Please excuse my diversion from Personal Finance related stuff today. We’re on vacation, so I’m going to tell you about that instead. I wrote about the first part of our trip here.
Pismo Beach
On Thursday, we arrived in Pismo Beach. Pismo is a quiet beach town (on the week days anyway) that we really enjoy.
On vacation, one of my favorite things to do is explore on foot (the children would strongly disagree). On Friday morning, I threw some clothes on the kids and we started walking. We walked about 3 miles down the beach, stopping to take in various things we saw.
We played on the beach.
Dune Adventures
Some time ago, I was reading about environmentalists in California who were trying to stop construction on a solar plant in the California desert because an endangered animal lived there. Parts of Pismo Beach are the opposite of this because you’re allowed to take your vehicle out on the sand dunes. I was more than surprised that this activity is still permitted. A couple friends and I took full advantage of this loophole when we rented ATVs and tore around like banshees for a couple hours. No animals were injured, although my neck still hurts a bit.
On Saturday evening, we all drank beer while watching the whales (they were everywhere) and the sunset.
Santa Cruz
We spent our last day in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz has an amusement park at the beach. We decided to check it out last Sunday afternoon. I thought that late on a Sunday, perhaps the place wouldn’t be so busy. WRONG! There were throngs and throngs of people. I do not like crowds and I do not like lines, so this was my least favorite part of the trip.
Slow Travel
Our vacations always end up as sprints where we try to cram as much as we can into a week. I’ve really come to dislike this. I feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of a place and then it’s time to leave. One of the things I look forward to most once I’m Financially Independent and free of work is slow travel. It would be great to stay in one place for a month and really get immersed. This is exactly what we plan to do in future summers when the children are out of school.
*Actually, the cost of two sand buckets with shovels was $5. But the girls would have happily played on the beach for a solid week with only $5 being spent. Next vacation we will invest in the more expensive, 15-piece $9 sand toy option and really make them happy. They get upset when we have to leave those sand buckets at the beach…
I’m on board with you on the slow travel, it is by far the best way to see a place. It’s also our plan during financial independence to do lots of this.
But an amusement park on Sunday, really?!
Mr. FSF recently posted…May 2015 Update
“But an amusement park on Sunday, really?!”
It was late! Life 5pm! I thought everyone would be at dinner!
We are heading to Pismo in July. Can’t wait. Looks like a great trip, minus the feeling rushed part.
Pismo is one of my favorite places in the world. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
A post like this on a FIRE blog is just great. It makes us dream of what future we can have later. Ot even better, with the right attitude in life, nothing should stop us from having these great holidays already now! Enjoy it.
and the section on slow travel… I can’t wait to slow travel myself. I guess it takes so years of rush-travel before I will settle to that.
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Yeah, I’d like to have a minimum of 2 weeks in every place we go. One month would be even better…
Slow travel is #1 on our FI bucket list. We similarly sprint on vacation (recently tried to do 5 countries in 16 days in Europe). While it’s better than not going at all, I know it is not the right pace. As you noted, we need to walk, not run.
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Yep, walking is better. Sometimes, just sitting is best.
It’s so hard not to try and cram as much as possible into your trips, because they are so brief in the context of our lives – until you reach FI of course! But it looks like there were still some very nice, slow moments – those pics of the beach at sunset are wonderful.
As Amber Tree said, some great inspiration here, and a reminder to get out and do some of these things today, rather than wait for FI.
Jason@Islands of Investing recently posted…Start living your post-financial-independence life today
Man, if we could do it all over again, we would have stayed at the beach the whole time. I don’t think I’d ever get sick of being there.
My wife and I are gearing up for a 11 day road trip up the coast of California. Looks like we are going to need to make a stop in Pismo Beach and ride some quads in the dunes. That looks like a blast.
Totally with you on the Slow Travel. Once we pay off the mortgage we plan to travel somewhere for 1-3 months at the time to totally take advantage of the concept of Slow Travel.
I know you have packed a lot in a short time, but I hope you have been able to enjoy your time away.
Cheers!
