Vacationing During a Pandemic

We're still staying safe at home these days, but we had the oppotunity to take a socially-distanced vacation in July, and after a lot of debate, we decided to go for it. I've written before about my aunt and uncle's beach house on the Oregon Coast, and we were grateful to be able to enjoy time there again this summer.

Last summer, we invited a bunch of our extended family to join us, and it was loud and crazy and a lot of fun.

This year, it was the complete opposite. It was just our family of four, and instead of going out and about and experiencing everything the northern Oregon Coast has to offer, we stayed in most of the time. We walked to the isolated beach nearby to play in the sand, and we played games and watched movies. We even brought our new video projector so we could watch Hamilton on the wall after our girls went to bed.

There were several things we did differently from normal as we planned how to travel as responsibly as possible in the middle of this pandemic. We packed in most of our food and supplies to avoid contributing to supply chain issues at small coastal locales. We brought (and used) our masks whenever appropriate. We ate at the house and avoided going out unnecessarily. We also rationed our water drinking before climbing in the car for the drive to avoid having to make any unplanned bathroom breaks.

And I'm really glad we went. It was such a refreshing change of pace from what has become our new normal. I love our tiny house, but I didn't realize how good a new set of walls would feel. None of us wanted to come home. 

Sometimes simple is beautiful, and this beach trip turned out to be one of my favorite ones we've taken.

Thanks for stopping by. We hope you're all enjoying your summer as much as possible!