What's your summer time big plans?

[Bob W]

We bought season passes to Silver Dollar City Theme Park in March.   The tickets were $380 for 4 of us.  We can also bring 1 guest each on most visits this year.   (the pass actually runs through Dec).

So we made our first visit yesterday and had a blast.   Cost us about $35 in gas and $20 in misc.  We plan on visiting at least 4 or 5 days this summer.

We will probably camp and float a bit and the wife is planning on some kinda week long road trip that will involve camping and outdoor stuff.  Perhaps to Michigan.

What about you?   Big plans?  Spending lots or little?   Putting in above ground pool?  Flying?  Something exotic?

[JLee]

I am leaving for Calgary in 25 days and I will be working from my gf's house for the summer. :D

[unmetamorphosed]

Mostly working, but in August I'll take vacation and either fly or drive to Dallas to stay with family and spectate at the USAW National Championships!

[iamlindoro]

Long weekend next weekend in Mexico City, then a 3 week trip in July to France, Croatia, Bosnia, Austria, and the Czech Republic.  Abu Dhabi and Armenia for 10 days in November (not summer any more, I guess).

All on mistake fares, points and/or companion passes.  Total flight costs of a couple hundred bucks.  Lodging is less cheap, but through AirBNB we're still managing to be pretty frugal.

[mm1970]

Hm.  It's too far away!!

We go to visit family every 2 years (we are in California, family is in NY and PA).

So our big summer trip is 2 weeks on the East Coast.  Fly into PA, spend a week, rent a car and drive to NY, spend a week, fly home.

This year the tickets were got on miles, so total about $200 with transfers and fees.  Still have to pay for parking at the airport, and the rental cars.  All in all, a cheap vacation.  In PA we will be visiting family and friends, and I usually enjoy many walks with my sister.  Probably a potluck with extended family (we go mid-week to mid-week because it's cheaper, and then we get a full weekend with each family).  We stay with my step-dad when we go.

The NY trip will involve lots of swimming and floating at a lake.  Hubby, his sister, and his dad own a cabin.  (Well, it was hubby's parents, but they divorced, so MIL signed over her part to the kids.)  We don't really consider it "ours" though, to be honest.

The rest of the summer is work.  Next weekend is a school camping trip at the beach - should be fun.  We live at the beach though, so I'm hoping once school is out (and PTA fundraiser season is over), I can get back into the weekend-exercise habit.  Walk on weekends, beach, pool.  I want to at least go to the blueberry picking farm once or twice. 

Oh, and we've got friends from Denmark who are visiting in July.

all in all, it should be an okay summer.  But our vacation isn't until late in the summer, and I'm longing for it so badly.

[DTaggart]

We're camping in Yosemite for a week. Normal campground fee is $26/night, but due to hubby's disability he has a pass that gets %50 off, so 5 nights at $13 = $65. We got permits to hike half dome and check that off our bucket list, total cost for two of us was $27. It's a long drive for us so it will probably run us around $150 in gas. We cook all our own food at the campsite so I don't expect any additional food costs over what we'd normally spend at home. The big cost is in boarding our two dogs for the week, which will probably run around $250. Other than a few showers at $5 a pop and maybe an ice cream or two I don't think we'll need to spend anything else while we're there. Nature is awesome and wonderfully cheap :)

[zoltani]

Big plans involve lots of time spent in the mountains, climbing as much and as hard as possible. No money to spend except gas to get me there and food to fuel me. Oh, and beer once civilization is reached.

[zoltani]

Other than a few showers at $5 a pop and maybe an ice cream or two I don't think we'll need to spend anything else while we're there. Nature is awesome and wonderfully cheap :)

There is a giant free shower in yosemite, it is called the merced river ;)

[DTaggart]

There is a giant free shower in yosemite, it is called the merced river ;)

And its COLD! :)

[Kris]

One three-day camping trip in May, and a trip to northern CA (which we're just getting around to planning) in July.  I'll be off from school, so I'll be working on my side-hustle (writing) about 20-25 hours a week.

