One of my favorite parts of a FIREy life is slow travel. Before I left work, my vacations were like this:
- Ask boss for one week off.
- Fly somewhere on Friday night after work.
- Run around like a crazy person trying to cram 21 days of activity into 7.
- Arrive home exhausted on Sunday night.
- Go back to work Monday morning in a daze.
Now, travel looks more like this:
- Ask family and friends what they’ll be doing over the summer and when they’re available.
- Jump in the car and leisurely drive to our destination, stopping to see silly roadside attractions and eating pie frequently.
- Arrive at our destination a couple of days later. Maybe more if we get distracted.
- Sit back and enjoy the company of friends and family.
- Do some sightseeing, but mostly hang out at the beach; building sandcastles with the girls and watching the waves.
- A couple weeks later, drive back home.
Summer Travel
We have a summer full of travel planned:
- June (Florida): I hope to see a SpaceX launch. After that, the Mrs. and I get some alone time when we go to Cuba on a cruise.
- July (road trip!): We’re jumping in the car and heading west. This trip will revolve around people.
- Las Vegas: We’ll visit with family and friends. I’m not looking forward to the desert heat. And by not looking forward, I mean that I can’t &*^%ing stand heat! However, it will be good to catch up with people. If I don’t melt first. Seriously, how to humans live here in the summer?!???
- Los Angeles: We’ll be in Southern California for the July 4th holiday. We’ll hang out with the Wafflers, visit the Petersen Automotive Museum and fart around at the beach.
- San Diego: More friends and more beach.
- Southern Utah (family reunion!): In addition to seeing family, I’m going to visit Zion National Park and hike Angel’s Landing.
- July (NYC and Philadelphia): Mrs. 1500 is going to Philadelphia for Podcast Movement and we’ll be joining her. Before the conference, we’re going to work in a weekend in NYC.
- August (Midwest): I’ll be speaking at Camp FI in Minnesota. After that, I’ll head down to Chicago (my old stomping grounds) to visit with friends.
You?
How about you?
- What do you have planned for summer?
- If you’re FIREd, how has it changed your travel?
- If you’re not FIREd, how will travel change for you when you’re done?
And if you have any good suggestions for Orlando, Cocoa Beach, LA, San Diego, Philadelphia, NYC, the Twin Cities or Chicago, let me know! I’m partial to:
- Pizza! And tacos.
- Good microbrews!
- Science stuff (museums, anything about space or physics)
- Dinosaurs
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We will show you around to some of the BEST pizza and beer the Twin Cities has to offer! Can’t wait to see you in August! (also I get to hang out with the Wafflers in a few short weeks and I’m stoked!!)
Woot! August will be here before you know it! See you then!!!
I second that notion. Thinking a trip to the great Minnesota get-together may be in order as the state fair starts just before Camp FI. Beer garden, butter sculptures, and so much good food-on-a-stick.
Cheers!
-PoF
We might know some decent micro breweries to point you to when you’re here. Hopefully we’ll join you for some.
Also tacos, we’ll leave the pizza for a death match between NYC and Chicago. But we can do some mean French dips too!!
Oh. And the natural history museum has a shuttle in it & dinos!
DUDE, you better join us for some of the beer excursions! And tacos!!! SoCal has such awesome Mexican food. Let’s do it.
Your summer sounds awesome. I hope the kids appreciate this.
We’re traveling more this summer too.
June – 2 weeks in Iceland.
July – 2.5 weeks slow trip to visit friends and families in Northern CA.
August – Road trip to Boise
That’s a lot of travel for us. I hate rushing on vacation now. It’s too stressful.
Enjoy!
Iceland! Holy cow! Nice!
Yay! I’ll probably finally get to meet you as I live down the street from the Waffles and plan on heading over there for the 4th!
Awesome! Let us know if we can bring you anything from Colorado!
Yep, our summer travels are pretty chillaxed. Slow travel is a much better way to travel!
We’re going to be taking some domestic road trips this summer and maybe a trip up to Canada later in the year. Nothing too serious, and that’s how I like to do things.
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Let me know if you come to Toronto, If so send food preferences, and I will find some good spot!
-Tigermom
Awesome that the 1500’s will be back in NYC again, and that you’re all traveling the country! Hope I get to see you all again.
