7 Kinds Of Vacations Every Travel Girl Needs To Take
Are you staring at your computer, trying to decide where to go after things go a bit back to normal? I know I am. Consider one of these kinds of vacations that every travel girl should take!
Each one teaches you something different and adds a little sparkle to your life. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve taken one, but I’m going to do my best to try to convince you that you need to take one of each!
FYI : This page includes affiliate links, which means I might get a commission from your purchase at no extra cost to you. This is what helps me work on the free content and freebies I produce for you guys, so thank you for that! Know that, I ONLY include what I use myself and stand behind 100% (learn more)
1 - SOLO VACATION
Don’t you love having no one to tell you what to do or judging you for getting too crazy?
THAT is the best part of solo travel.
Do you want to spend three hours at the buffet? Go for it, no one is judging you. Do you want to go to five museums in one day? Go for it, there is no one stopping you or saying it’s not possible.
You are your own boss. There is no compromise. If you want to do something, you can just go do it.
You feel powerful and free when you are your own boss, even if it’s just for the day. Imagine taking a whole trip and having complete control over it. This is the number one vacation every travel girl needs to take.
Some people take the time to self reflect, others to catch up on reading, but I like to just sit and be still. I love being able to really sit, relax, and take in the sun (and the usually salty ocean air). I let myself go and be in the moment, feeling evey sense as it is engaged by whichever spot I am visiting. By myself.
Even though half the fun is being by yourself most of the time, if you get bored, you can always meet people. You can make new friends or call an old friend who lives nearby, even if it’s just to have someone to sit next to during lunch. But… you’re not stuck with them for the whole trip. You don’t even have to talk to a new friend again if you don’t want to. It’s easy to avoid people when it’s just you hiding behind a palmtree.
One vacation, we met this cute guy. My friend was kind of interested in him at first, but then he gave off creep vibes. For some reason, he kept spotting me the whole trip and asking me where she was. I would always say she was in the room or somewhere the completely other side of the resort. The funny part was that he never was able to spot her, so if she had been there by herself, she easily could have escaped him. Unfortunately, he kept spotting me though, so she eventually had to straight up tell him to go away.
PROS & CONS
- You get to make your own schedule.
- No one is going to nag or judge you.
- You don’t have anyone who is guaranteed to eat with.
- These vacations are usually more expensive because no one is spliting the bill with you.
2 - ALL INCLUSIVE (Includes Cruises, Resorts, etc)
Eating and drinking as much as you want never gets old.
These are my all around favorite kinds of vacations! It’s an awesome feeling when you can forget about everything, even your budget, and just relax. I can do them solo, with a group, or however I want.
All Inclusive means exactly what is says. Everything is included depending on what package you get.
Generally, all packages include…
- Flight
- Shuttle To Resort and From Airport
- Room and Board
- Food – Buffets, Snack Bars, and Restaurants
- Drinks – Everything except top shelf, Stocked Mini Fridge In Room, and Non-Alcoholics
- All On Premises Activities – Day and Night Entertainment, Group Events, Sports, etc
- Watersports – Paddle Boards, Kayaks, Snorkeling Trips, etc
- Gratuities – I Still Bring Singles To Tip My Poolside Drink Servers (Some Do Ban Additional Tipping)
- WiFi – In Room and Common Areas
(Like anything in life, there’s always an upgrade available for most things on this list.)
These vacations are made so that you don’t have to leave the resort. They include beaches, pools, restaurants, gyms, bars, clubs, basically whatever you could need on vacation, they most likely have it at the resort. Aka, no worries, just vacation.
This kind of vacation every travel girl needs to take lets you live in a different world for a few days. There are no worries. Anything you need is within walking distance. You can just concentrate on the basics of eating, sleeping, and tanning. You don’t even need to touch your wallet once if you don’t want to.
PROS & CONS
- You don’t have to worry about budgeting.
- Everything you need is within walking distance.
- The “All Inclusiveness” is only on the resort.