[mm1970]

We're camping in Yosemite for a week. Normal campground fee is $26/night, but due to hubby's disability he has a pass that gets %50 off, so 5 nights at $13 = $65. We got permits to hike half dome and check that off our bucket list, total cost for two of us was $27. It's a long drive for us so it will probably run us around $150 in gas. We cook all our own food at the campsite so I don't expect any additional food costs over what we'd normally spend at home. The big cost is in boarding our two dogs for the week, which will probably run around $250. Other than a few showers at $5 a pop and maybe an ice cream or two I don't think we'll need to spend anything else while we're there. Nature is awesome and wonderfully cheap :)

I think this is a pretty good deal. I love Yosemite, but have always stayed either in a hotel or a rental home - have never camped.  Hiking there is totally awesome.

[DTaggart]

We're camping in Yosemite for a week. Normal campground fee is $26/night, but due to hubby's disability he has a pass that gets %50 off, so 5 nights at $13 = $65. We got permits to hike half dome and check that off our bucket list, total cost for two of us was $27. It's a long drive for us so it will probably run us around $150 in gas. We cook all our own food at the campsite so I don't expect any additional food costs over what we'd normally spend at home. The big cost is in boarding our two dogs for the week, which will probably run around $250. Other than a few showers at $5 a pop and maybe an ice cream or two I don't think we'll need to spend anything else while we're there. Nature is awesome and wonderfully cheap :)

I think this is a pretty good deal. I love Yosemite, but have always stayed either in a hotel or a rental home - have never camped.  Hiking there is totally awesome.

It can be tricky to get campground reservations there but it's so worth it. I really prefer camping to a hotel - waking up to the sounds of birds chirping, or sitting around watching deer walk through your site or squirrels run around. The cost savings are just icing IMO :) Man, now I'm all excited, can't wait for July!!

[kpd905]

Hopefully backpacking about every other weekend.  Getting married in July.  Then a week long backpacking trip in the Sierras for our honeymoon.

[MrStash2000]

Barcelona for ten days. I always do one big trip per year.

[gimp]

Cross-country drive #6.

[Zinsch]

I hope that I have the time to do the Colorado Trail for a month.

[grantmeaname]

Three months from now I will have graduated from college with three degrees, ridden a lot of bikes, gotten married, passed all four sections of the CPA exam, possibly gotten a minor surgery, and moved from the Midwest to England. I have a REALLY big summer.

[MayDay]

The kids have a few day camps each.

I'll be working at the farmers market once a week.

Our big trip is a week in Yellowstone. I'm so excited, the kids are going to love it and H has never been.

[Villanelle]

12 days driving around R of Ireland and N. Ireland, plus a few other "finishing Europe" trips.  And a move to the States, which is shaping up to be a nightmare of epic proportions.  Thanks, Obama.

[swick]

Three months from now I will have graduated from college with three degrees, ridden a lot of bikes, gotten married, passed all four sections of the CPA exam, possibly gotten a minor surgery, and moved from the Midwest to England. I have a REALLY big summer.

Wow, grantmeaname, looks like you are ticking off mist of life's big boxes in one swoop, good luck with everything!

Besides camp mustache and an Oregon coast trip later this month, our summer is going to be a lot of low key local trips which we are so excited about! The past 5 or so years our summer vacations have been driving 4 days to spend two weeks with family - now that we live close again we can spend more time with family and do all the amazing things our area offers. Hubs has every second Friday off, and will be splitting his vacation time up, so we have a couple of months of long weekends to look forward to.

[mc6]

I'll be going to Detroit for a college reunion sort of get together.  I haven't been to Detroit since 1997.  A friend and I are carpooling in her unmustachian convertible plus sharing expenses and adventures. 

[kpd905]

I hope that I have the time to do the Colorado Trail for a month.

Nice, what section are you planning on doing?  Or are you going to do the whole thing in a month?

[Zinsch]

Yes, I want to thru-hike it.

[MsPeacock]

4 days in Iceland w/ my kids in July

1 week at the Delaware beach w/ kids and dog in a rental.

Kids have day camp a few weeks that takes them on field trips every day (e.g. Six Flags, Water Park, etc.)

[Capsu78]

Tokyo for a week this month.  Sorrento and Rome for 13 days in June.  Leisurely drive from Midwest to NC, NJ and PA in July and a long weekend at a waterpark in WI in August.
That was the point of "pretiring" in the first place!

