In between the final planning stages for our upcoming trip to Norway I have been thinking about Christmas. (Yes, Christmas. And yes, I do know that it is still eight months away–eight months to the day).
I’m one of those people who really enjoy Christmas. I love giving presents to those I love and watching their eyes light up when opening their gifts. I love feeling the holiday spirit, eating the delicious food, attending the family gatherings, and watching all of the traditional Christmas movies during the month of December. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, White Christmas–classics!
My husband and I decided to start a new tradition during our first year of marriage and for the last two years our annual tradition of a “Christmas trip” has materialized. A few days after Christmas, we pack our bags and escape to somewhere warm and tropical. After the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it’s the perfect getaway. For our annual tradition so far, we’ve been to The Bahamas and Kauai.
As I’m looking ahead to this Christmas three trips come to mind:
{Turks & Caicos}
{St. John, USVI}
{Kauai}
Each trip has its own allure:
As you know, one of the items on my bucket list is scuba diving in Turks & Caicos. This summer would be the perfect time to get our scuba certification and Christmas would be a good time to explore the sea and cross off another item on the bucket list.
We left St. John on our last trip feeling that we didn’t get to spend nearly as much time there as we wished (that feeling seems to happen to me a lot, I’m always wishing for more time). Since then, we’ve been dying to go back and do some more sailing.
And then there’s Kauai. Hands down, our favorite place on Earth so far. The beauty, the people, the food, the NaPali Coast. We could never go wrong here.
My husband said he wants to go somewhere with really blue water, and those destinations will definitely do the trick. Now, if we can only decide.
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How do you decide on your vacation destination?
Pictures and Plane Tickets 
When in doubt I tend to opt for the place I’ve never been before – have you guys been to Turks & Caicos yet? If so, I don’t know how I’d pick one… by airfare prices or rock/paper/scissors perhaps?
We have yet to visit Turks & Caicos but have always dreamed of going. I agree, I like to explore new places as well. From my research so far, I think T&C is going to be slightly more expensive than the other two, so that will play into our decision. I like the idea of rock/paper/scissors=turks/st.john/kauai… that would be quite fun. 🙂
All great looking places and your absolutely right about Kauai, HI. I absolutely love that place. Not too much tourism while also feeling like your actually far away from the big city and all that comes with. I mean I love living on the city, but when on vacation I want to feel the opposite. As long as there is shave Ice, my beautiful wife, and “blue” water ill be happy and it will be a great Christmas.
Once we get back from Norway we will have to start planning this Christmas trip! Afterall, we will still be in vacation mode and looking for our next escape.
I don’t think you can go wrong with any of those choices, but I say go for your bucket list item and go to a new place! And then re-visit Kauai or St. John’s next year. Just my two cents…look forward to see what you choose and thanks for liking my recent post!
The idea of a new location is very intriguing, it will be a tough decision but I don’t think that there is a wrong answer. 🙂 Thanks for your advice and for stopping by!