Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Wyndham Vacation Rentals.
I asked The Dudes the other day which of our major family vacations so far has been their favorite.
Dude 2: “Wait, when have we even been on vacation?”
Ummmm, about $6000 says we went to Disney World last fall, so at least then.
I guess waiting until they were “old enough to remember” was a fail.
Sigh.
Anyway, the other two, more attentive, children both said that our most recent adventure to Disney World…
followed closely by our trip to Myrtle Beach a few years ago…
were tops on their all time favorite vacation destination lists so far.
Two totally different experiences with one thing in common: we rented a vacation home to stay in both of those times.
Of course a week romping in the sand and a week at the happiest place on earth played a role in how much fun they had, but I think that the accommodations were a huge factor in the overall experience too.
As a family of five we struggle to find comfortable places to stay when we travel. Mostly it’s a budget thing, I mean seriously, were money no issue, we’d rent vacation mansions every where we desired to visit. And we’d make sure they came with a butler (my children are obsessed with the idea of having a butler), and a driver, and a maid, and a chef too.
As it stands, money is an issue, and staying in suites or renting two rooms is quite costly (and also somewhat impractical, particularly when your children are young). We’ve struggled to find places in NYC and other urban areas that we could afford and fit and not have to peel the comforter off of the beds to sleep and scald our skin with burning water in the morning for sanitary purposes.
The alternative, being crammed into a single room with a couple of double beds and zero privacy isn’t super fun either.
It was easier when they were little; roll in a pack and play, throw the teeny one in there, let the older two bunk up. Cuddly and fun.
Now, Dude 1 is jockey size (about 5’5 and 94lbs), the other two aren’t anything to shake a stick at, and cramming the three of them into a double bed in a tiny hotel room isn’t comfortable or practical. And, the way the youngest one donkey kicks through the night, it’s almost down right mean.
Plus, some hotels simply don’t allow it.
You can’t just show up to a classy joint and clown car yourself into a room.
Uncool.
So yeah, the vacation rental home option is a total win for us.
We love that we can spread out, have privacy, be comfortable, and have a single bed for every person. Plus I don’t feel like I have to constantly yell, “Lower your voice, stop jumping, sit down, OMG, dude, lower. Your. VOICE.”
Plus, let’s talk seriously for a moment about cost. Vacation homes don’t initially feel cheaper, but when you think about the fact that you don’t have to eat out at some tourist trap-y restaurant every meal of the day the savings start to add up. You can use the kitchen to create healthier, affordable meals for your family even while you’re on vacation.
This month is National Vacation Rental Month and I desperately wish we were going to be celebrating at one of these awesome Wyndham Vacation Rentals…
Sadly, Dude 2 is having surgery next week (digging out the tonsils) and we’ve been stripped of our vacationing privileges for the entire month. And then football starts. And then never mind.
I’m hoping all of you book a vacation rental home at the beach in our honor and share it with us so we can live vicariously through you and your beach house awesome.
Just don’t have too much fun because seriously, WE’RE HAVING SURGERY.
Thinking about renting a vacation home this summer (or fall, or winter, or even next year)? Dude 2 has a couple of sweet tips for you, something about eating dinner in your undies…
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Wyndham Vacation Rentals.
My daughter is having her tonsils out in the next few days too..I’m not looking forward to it! :(
I know this was a sponsored post for Wyndham, but we’ve had seriously good luck with getting vacation rentals from homeaway.com and vrbo.com. We’ve even rented houses internationally in Panama and Puerto Rico (if you consider PR “international,” we jokingly call it “international lite” in our house, but I digress…). Some of the places have little quirks (like the condo in Panama that didn’t have any table lamps), but for $1200 for a week at a 3br condo literally on the beach, the quirks make for fun stories later, and enable us to afford memory-making vacations we could never take if we were forced to stick with hotels.
These places are beautiful!
I wish we could afford to do something this year. But I’m putting the pennies aside hoping next year will be better. Definitely gonna keep Wyndham in mind now.
Love staying in a house over a condo or hotel room! It’s so much easier with the kid, and we plan so many meals out and cook.or eat leftovers the rest of the time. I love that we have privacy and own rooms too. But then again, I kinda hate being around a bunch of people anyways lol.