Welcome to 2017! What better way to start the New Year than to talk about our favorite thing—travel!
Leana is on a trip right now, so I’ll share my travel plans for the year first, and she will share hers when she returns.
It’s funny how I plan these trips independently, one at a time….and then when I aggregate them together, I realize it’s a heckuva lot of travel! (Or is it just me?)
The Big One
I’m going out of chronological order here, but I have to start with our big trip first: Disney Cruise to Alaska! It’s been years in the dreaming and planning phase. I’ve already shared our plans to come up with the money for it here, here and here. I’ve also already posted about how we are using airline miles to fly there and our strategy for booking hotel nights in Vancouver prior to the cruise.
We still need to finish paying off the trip and decide on our port excursions. We also need to finalize our pre-cruise plans in Vancouver. I’ll have 4 full days in Vancouver with my youngest kids, and my husband and oldest son will have 2 full days in Vancouver before the cruise.
I am so stinkin’ excited about this trip! Five months and counting.
Spring Break
Based on the rain and gloom from last year’s Spring Break, I decided to make a beach trip happen this year. One week in Florida! We will spend 5 nights in the Clearwater Beach area near Tampa and 2 nights near Fort Myers.
My husband and I have both been to Tampa when we were kids, but this will be our first time going to beaches on the western side of Florida.
I hope to meet up with Leana and her family while we are there. I promise, we will take a selfie and post it!
This week-long trip is only costing us $28 out-of-pocket for airfare and hotel. I’ll be writing more about how we are using miles and points for this trip in an upcoming post.
Treehouse
Remember that post last year about unique off-the-charts places in Texas? Our overnight in the Majestic Oak Treehouse at Savannah’s Meadow is happening in the spring.
I’m so glad we booked a night earlier this year, as the 2017 season is almost sold out. I have a feeling this is going to be an adventure we won’t forget!
Adoption Reunion
Our biannual adoption reunion is in Southern California in July. The past two reunions have been at Disney World in Florida, so this is a big switch.
This reunion is a chance for my boys to meet up with other kids who were adopted from the same area. It’s also an opportunity for parents to reunite with folks we’ve been following through online blogs for years.
We didn’t think we would make the reunion this year due to our big Alaska cruise, but points from the Chase Sapphire Reserve are going to help us make it.
Our plans include three nights in a brand-new Hyatt House near Disneyland as well as two nights with the reunion group at Great Wolf Lodge in Garden Grove. I’ll write more about this trip as we finalize our tickets and itinerary.
Solo Trip
In August, I’m going a solo trip to New Orleans! I’m going to meet up with a college friend at a convention for the business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi. (Any Deltasigs reading this??!?!)
I visited New Orleans in 9th grade with my friend and her mom, but I haven’t been back since. I’m looking forward to exploring the city for a weekend and enjoying adult company.
Hotel in the Middle of Nowhere
I have tentatively booked a few nights at Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa for the end of the 2017. We visited this resort last year in July, and we just came back from a trip to its sister resort, Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa. (I’ll have a write-up on Hyatt Regency Hill Country later this week).
Usually, Hyatt Lost Pines has special New Year packages online for the last few days of the year, and no points or Points + Cash rates are available. However, last month for a few days it was possible to book using points and other discounted rates.
In past years, Hyatt Lost Pines has gone all out with family activities during this time of the year. Carnival games, Ferris wheel, outdoor ice skating rink, etc. Should be fun!
Hyatt Lost Pines is sort-of on the way back from our family’s place in South Texas, so we will be combining the visits into one trip.
Family Visits
Of course, we have to fit in some travel to visit our family. We usually visit family in South Texas three times during the year, and we try to go to Denver once per year.
We don’t have these plans finalized, but some of these visits will occur over holiday weekends.
Big Gap
We currently haven no travel planned for Fall 2017. The school calendar hasn’t been published yet, so I can’t see if my kids will have another 4-day weekend in October like last year. Also, our current plans will eat up all of my husband’s work vacation days, so that really puts a damper on any additional travel plans.
We may be trip-less in the Fall! And that’s ok.
Have you finalized your 2017 travel plans? Please share!
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Nancy – I’m so jealous. The Disney Alaskan cruise was one of my favorite cruises, and I want to do it again. I had booked the Taku Lodge Feast tour – seaplane – it’s pricey but had great reviews. Unfortunately, our tour was cancelled due to weather. My hubby did the helicopter tour on Skagway and loved every minute of it (heard it was better than the helicopter tours at other ports). The Capilano Suspension Bridge was really nice in Vancouver – wish we had spent more time there. If you have never seen Buschart Gardens, it’s worth it. Boat ride is not cheap from Vancouver and I think it’s 3 hours 1 way to Victoria.
Just got back from Monterey & San Francisco and the kids loved it. Spent 2 nights at Fairmont in a suite – wow is all I can say. Stayed at 4 hotels for a total of 6 nights and spent $195 – used free stay certs and points. No airfare since it was a road trip.
For 2017, it’s DC and Maui/Kauai. Nothing planned for Fall or Winter. Maybe I can squeeze in an adult only vacation – we haven’t had one in years.
Planning NYC for 2018 and will be concentrating on accumulating the points we need for free flights & hotels.
I just added Costa Rica to our travel list – we’ll see if it’s doable.
@Stephanie I’m tempted to book that Taku Lodge excursion! It looks fantastic! Sorry it was canceled on your trip. Sounds like a great time in San Francisco! Thanks for sharing your travel plans.
Thats alot of travel!
In less then 3 weeks I will FINALLY be at WDW. So excited.
I have a wedding in Baltimore in March. Will probably only be one night unless there are some point breaks hotels available near by. There is a Radisson near the hall for 38,000 points which I will gladly spring for for one night but not more than that.
I’d like to do 2 nights at the beach this summer with my wells Fargo rewards. It will be close to home so no flights or car needed.
And I want to do either a winter mountain trip or something like great wolf lodge for one or two nights if I can get another flex rewards card. My daughter just LOVES the snow.
I also have to visit family in Tucson in the summer for 5-7 days…thats flights, hotel and car rental.
I was having to do the SW companion pass this year with the Marriott trick but that just got nixed so now I have to re-strategize how I am going to do this all this year.
@HML–sounds like a lot of exciting travel this year! Disney World–Woohoo!! Such a bummer about the changes to the SW Companion pass. 🙁