Vacation 2013: The Early Stages

Now that we've laid out the process we go through to actually plan a vacation, it's time for you to witness said process first hand. Over the course of the next several months, we hope to show you everything that we go through while planning one of our trips.

As Matt mentioned earlier, we generally start to plan our next excursion as soon as the current one winds down. This year, the seeds of Vacation '13 were planted while we were still in Hilton Head. Right now, our tentative destination is Bethany Beach, Delaware. We came to this decision in a very scientific manner.

While on a beer run at the nearest Harris Teeter, we noticed a car in the parking lot with an OBX sticker. We haven't really delved into our obsession with the Outer Banks quite yet, but we'll get there eventually. Needless to say, every time we see someone with an OBX decal on their car, we immediately know that that person is awesome. Next to OBX sticker was another sticker for Bethany Beach. I'd never heard of BB before, but given that someone with an OBX sticker liked it enough to give it equal space on the back of their vehicle, I was intrigued.

I did some preliminary research (Wikipedia) while we were still in Hilton Head but when we came home I delved further in (slightly more extensive Google search). Bethany Beach seemed to meet all the criteria we look for in a vacation spot. Mainly, there is a beach and it is in close proximity to the ocean. It also seems to be a much more relaxed and low key destination, very similar to The Outer Banks. If vacation is a drug, OBX is the high we're forever chasing.

I'm not going to go into much more detail at the present time as we'll save that for the next eleven months worth of blog posts, but aside from being relaxed and near the ocean, there are a few other features about BB that have me excited.

First, it has a boardwalk and I love me a good boardwalk. It has been proven time and again that there's no better place to get your stroll on.

Secondly, BB seems to be very close to several other places that seem like they'd be fun to explore. Most notably, Ocean City, Maryland. From what I've seen, Ocean City isn't the kind of place I'd want to spend an entire week in, but my inner 21 year old still can't help but chase that Spring Break experience, if only for a day. Aside from Ocean City, a quick Map Quest search revealed that it would only be a 3 hour trip (partially by car ferry!) to Atlantic City. Again, I would never willingly allow myself to spend an entire week in someplace like New Jersey, but a short day trip to the Vegas of the East? It would certainly increase my odds for an early retirement. God knows my career as internet travel celebrity hasn't taken off.

This all could certainly change. As with every year, there are a lot of options to explore, a crew to assemble, and a bunch of other factors to consider. But we will keep you posted as Vacation 2013 comes together.