Other than a farm wedding in August, no travel in store for us for the summer. The Mrs let me know a few weeks back that there’s currently a pizza in the oven, so that will probably delay travel for the short term 😉
A PIZZA IN THE OVEN!!!! Congratulations! And yeah, let’s meet in NYC again! See you then!!
we’re still discussing summer travel. might drive to maine and relax in a cabin or little house and eat lobster. fish tacos are the best in soCal. Oh, la brea tar pits if you like dino’s. we were there in the evening so we didn’t go in but it’s just great that these tar pits are right in the middle of this populated commercial city area.
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Lobster! Fish tacos!! I like the way you think!!!
Sounds like a relaxing time. If you are heading to Chicago and like gumbo I highly recommend heaven on seven. http://www.heavenonseven.com/wabash.html There is a link to their menu.
For our summer we will be going to Michigan June 7 – 11ish and then over to Wisconsin for a couple of days (my wife has a work stop and I get to relax:)
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Thanks for the tip!
Michigan and Wisconsin! I’m a big fan of those two states. If you’re anywhere near Madison on a Saturday, make sure you hit the Dane County Farmers’ Market.
Sweet I’ll see you in August at camp fi!
Awesome.
FIREy travel sounds wonderful. Can say I’ve experienced it yet. We are taking an extended stay on the West Coast this Summer, catching up with family and friends. Looking for to it.
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Now that’s a busy summer! Jam-packed – seems like retirement’s pretty time-consuming! 😉
We’re planning on doing more camping this summer along with a couple cottage weekends at Kelleys Island. Then we have a cruise scheduled in late October that I’m really looking forward to. Yeah, I know October’s not really summer, but I’m counting it anyway!
Oh, yeah, there’s this FinCon thing in September that was kind of fun last year (ok, a lot of fun), so I’ll throw that one in there, too!
— Jim
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As you know, I am crazy excited (albeit a bit nervous) about our first ever extended travel plan as a married duo. Mr PoP has done a couple of these by himself before we were married, but this will be our first big trip together. Fingers crossed I don’t try and drag him too many places (darn trying to cram a year’s worth of adventures into 7 weeks even!) that he revolts.
On the agenda:
Colorado (gotta test out that murphy bed!)
A few National Parks
Utah
A couple more National Parks
I fly home, but then Mr PoP goes on to
Oakland
Burning Man
and home again
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Feed me enough cake and I’ll follow you anywhere…maybe.
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In NYC, the USA Intrepid has the space shuttle Enterprise on it. Not a bad half day experience when I went Fall 2016.
Awesome and thank you!
Looks like you’ve got a fun summer coming up. I’m so envious of your cruise to Cuba! I’ve wanted to go check out the impressive Organopónicos they’ve established there. If you’re in to gardening alt all, you should check them out! (http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/greenercities/en/ggclac/havana.html).
I’ve got trips scheduled to Vegas (June), Tucson (July), Santa Fe (July) and home to the Midwest to visit family in August. I live in Colorado, so of course, staying at home is a treat too since it’s so beautiful that time of year.
Enjoy your travel!
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Thanks for the Havana suggestion! I’ll check it out and report back if we can get there easily.
“I live in Colorado, so of course, staying at home is a treat too since it’s so beautiful that time of year.”
I know, right? It’s so beautiful here in summer. I almost feel silly traveling.
If you’re near Longmont and around on 6/10, come out for our meetup: https://www.meetup.com/NoCo-FIRE-Fighters/events/251020118/
I actually live in Longmont! I may drop in to the meeting. Thanks for the suggestion!
Kara@provincialtable recently posted…Frugal Gardening for Improving Health and Saving Money
Whoah, you were holding out all this time?!! Come on down!
Ha. That sounds like what my vacations were like. Now that I am a little older, wiser, and freer I am able to relax a lot more. I plan to attend FINCON 2018 for the 1st time in Orlando. Any advice? It would be greatly appreciated from anyone who has gone before.
Thanks,
Miriam
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FinCon! Before the conference, scan the attendee list and mark off who you want to meet. If you really want to meet them, maybe reach out ahead of time.
When you’re walking around, wear a big smile to disarm everyone. Be open and gracious. People are great.
Also, try to get in bed at a reasonable hour. If you drink alcohol, watch your intake. Last year, I stayed up until 4am (usual bedtime is 9pm) and drank many beers. The next morning wasn’t fun.