Dominic @ Gen Y Finance Guy recently posted…May 2015 – Detailed Financial Report #5 – Net Worth $210,853 [+16.3% YTD]
Pismo was great! This place did an awesome job with the rentals: https://pismoatvrentals.com/
Take your time and enjoy the drive!
Looks like a great trip 1500 Family. I’ve never been to Prismo, but that certainly looks like a unique ecosystem. I hear you on the slow travels front. I like to immerse and have the flexibility to stay or go. Another reason I can’t wait to leave traditional employment. Safe travels home, and may Colorado have dried out in your absence!
-Bryan
Income Surfer recently posted…Why I am Optimistic About Our Future Investment Prospects
Hi Bryan!
Colorado did not dry out! Our plants all seem to be about 10′ tall! Weather is about perfect here now.
Can’t wait to explore your part of the country more too. It is a goal of ours for next year.
I like getting to Pismo Beach, too. I agree about the short time frames for vacations. A few days or even a week is not enough time to both relax and learn about a place. I want to be able to immerse myself in the culture of the city or location that we visit.
The exception would be trips to Orlando for Disneyworld or Universal Studios. Those trips are all about rides!
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Yep, deep immersion is best! Except for amusement parks as you say. Immersion their would cause bankruptcy very, very fast.
I’ll definitely put Pismo Beach on the bucket list. Sounds like everyone is having a blast!
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Yep, it was great. We are home and very tired now though…
Having had fast travel holidays for years I have also come to the same conclusion as most on here that slow travel is much better. Why not just do some slow travel now? I mean not full blown slow travel as in stay one month in a place as time wouldn’t allow that, but if you can have a two week holiday just stick to one or max 2 locations and really get to know the area?
We did 10 days in Scotland last year and didn’t stay anywhere longer than 3 nights (and that was Edinburgh which you could easily stay for a week and still have loads left to see and do). It was good that we saw many places to get a feel for it but next time we go I would definitely just pick one place and stay there, then explore the surrounding area. There is so much to see and do there (and most probably everywhere!!!) that you don’t have to keep moving from place to place and just ticking off locations on a list.
We swung by Santa Cruz on our epic (and way too fast! 🙁 ) USA road trip and avoided the fairground as it looked way too busy. The beach was too nice and we’d been to a few other theme parks already so didn’t feel the need. It looks pretty cool and good for pics though! Oh and loved the pic of the kids in the sunset, that is a heartwarming piece of photography there! 🙂
theFIREstarter recently posted…dos vacays in may – income/expenses, net worth and savings rate report
The amusement park was probably even more of a shock to your system coming off of those peaceful hikes at the beginning of your trip! Yikes!
Mrs. PoP recently posted…Making Do – What It’s Like Living In A Construction Zone
The cost of the beach is much higher for my family. We use about half a bottle of sunscreen daily 🙂
Slow travel is appealing to me too. My husband and I have our sights set on a long New Zealand vacation since he spent a semester studying marine biology in New Zealand and has been jonesing to return for the past decade.
Jealous! We have a relaxing trip in NY in the woods this year. We’re going to
ruinend it with a family reunion. Never been to California.I definitely feel the time crunch though. I’m going to Sweden next week for work and I’ll only have half a day in Stockholm. It definitely does not feel like enough.
Chris @ Flipping A Dollar recently posted…May 2015 Profits – Almost There!
I have been to Pismo beach and my daughter loves it. It’s always so nice to just take the family to places like this and enjoy the nature that God created. You are so lucky and I am so jealous!
Petrish @ Debt Free Martini recently posted…The Secret Formula To Becoming Debt Free
I love the photos. My wife and I took a week long road trip from Houston to California about seven years ago. Unfortunately we had to squeeze in the trip in just eight days. We had a blast driving up the PCH. We reached Monterrey but then had to head back.
We also managed to visit the Grand Canyon on the way home which was an added bonus. Someday soon we’ll make it a one month trip to get the full experience without having to rush.
MDP
Man, that Pacific Coast Highway is completely spectacular, isn’t it? I never get enough of that.
A one month trip sounds just great.