Issue 1: A Travel Plan for 2022
Manifest It.
Hello, and happy March!
Welcome to the first issue of Famventure, a newsletter exploring the magic (and occasionally horror) of family travel and adventure on Substack. I’m so happy that you’re here. My hope is to use this space to share ideas for fun in Washington, DC and further afield, and thoughts on how to approach adventure with the people you love.
Dreaming for 2022
The forecast for travel in 2022 feels post-pandemicish. With all of my family members vaccinated, and eligible members boosted, the possibilities for travel have expanded. Like many, we are are sketching travel plans that include places, activities, and events on our family’s bucket list, rather than thinking only of options that are feasible in a pandemic world. But our optimism remains somewhat tempered with caution, given the realities of country travel restrictions and the continuing evolution of COVID-19.
So what does this mean for us in 2022? A lot of adventure that continues to be focused in the U.S. Here are our current plans for travel this year:
Winter: Los Angeles CA (me) and MA and NH (rest of family) (Feb)
Spring: Puerto Rico (March); Charlottesville, VA (May)
Summer: New River Gorge NP, WV (July); Westerly, RI (early August); Asheville, NC→ Smoky Mtns, TN→ Seabrook Island, SC (late August/early September)
Fall: tentatively planning surprise Disney World trip (late October)
I’ll get into the details for how we selected this motley crew in future issues, and will aim to review each trip with our itinerary and tips.
Other Adventures for 2022
Like many others, we decided to last-minute cancel our December holiday break ski plans in light of the Omicron-fueled COVID surge. Unlike many others, we were lucky and able to spend extra time with our extended family instead in Massachusetts and New Jersey. We used one of our long car trips during break to also brainstorm things we wanted to do in 2022, individually and as a family. A few highlights from that list that I’m looking forward to checking off:
Hiking Old Rag Mountain: My eight-year-old (then seven-year-old) and I finally hiked the Billy Goat Trail last fall. The trail had long been on my list, but I had been somewhat nervous to do it with my kids, given its reputation as one of the most strenous hikes in the DC area. We ended up tackling Billy Goat Trail A (the most difficult of the three Billy Goat sections) on a beautiful, sunny October Sunday and found the rewards to far outweigh the challenges. A fellow hiker told us that if we could do Trail A without difficulty, we would be able to handle Old Rag Mountain, perhaps the most popular hike in Shenandoah NP. And so a goal for 2022 was born.
Ballparks of the Northeast: My husband and son are sports fantatics and seeing live games are high on their priority list this year. We are going to pair some trips to see famiy and friends this spring and summer with baseball at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium. We will also try to catch the Red Sox @ Orioles and finally visit Camden Yards in nearby Baltimore.
Parent-Kid Weekend: I’m aiming to take a one-on-one trip with at least one kiddo this year, and hope to make it an annual tradition going forward. I am tentatively planning on a weekend near Shenandoah NP, to cross off the Old Rag hike above.
Bookmarks
Closing things out with few places around the web I found worth the visit:
Crystal Cove Beach Cottages gorgeous beachfront cottages, originally built in the 1930s and 1940s and located at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach, CA. everydayadventurefam shared mesmerizing photos from a recent trip on Instagram, with the tip that patience and persistence pays off in booking these through Reserve California.
The Out of Office app, a place to record your tips for hotels, restaurants, and activities by destination and see your friends’ suggestions for the same. Could this be the end of clunky travel spreadsheets?
Ways to Support Ukraine and my favorite Ukranian restaurant in NYC is always worth the wait, but perhaps right now a place to offer solace and feel less alone.
Until next time,
Liza