When in Philly make sure you check out Evil Genius Brewing http://evilgeniusbeer.com/
They name some of their excellent brews after 90s songs. Like “Stacy’s Mom”
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Just added Evil Genius to my Google map. I just checked out their site too. I’m having a Han Shot First! to start!
Thanks!
You should stop buy on the way to/from Philly.
We have our normal Maine trip on the horizon and a sans kids trip to Iceland. It will be an interesting summer.
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If you’ll have extra time in Cocoa Beach, take a look into the Cape Canaveral Early Space Tour. Given you’re traveling for a SpaceX launch, I feel like this is something you may have done already, but if not it’s absolutely amazing for any space geek. It is a completely different tour versus the default KSC tour, and you get to walk around some of the 60’s era launch sites (including the Apollo 1 pad).
David! Thanks for the awesome suggestion! I’ve been on the traditional tour a long time ago. I didn’t know that there was an Early Space Tour. I’m a massive space geek, so this is right up my alley!
San Diego = Hodad’s
https://hodadies.com
When you’re back in Chicago, check out Villians: http://www.villainschicago.com/ – they have ~40 very diverse beers on tap and some great food. One of my favorites.
That photo also cracks me up – thank goodness I get to walk to work now. But be wary of the Jane Byrne – the interchange is all jacked up right now with construction.
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Thanks Mike!
The wife and oldest are flying out to Colorado to see family for the 4th of July.
In September the wife and I are heading to Lake Tahoe for a wedding.
Slowly working back into the traveling thing. Kids put a stop sign up on that one. We are adding yearly trips to our goals to make sure we are experiencing new things.
In the Twin Cities we have:
Pizza Luce <3
a MILLION microbreweries!
The MN Science Muesum which is killer (and has plenty of dinos)!
BOAS! Thanks for the suggestions and I hope to buy you a Twin City beer in August!
Happy to see Angel’s Landing made the list! As a reminder, try to be the first ones up the trail to avoid bottlenecks at the chains. Be prepared for the experience of a lifetime.
Here’s a pic from when I did it most recently: https://i2.wp.com/www.frugalprofessor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/angels-landing.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&ssl=1
Others have mentioned the heat, so I’m going to try to get on the trail very, very early. Maybe 4am early.
Hitting the first shuttle up the canyon would be a good strategy. I forget what time they start running, but it would be a good idea to check.
Don’t forget doing 1-2 miles of the Narrows with your daughters. They will love it, even though it is a zoo. You are in a canyon so there will be no direct sunlight to deal with. Also, you’re playing in a river which is really fun. If your family is feeling up to a fun 8 mile hike with stunning views, then check out Observation Point. Similar views to Angel’s Landing minus the exposure.
I second Observation Point! You can look down and see Angel’s Landing from the top and you go through an insanely awesome slot canyon about halfway through the hike.
Thanks so much for the tip! I’m really looking forward to this hike!
Right on! Thanks for the tips!
My suggestions:
San Diego – Balboa park is a nice place to walk around and has a ton of museums, including a science center.
L. A. – Has an excellent Natural history museum, with a great collection of Dino bones. Right next door is the very nice, large California Science center (it’s free!) and has the shuttle Endeavor on display ($3)
Vegas – If u r looking to get out of the heat and away from the he pool, there is a super fun children’s museum (discovery children’s museum). My kids aged 7 and 10 had the best time here.
Utah Parks – Zion is amazing! I imagine it’s going to be super hot during the summer though. We have been to this park several times and love it. Haven’t done Angel’s landing yet due to the kids ages at the time. The rest of the park is wonderful as well. If u have time swing by Bryce Canyon!!! It is so totally beautiful.
N. Y. C. – the Metropolitan Museum of Art is someplace I would visit again. I only got to see a tiny portion of it. The suits of armor and weapons were pretty amazing.
Sounds like a wonderful trip u have planned with the family. Have a great time!
-Katrina
Thanks so much for all of the suggestions! I didn’t know Zion got so hot, so I’ll be sure to get there very, very early.
When you are traveling to Chicago stop in Madison at the Farmers Market and get some of Stella’s cheese bread, You cant go wrong it is the best! Go to the Union and hang out on the shore of Lake Mendota and watch the sun set on the terrace.
https://stellasofmadison.com/
I lived across Lake Monona, so am no stranger to the Farmers’ Market and Stella’s Cheese Bread (soooo good!!!).