[davisgang90]

Mount Vernon Washington in June for a week for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  Hope to scratch my photography itch with landscapes of Seattle and some night photography on the Olympic peninsula.

I'm changing Navy jobs in July and probably won't have much time off for a while as I get up to speed.  Plan to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge and a free trip to Busch Gardens for a long weekend.

[damize]

I think I'm moving to Georgia.  Which means all of my tentative plans (visiting family and friends, Yosemite, and maybe a trip to Mexico) are all gone.  Better job, better money and no longer living in the desert is probably worth it, but I'm a little bummed.

[AliInKY]

We're doing an Alaskan cruise with my family.  Flying out to Seattle a couple of days early, then 7 nights on ship.  I'm not a big cruise fan - and there are more financially and ecologically responsible (and fun!) ways of seeing Alaska - but my parents have some limitations that make a cruise the right solution for this once-in-a-lifetime family trip. 

We plan to quit working in 10 years.  We're cool with taking a financial hit for something on the bucket list, like Alaska, every couple of years until then.  Our 2017 bucket list item is Africa, in fact.  Beyond that, we don't know.  But in between the big stuff we plan for some smaller road trips out west, and treks to beaches in the east and southeast.

When I first started reading this blog I swung radically to the "omg, we have to stop everything and invest!" end of the spectrum.  Recent deaths of immediate family members, however, have changed our perspectives.  The lens we're viewing life through now is irrevocably changed.  We are no longer going to put off doing things we want to do just for the sake of quitting work a couple of years earlier.  A little less money in the investment account this year?  So be it.  It's worth it to us.  We've run the numbers and accept the impact. 

Life is short.  We are not promised tomorrow and if would be a real kick in the pants if something happened just before or right after we quit working that prevented us from living out a few of our big dreams.  The middle ground we've found will work just fine for us.  That's what this blog is about, right? 

[surfhb]

4 days hiking in Yosemite and 5 days hiking and mountain biking in Canyonlands/Moab Utah.   2 amazing vacation for under $1k!

[Retire-Canada]

Going on 3 bigger trips this summer:

- 2 x backcountry mountain bike tour trips each 9 days long
- 1 x 9 day fly fishing/camping road trip
 
Plus 3-4 long week trips to mountain bike and kitesurf.

-- Vik

[Happy in CA]

I'm including September in my summer plans.

1) punk rock festivals in Las Vegas and Chicago

2) 3 days hiking in Zion NP

3) 4 day bike trip in northern Minnesota

4) 3 day hike in the Grand Canyon with 2 overnights at Phantom Ranch

[otter]

Memorial Day weekend in Mexico City with my gf

June trip to NYC with my gf for the Mermaid Festival and the new exhibit at MOMA (we visit and stay with her sister)

July 4th trip to my gf's family's house in the woods in northern WI

August trip to Copenhagen & Stockholm with my gf

Labor Day weekend at a rented house on the beach on Lake Michigan with a bunch of my best friends

Lots of bike rides - solo, with my gf, and with friends

Working on my car projects

[partgypsy]

Just a week-long road trip to visit family and a wedding, with about half the time in Chicago area. 
Oldest doing camp with reptile/amphibian focus. Youngest is enrolled in expensive summer program to help her academically, one of the reasons things will be relatively low key. Typical things do is annual pass to kid's science museum, the pool, the library, and local nature preserve.

Impressed with ppple's ability to fund incredible trips with cc and other points. We just use our cc's for cash back, in particular for groceries.

[fartface]

Vegas: July 26th - July 31st

Frontier Airlines non-stop flight from Chicago, Ohare to Las Vegas, NV
*redeemed 40,000 Frontier miles (sign up bonus) for two roundtrip tickets

Five nights hotel with taxes and resort fees = $240
*will use travel reward credits from Barclays to pay in full

MyVegas COMPS: two nights at Mandalay Bay, two fee tickets to KA, four free buffets (breakfast and dinner)

I've budgeted $500 for out of pocket expenses such as gambling, parking, tipping, food & coupon books.

This will be our 10th trip to Vegas, so that estimate reflects past spending in those categories.

[rocketpj]

We've had our 'big holiday' of the year when we went to Disneyland (stayed at a friends/ had free tix).

