It’s embarrassing to be a travel writer who forgets to travel.
I looked up this morning and school was starting; where did the summer go?
We took a short road trip to Houston, and the kids visited the nearby Schlitterbahn water park a couple of times, but that was about it.
What’s up with that?
I didn’t have plans for anything elaborate this summer, not with gas at $4/gallon and air travel such a misery, but I did intend to take a series of short one- or two-night family road trips.
As my teen would say….FAIL.
Still, I’ve been at this travel business for awhile, and I’ve learned that the vast majority of the planet will still be there when I get around to getting into the car or onto a plane.
Summer is beastly hot anyway, at least here in my home state of Texas, so another way to look at it is that the best season for travel is coming up right now.
Plan now for fall travel
Every year at about this time, it dawns on me that I should get ahead of the game for fall family travel.
When the kids come home with those enormous mounds of paper from their school, pull out the 2008-2009 school calendar and starting noting holiday/teacher workday dates (or look it up on the school Web site, of course.) Get those puppies down on your family calendar NOW, and start planning some short weekend fall getaways.
If your school observes Columbus Day, (October 13th this year) that’s an oft-forgotten holiday that’s good for a short trip.
Veterans Day in November works well, too; perhaps visit a nearby battlefield or historic fort?
It’s certainly not too late to lock in some Thanksgiving or even Christmas plans right now, because I assure you, airfare is only going to go up. Book now.
Get out of town, or out of the country, for Thanksgiving
Sometimes, holidays are even better when your family can enjoy them away from home.
If I could swing the cash, I’d make plans to go to Europe, Canada or somewhere in Latin America for Thanksgiving – November is an excellent time to travel, because it isn’t so crowded and you can often score airfare/hotel package deals.
Take a look at Budget Travel Real Deals, BootsnAll’s Cheap Travel Scout or Go-Today.com (I used them to go to Hong Kong and Tokyo) for opportunities.
See, I didn’t miss the travel season; I’m just in time and so are you!
Are you way ahead of me, with some fall trips already planned? Let us know about it in the comments!
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{ 10 comments }
Ah, don’t feel lonely, we didn’t do anything too exciting with summer travel this year either. We did spend almost a week in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, but that was visiting my parents, so I don’t think that really counts.
We did a spring working vacation on Hawaii’s Big Island for two weeks in the spring, so that’s another reason why we’ve not taken a more exciting summer trip.
As for this fall, we’re working on a trip back to Oahu and Kauai in October. If travel to Hawaii is on your radar, then the hotel rates along with all the freebies they are throwing in are better than ever and definitely worth a look!
We have the opposite problem, we are doing so much traveling, that I don’t always have the time to write about our travels ( or find free wifi to upload the blog stories and videos when moving).
We have missed the heat this summer ( & luckily most of the crowds too), but you are right, fall is a great time to travel! Shoulder and off seasons are my favorite.
We have to go to NYC this fall to meet some disadvantaged kids who will be traveling with us this year through the non profit “Reach the World”. It is exciting, but will be strange since we have been out of country for over 2 years traveling. Then of course we will have to pop in to hug family before heading off again.
Should be an interesting fall! Happy travels to you and all!!
we live on a lake, so don’t travel much in the summer since it is so nice here. but the rest of the year? nice!
Hi Sheila,
Thanks for the encouraging words, and believe me, if I could figure out how to get four of us to Hawaii I certainly would! Someday….
Another tip for scoring some fall deals, subscribe to Sherman’s Top 25 and Travelzoo Top 20 email lists.
While we did take a short (10 day) family trip to New Mexico this summer, I’m generally a bigger fan of fall travel than summer travel. The weather is so nice in Seattle (where I live) during the summer that it’s a shame to miss out.
Our kids are still little, so taking my son out of preschool isn’t a big deal, and the weather is still nice in most destinations in September, October and November. Even better, prices are usually lower than during the summer, and tourist attractions are less crowded.
I couldn’t agree with you more about traveling for the holidays… we spent a memorable Thanksgiving in Paris one year (no turkey, but wonderful food) and Spain, Mexico and Italy are all fantastic (and fascinating) sites at Christmas time.
Hope you get on the road or in the air this fall!
Debbie
I’m so fried after Summer travel then the wave of back-to-school papers that I don’t think about that Columbus Day weekend as good travel time. That would be a perfect time for a long weekend at the nearby shore after all the crowds have gone. I love walking the boardwalk when the air is cooler in the fall. My kids love playing in the sand any time of year.
Thanks for a great post.
*** Hi Soultravelers3 – yes, not enough travel is NOT one of your problems!
*** Hi jessiev – I’ll bet your lake house is popular with friends….
*** Hi Kara – appreciate the tip; I like TravelZoo as well.
*** Hi Debbie – thanks for the support when it comes to holidays away from the US; it shouldn’t be overlooked.
*** Hi FunFrugalMom – I think the beach is usually better in early fall; water and sun are still warm, prices drop and crowds are thinner.
We were on the road for five weeks this summer so I’m also feeling like the time flew by, for just the opposite reason. (And I can also assure you between the weakness of the dollar versus the euro and the cost of gas we will be smarting financially for some time!)
I’m a big advocate of one-day jaunts and have committed myself to Friday Adventures with Teddy (my 3-year-old) all fall. I realized that I’ve lived in DE for 12 years and there’s lots of places in the area we’ve never been. This week it will be Havre de Grace. We also have a family DC trip planned in November and Thanksgiving in Vermont.
I’m a big advocate for holidays abroad! I hope you plan something great and write about it here.
Hi Mara,
Thanks for stopping by; I’m all about one-day jaunts too, and the key is to get out of the door early, as though it were a schoolday.
Now, do as I say and not as my family and I do, on that one….:)
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