California Trip Preparation

We are in the midst of getting packed up for a family trip to California tomorrow. Our adventure will start in San Francisco, then have us hopping into a converted camper van for 6 nights of camping in Yosemite and Big Sur, then finishing up with a couple days back in San Francisco. Today I thought I would share some of the things we are doing to prepare and make the most of our time together in California.

Packing for Family Travel

Packing for this trip has been quite the challenge because we are going to be experiencing a wide variety of environments. Going from city to camping, warm to downright cold. We will be doing a lot of hiking, some of which will involve getting soaked by waterfalls. There will also be areas of Yosemite that will likely still have snow. When we camp in Big Sur, we will be in a forest and also by a beach. For San Francisco, Carmel and Monterey we will need to look halfway civilized.

Considering the boys can’t really help with large luggage, we are limiting ourselves to two large duffels and one carry-on suitcase for the bulk of our clothes and supplies. That includes all of our clothes for 12 days, in addition to a wool blanket, a sleeping bag, picnic blanket, first aid and other camping gear. We each will also have a backpack. Unlike last year’s camping trip to Utah, we will not need to bring a tent or cooking equipment.  Let me just give you a visual of the van we will be living in for 6 nights.

Our home for 6 nights

Our Family Travel Approach :

Brian and I have been traveling together for so long, we are very much in sync with how we like to travel. Brian is usually the one seeking outdoor destinations and I get excited about city destinations. However, we both appreciate the other so we often try to combine the two. He takes the lead in planning the itinerary for the nature part of the trip, and I take the lead in the city department. The boys benefit from both 🙂

Despite the different interests in the “where”, we both are very much the same when it comes to the “how”.

Avoid crowds as much as possible. Above all, we both cannot stand being in a herd of people. Standing in long lines is our idea of torture. There is nothing that can take the joy out of a beautiful hike than having people right in front and behind you. We try to choose ways to see destinations that most people would not choose (like the van or AirBnB) so that we can be away from the masses. With that being said, sometimes we don’t have a choice and in those cases, we try to go with the flow.

Explore like a local. Along the lines of avoiding crowds, we are also turned off by tourist traps. In New York, we never go to Times Square or shop on 5th Ave. I am convinced that people who say they do not like NYC is because of places like this. We try to enjoy new destinations as much like a local as possible. When planning the itinerary for a large city, I take the approach of what would a family that lives in the city do? We seek out cool parks and playgrounds. We visit museums that the kids would enjoy. We eat at neighborhood food gems that we hear about from people who actually live there (more on that later).

Take advantage of the earliest (and latest) part of the day. Even by avoiding crowds as much as possible, there will still be attractions/hikes/museums that get crowded. One strategy that has been KEY for us everywhere we go is to get to the most popular destinations EARLY. Like right before it opens. We’ve noticed that most museums, markets and even popular hikes really start getting crowded around the middle of the day. I know Brian has planned for some amazing hikes in Yosemite that are very popular. Since we will be camping in the park, we plan to get on the trails between 6am-7am. The thousands of visitors that come to the park often come in later in the morning. We then will take the middle of the day as nap/relax time. In the early evening, we can head out again when the large groups have left.

Research before you go. This is by far one of our best strategies for making the most of our travel time. They say that the best part of a special trip or vacation is the anticipation or lead-up. I totally believe that. Usually, we have about 6 months leading up to our trips. We utilize that time to research all about our destination. I usually start a Pinterest board, where I will “pin” any magazine articles or blog posts that are helpful. We will watch movies or documentaries with the kids of the places we will be going so that when they get to their destination, they will recognize what they are seeing. By the time we start crafting itineraries, we have a real good idea of what we most want to do. It helps to know this ahead of time so we are not wasting precious vacation time researching and looking around.

Seek out advice from bloggers/writers who live in the city. Instead of just looking at travel sites or doing a generic Pinterest search, I like to curate who I am getting my information from. Before going to a particular destination, I think about any bloggers who I follow that might live there or have recently visited there. Since I am familiar with their taste and style, I know their advice will be solid. I will do a search on their site for city guides or neighborhood restaurants that they love. Design Sponge is always one of my first stops for city guides. Two mega lifestyle bloggers, Liz from “Say Yes!” and Jordan from “Oh Happy Day” , both live in SF and have kids. They have tons of great posts with recommendations that are now part of our itineraries. Also, Joanna from “Cup of Jo” lives in Brooklyn, but she had a useful post a few years ago where she was heading to SF and asking for input from her readers. That post has 500+ incredibly helpful comments.

Cole Valley – the neighborhood we are staying in (photo source)

Choosing Where to Stay

Once we booked our flights, our next step was deciding where we would be laying our heads. Staying inside the national parks is very important to us. As I mentioned before, having access to the park when everyone else has not yet arrived or has already left is a HUGE benefit. Brian scouted out the camper van company and reserved our camping spots months ago. For the cities, we are really liking AirBnB. Our first experience with AirBnB was in New York last fall and then again in Savannah this past spring. We will be staying in THIS little apartment in the Cole Valley neighborhood for the first portion of our trip. I’ll report back when we get back to let you know how it was.

Our Google Map with our personal points of interests

Planning the Itinerary

Like I mentioned earlier, Brian is in charge of the camping/outdoor itinerary. I think he uses a small notebook to take notes of what hikes we are doing on which days. I am basically just along for the ride, which I love. For the city portion, I normally create a loose itinerary using Microsoft Word. Even though we give ourselves total permission to deviate if we want, it helps me to think through what activities should be done together for the sake of efficiency. More importantly, it helps to know what delicious food options are near us at any moment. For San Francisco, I was having a hard time placing where everything was located geographically, so I tried something new. I created a custom map using My Maps by Google. I am adding all our areas of interest and special notes to each spot – like what days places are open and the hours of operation. We will then be able to access the map via our phones at any time. I think this will be a really convenient way to access what is nearby and make decisions on the fly.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 Lens

Camera and Trip Photos

One last thing I wanted to share that we like to be prepared for is family trip photos. Let’s face it. Coming home from an amazing trip can be kind of depressing. There is no better way to linger in the memories than by having photos to look through and reminisce. I love putting together a photo book of special vacations.

We will probably use our iPhones a bunch, but I know we are going to be in some gorgeous settings in Yosemite and Big Sur. So I will also bring my DSLR. I am even renting a lens for the trip. I rented a 50mm f/1.4 lens from Borrowlenses.com. I love that website. Normally I have them shipped to me, but since they have a pick-up location in SF, I will be picking it up there. Having the new lens to play around with will guarantee that I will want to take more shots while we are out there.

So, now you know what we do to prepare for a family trip.What types of prep work do you like to do?

If you would like to check out my Pinterest board on San Francisco, check it out HERE.

Posted by Ale & filed under Travel. This post has 6 comments.