- Going into town and doing excursions can add up.
3 - GROUP VACATION (Includes Family Vacations, Tours, Girl Trips, Bachelorettes, etc)
These trips are usually the most fun for me!
The best part of being in a group, is that you have multiple people thinking of things to do. It’s almost impossible to get bored on these trips. Sometimes you get lucky and someone takes the reigns and makes a general plan for the group. There’s no guesswork and you know that you will definitely be active during this vacation. You may even be challenged to do something out of your comfort zone that you’ve never done before.
We did two trips with the same group that were crazy 4 day trips. We did so much and saw so much it was crazy what we could accomplish when we all put our heads together. For one trip, we jumped around Spain. The second one was a trip around Germany and Amsterdam. We were a good mix of planners and spontaneous-ies. Because of this, we compromised and ened up in both hostels as well as nice hotels. With all 6 of our heads, we found a number of good deals which made the trip super cheap.
I felt safe in a new country because I had so many people with me. It was a mix of guys and girls so we always had a “cock-block” as I like to call them. We were also able to keep the crazy girls away from them… when they wanted us to. We definitely got into a couple arguments, but because there were so many of us, we simply parted ways and did whatever group preferred to do what.
One of the other big perks, is that the prices on these trips are usually pretty cheap because you are splitting costs with a number of other people. When I did a group vacation to a winter cabin in Hunter Mountain through Airbnb we stocked up on goods and were able to save even more money by taking turns cooking and not eating out. Some were skiers and others weren’t. Either way we always had a group to hang around with.
Girl, you have to take a vacation like this because some of the best memories you can make are with your friends. You’ll never forget that group trip. In fact, you will probably bring it up every time you are all together just like how we do!
PROS & CONS
- It’s usually cheaper with a group rate.
- You have numerous people to hang out with.
- You are stuck with other people’s plans and mood changes.
4 - STAYCATION (Includes staying home and just taking time off work. Staying somewhere close to home.)
This is my don’t bother me face.
Every travel girl needs to take one of these vacations. They are the best reset when you just need to take a time out from the outside world.
Taking a couple days to stay home and chill out is the most popular form of a Staycation. You can give yourself a spa day, watch tv, order in, etc. Your home is your oasis. Veg out!
If you need a break from your home as well as the outside world, you could stay at a local winery or brewery, local golf course resort, or in that fancy hotel downtown. Heck, you could even just stay at the hotel down the street so you don’t even have to make your own bed or clean up after yourself.
I’d say the best part of a staycation, is perfecting the art of the nap. You don’t have to wake up at a certain time. You don’t have to go to sleep at a certain time. You could binge watch a series without moving from the same spot on the couch for 12 hours if you want. You don’t have to cook either, you can just order in. You don’t have to change out of your pajamas either. You can legit just shut down for as long as you want.
Don’t forget to shut your phone off. You can even change your voicemail to “On vacation. I will be available again at” add date and time.
PROS & CONS
You get to escape your day to day routine without spending a lot of money.
- You may run into someone you know.
5 - RELAX-ACATION (Includes anything having to do with shutting off the world and just being alive in the moment.)
What makes you relax? Go do it. I consider that a Relax-acation.
For me, I relax best when I’m pool-side, taking in the sun’s rays and drinking a cold beer. I could do this at a friend’s house, at a public pool (ok maybe not the drinking part), or on a trip. Doesn’t matter if I’m with friends or solo. Either way, any destination, I will relax.
Taking a little time out, even if it’s just for a few hours, counts.
While working as a waitress, I usually did not have to go into work until 5pm-ish. When it was nice out, I would get up early, grab a Starbucks, and make my way to the beach. I’d try to have a mini Relax-actaion every day and make it to the sand by 10am, stay till around 2pm, then head back to shower at the gym and be on my way to work.
It always worked out perfectly because after four hours in the sun, I would have to head out anyways so that I did not burn.
