list for this summer.

Boston Massachusetts

Of course, Boston is on the list. While Tom has been living in Massachusetts for grad school, we have been slowly exploring the best of boston whenever I visited. We have a big opportunity with me being here with him for part of the summer and are hoping to cross several items off our Boston Bucket List. It takes a little effort to make it into the city from the suburbs, but with being really close, we have no excuse.

{boston harbor}

Cape Cod vs. Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts

After celebrating my birthday in Nantucket last summer, we realized that we HAVE to make it to the other island towns of Massachusetts while we still live nearby. But there are so many options! We would love to visit both Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard this summer, but we are limited on time and need to choose. Talk about a tough decision 

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Cape Ann Massachusetts

{cape ann: eastern point lighthouse}

We've already crossed Cape Ann off our wish list for the summer. We ended up going a little early in the season because it meant being able to take our pup along to play at the beaches. We've actually done three separate trips out to Cape Ann thus far, splitting our time between the main towns of Rockport and Gloucester. 

Providence OR Newport Rhode Island 

Rhode Island is such a small state that it wouldn't take much time to see it's major highlights. This makes it ideal as a day trip destination. We are thinking we would like to visit either Providence OR Newport for a day. Also, I've heard amazing things about Block Island. We can be in Rhode Island in an hour, so if we can, we will make a few trips here.

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Portland Maine

It should be no surprise to find this one on our list. I wasn't kidding about wanting to spend a week in Maine. Portland is a bit of a stretch as a day trip, but worth it I think. It's pretty much the ideal definition of a New England town.

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Portsmouth New Hampshire

This is another New England town that has been popping up on the radar lately. It's only an hour drive away so why not? I'm thinking it could be nice to head there for a dinner out and maybe take a boat cruise to the Isles of Shoals. 

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Wow…typing it all out has made me realize that we have got a ton of plans this summer. Some of these are already set in stone, while others are tentative. But our reasoning for wanting to travel together this much is easy to understand. We're really hoping to make it to every single one of these destinations to create memories to hold to when we're apart again. 

linking up with Shelly & Kathy//thinkingoutloud//