Madison was a great town and I still miss it. I don’t miss those property taxes or the hefty winters though.
You were a cheesehead? Cool. The property taxes suck as do the winters but 8 months out of the year WI is a great place. I love watching the sunset on the terrace at the UW Union. Cant beat it.
Philly! It will be hot and sticky in late July, but there’s plenty of beer. What you want is the Philadelphia Craft Beer Trail: https://tinyurl.com/y84j6onf. If you don’t feel like driving around, just hit up http://www.monkscafe.com/ and make an attempt to go through their Bible of over 300 beers. In the summer, there are also pop-up beer gardens all over the place https://tinyurl.com/ybmrl2a6. If you want to drink on an old warship in the harbor, on top of an abandoned high school, or on the 50th floor of a skyscraper, there’s a beer garden for it.
And despite it’s rep for cheesesteaks and roast pork, Philly has a lot of great tacos. There are taquerias all over South Philly; also lots of great Vietnamese food. Since the podcast event is downtown, be sure to check out Philly’s nearby Chinatown for all kinds of great restaurants.
Science can be had at the Franklin Institute https://www.fi.edu/, the Academy of Natural Sciences (dinos!) http://ansp.org/ and the Mutter Museum (weird specimens in jars, old bones, creepy oddities) http://muttermuseum.org/. Let me know if you have any questions – if you do a meet up, I’ll try to be there.
Thanks so much for the awesome tips! I’ll need a lot to keep me occupied while the Mrs. is at her conference, so this is great!
If you’re around, the least I can do is buy you a beer! It will taste awesome after walking around in the warmth! Just keep your distance, I might smell after being outside in the heat!
Long time reader/lurker here. I live in San Diego. We have many great pizza, taco, and beer options. If you want to do a two for one, hit Pizza Port. Their original location in Solana Beach is just a couple blocks from a nice beach area. Good pizza and great beer! For tacos, if you want fish tacos, a “fast food” option is Rubio’s. If you want a more “authentic” experience, head to Old Town and try out any number restaurants in the area.
For beer, well we’ve got that covered too with from what I hear is the most microbreweries in the country. There are a number of breweries downtown. There’s also a couple brewery corridors along Miramar Road and CA-78. Options abound. Hit up the Ballast Point location at 9045 Carroll Way. There’s Stone Brewing with brewery/restaurants in both Escondido and Liberty Station (close to the airport downtown).
I’d love to meet up for a beer if schedules work out. Feel free to send me an e-mail. Would love to chat with the Mrs. too. Big fan of BP as well. 🙂
Jon
Thanks so much for the suggestions! I’ve been to Pizza Port once and it was stellar.
Email incoming!
In Chicago, did you ever go to American Science and Surplus? It’s a truly unique store selling science supplies and a hodgepodge of everything else. Really fun for kids, too! One of their locations is in Jefferson Park, not too far from the Blue Line.
Never been, but I’ll check it out next time I’m in town!
This looks like an awesome list! The start Friday/end exhausted on Sunday thing rings a little too true for me at the moment. We recently went to Zion for a weekend (it’s crazy beautiful) and would’ve loved to stay another week.
We hiked Angels Landing – getting on the second bus up at 6:15 AM. Even at that early time, there were a BUNCH of other people on the trail, and by the time we got to the bottleneck, there was a pretty decent line going up and coming back. Mrs. Minafi decided it was a little too much and we stopped half-way through, but it was still amazing, and still scary. If we were to try to do it again, we’d consider getting up even earlier.
The Narrows was our favorite for sure. We rented gear from Zion Guru outside the park (shoes, socks, pants, walking stick) which was worth it. If we had to do it again, we’d rent the gear the night before in order to get an extra-early start on the day.
Hope you have an awesome trip!
In LA hit the Hollywood Bowl for an exceptional night of music and fireworks. This year’s guest of the LA Philharmonic Orchestra is the GoGos (July 2-4). Bring your favorite adult beverage, a pinicbasket full of goodies to eat and nosh under the stars to amazing music. No place better to spend an evening in LA. Take public transit or do a park and ride (see the Hollywood Bowl website) to get in and out with less hassle.
Hollywood Bowl! Funny you mention this because I was just talking about that venue with a friend last weekend. It’s a bucket list place for me, but I’m not sure we’ll have time for it this trip.
In any case, thanks for the awesome tip!