The best Relax-acations happen when you do not schedule any of the trip at all. Just live in the moment and enjoy being alive. Sometimes I’d grab some food on my way back, some days I’d swim, some days I’d read, and I just always played the beach by ear.
PROS & CONS
- You will feel relaxed and refreshed.
- You made no plans so no pressure to do anything.
- You may not see much other than the hotel.
- You won’t want to leave.
6 - ADVENTURE-CATION (Includes Camping trips, Excursions, Adrenaline Junky stuff, etc)
Have you ever wanted to see the Northern Lights or wake up in the clouds? This is the kind of vacation you need to take just to say you actually did it!
One girls trip I took to Dominican Republic ended up being an extreme Adventure-cation.
We arrived at an Airbnb and immediately started doing. We walked all up and down the beach exploring the neighboring resorts, bars, and restaurants. Then, we plotted our plan of attack which ended up being an excursion every day.
Now keep in mind, excursions may only be three hours or so, but they wear you out!
We went dune buggying, booze cruising, took a day trip out to Isla Saona, and even took a day trip to Santo Domingo (a three hour ride from our Airbnb)! On the way, I got to see the “dream factory” as they call it in DR. It’s where everyone goes to “baseball school” who wants to get picked up by a major league team. It was so cool and I never would have seen it if my girl didn’t come with me. I was too nervous to take a group excursion by myself, not knowing Spanish.
I do not regret any of it, but man did that trip fly byyyyy. When I got home, I was so happy I had two days before I had to be back at work. I needed those days of Staycation to recover and detox… and look at all my pictures!
Of course, these are the kinds of vacations people think of when they hear Adventure-cation. People don’t realize that it doesn’t have to be that extreme. Just taking a few excursions can be considered an Adventure-cation. Going somewhere that is extreme for you personally can also be an Adventure-cation. For some, I’d consider a ten hour flight to Hawaii an Adventure-cation for just having the drive to fly for that long.
PROS & CONS
- You finally get to do all that crazy stuff on your bucket list.
- You won’t get bored.
- You will probably need a vacation from your vacation.
- These vacations can get expensive.
7 - ROAD TRIP
Every travel girl needs to take at least one of these. You are in complete control of your trip. No one is telling you where to go or what to do when. You can explore or just drive. If you get hungry or have to use the bathroom you can pull over at any moment.
Keep in mind, the more people in the car, the more you have to compromise, and the more bathroom breaks you take.
However, more people in the car can be fun. There’s more people to play games with, sing songs with, take turns driving, bring different kinds of snacks you never knew you’d get a taste for, and when you reach your destination, more people to split the gas bill with. We used Venmo to pay each other back at the end of the trip.
When I lived in New York City, I loved taking road trips in the summer to Long Beach or The Far Rockaways, Seaside New Jersey, or Atlantic City. I had a couple friends who loved driving so we would either take their car or rent a fancy car and drive with the top down or all the windows down.
Wherever you choose to visit, it is always nice to have the option to take a drive in a car. Don’t be afraid to add a car to your trip.
For example, if you are going to Las Vegas, Nevada for the third time and you have already seen the hot spots, why not pick up a car and explore off The Strip. You could drive out to Hoover Dam or even The Grand Canyon. Not to mention, it’s easier to go to museums like the Neon Museum or see the Seven Magic Mountains with a car than always having to wait around for an Uber. By the end of it, it would probably end up being the same cost anyways, and a lot of casinos now offer free parking if you are staying at their property. Just do your research beforehand.
PROS & CONS
- You have complete control of where you are going, which route, and how long you want to take to get there.
- You can change your mind at any time
- You have to do all the driving and navigating yourself.
If you aren’t ready to venture out on vacation yet, here’s an article I wrote to help entertain you while you’re at home during quarantine. (25 Quarantine Activities & Games You Haven’t Done Yet)
💞 Feel Free To Share! Your Support Is Appreciated! 💞
Resources
I’m curious… did this post help you?
What other posts would you like to see?
LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW and I’ll try to integrate it into a future post!