I know everyone is talking about it, but the end of the year, this gem of a holiday season, is a really good time to look back at the prior year and plan for the next one.
Also, Merry Christmas, everyone!
Maybe you’re starting to sweat because you’re thinking about goals you haven’t met or budgets you need to make, but I’m here with a stressless look back at one of my favorite things: travel.
Every year, my husband and I make it a goal to take a few trips, whether local, domestic or international (if we’re lucky)!
In 2018, we took some pretty fun ones, so here’s where we went (click on the linked headers for full travel posts):
Isle of Palms & Charleston, SC
We’ve had some great summer and holiday trips to Charleston in the past few years with my family…and I hope that trend can continue. We love getting a big beach house and spending time lounging, eating and being together. And my Mom and I have a tradition of taking a beach hat pic together. Isle of Palms is a lovely beach town and just 20-30 minutes from restaurants, bars and shops in Charleston.
Kinston, Asheville & Emerald Isle, NC
We hit up some good spots in NC this year, too. These are each only a few hours from Raleigh and well worth the trek. We love taking a day trip to Kinston for a stop at the Boiler Room and Mother Earth Brewing. Asheville is one of our favorite NC vacay cities, and there is plenty of food, brews and sights to keep you busy there. We’ve really been enjoying Emerald Isle, too, when we can find an Airbnb in the summer.
UK: England, Wales & Scotland
If you haven’t seen our pics from this epic trip, use the links in the title to make sure you see it all. I had to split the whole trip into four posts…it was that good! So many fun adventures, art exhibits, meals and natural beauty.
Virginia
It was our first time to stay in Virginia this year (vs. just driving through on the way to DC), and we really loved the fall colors and delicious apples. In addition to apple picking, we discovered some great wines from the Shenandoah Valley!
Arkansas
We trekked back to our home state, Arkansas, for Thanksgiving with my in-laws. If you’re ever in AR, check out the Fayetteville/Bentonville area for some great eats, art and views.
Where will we go in 2019?
That’s a great question! So far, we’ll be going back to Asheville in February to hear one of my favorite all-time bands, Switchfoot, and spend a weekend there. We also snagged some amazingly priced tickets back to France for April, so we’re looking forward to returning to Paris and one of our favorite places in the Loire Valley.
Other than that, we’ve discussed returning to DC for a long weekend and maybe going back to Charleston/Isle of Palms, but we’ll see!
Where are you planning to go next year?