So we'll be camping, mostly locally.  And trout fishing as much as family time allows.

[Lyngi]

Going with my mom and dad (spending my inheritance ahead of time)  to  NYC for a week in June .  Then 5 days in Zion, and Utah Shakespearean Festival, by ourselves or again with Mom and Dad.   May use IHG rewards points, if they are available from the NYC stay, plus sign up bonus

[bmiles62]

My wife and I are doing a 4 week tent camping trip up the east coast to Nova Scotia and then over to Quebec City and then down through Niagara Falls and back to North Carolina. Packing it all in our Prius and hitting the road the first week of July.

[nereo]

planning on finishing/renovating our enclosed patio.  Seemed like a rather straightforward project a few weeks ago, but it is increasing rapidly in complexity.  Looks like we might have to replace/augment the current support beams and remove and replace some poorly done exterior trim before we can start on the actual project.
looking forward to it.

[iknowiyam]

Small but meaningful: Camping on an island where we can bike/walk to the beach. Beach does not allow pets or glass, so it is very clean. (Protected for the turtles and other wildlife.) I haven't camped or had any vacay in awhile, so I am excited!

[dycker1978]

July 1-8 we are taking our tent out 550 km north to a lake and pitching it.  Me my wife and kids and a few fishing poles... going to be a good week.

[nirvines88]

Beach for a week, hopefully a road trip out west

Train to break 5:00 in the mile, maybe do a fast 5k

Fix up my yard

[FIRE Artist]

A week at Red Der College Summer Art Series - basically summer art camp for adults, then staycation to renovate my tiny 40 year old ensuite.

[shallow pockets]

Ride a few local charity bicycle events.  Run a marathon in the Fall.  Paint the garage.

[cdttmm]

Spending the first weekend in June in Wisconsin and the last weekend in June in South Dakota. Both are for the chance to run ultramarathons in places I haven't run before. Can't stick around WI for any extra days as I've got teaching responsibilities the first part of the month. But should be able to hang out in SD to do some sightseeing after the race. Might stop in Minnesota to see the family before heading home.

Hoping to spend a week in upstate NY as a volunteer at a meditation retreat in July (over my birthday!). Then spending a week at a conference focused on contemplative practice in August. As a result of these two weeks I'm hoping to take my meditation practice to the next level.

Then spending a week in Canada to geek out with a whole lot of beekeepers at the annual beekeeping conference. After that headed to central Pennsylvania for another ultramarathon.

Wrapping up the summer by heading to Minnesota to see the family and race one more time.

Should be a pretty good summer!

[tofuchampion]

We're going to DC for a long weekend to visit my parents and some friends.

My 9-year-old will be with us for the summer (he lives with his dad during the school year), and I've signed him up for a week-long mechanical engineering camp at the university.

I'll start training for a November half-marathon.

Baby plans to master crawling and maybe start standing/cruising.

Husband will be working a lot.

And we'll all hit the beach at least a few times. :)

[meg_shannon]

We're living in Germany for the year and plan to take advantage of our European travel opportunities. So far we're going to Lisbon in July. My husband a conference for work, which means the hotel is paid for and he receives per diem. We're tentatively planning a trip to Amsterdam a few weeks later, depending on my husband's work schedule.

[Pooja Sharma]

Maybe not this summer but for sure the next summer I'll have plans

Well for the rest planners All the best!

[gaja]

6 weeks camping in Iceland and the Faroes: http://travelelectric.blogspot.no/2015/05/the-tickets-are-now-officially-booked.html

[TheFixer]

Not Mustachian, but the highlights of my year will involve burning gas or biodiesel:
Memorial day: Mid-Ohio race
July: 24hr race in Joliet
October: Mid-OH race #2

September: a camping/roadtrip that will be devoid of motorsports. Wife, dog, tiny camper, bicycles...

[iwasjustwondering]

11 days in England (touring London and Cornwall, with excursions to Bath and Wales), with my kids and my British SO. 

I may fit in a business trip to continental Europe before heading home, and drag my kids along for a couple of days.

We will also do a couple of days at the Jersey Shore with my extended family. 

Other than that, it's basically working, with hiking, gardening, day trips to the Shore, reading and biking on weekends.