#REALationshipGoals: Baecation Diaries

It’s officially my favorite season and nothing screams summer better than a #Baecation. I just got back from Mexico City with the girls and am now in Paris with Megan and Jessica – but let’s be real, a vacation with the boo thing is just different. I love traveling with the girl gang but who doesn’t love a getaway with their SO? Whether it’s a romantic vacay, fun adventure or relaxed staycation, I know I personally love exploring new places with #FashionablyBae.
In honor of baecations everywhere, this week we’re sharing our favorite travel memories with Bae and sharing one major piece of advice every girl should follow when planning a trip with their SO!

Lauren:

Favorite Vacation with Bae:

In the few short year and some change we’ve been together, B and I have traveled to Cartagena, Domincan Republic, Cali and are heading to Mexico in a few weeks but by far my favorite trip with Brandon has been Napa Valley. We went last March right after my birthday and it was seriously magical. We toured as many vineyards as could fit in. We drank #allthewine. We did mud baths and spa treatments. We ate the most amazing food. We explored the best view of the valley in a hot air balloon. I’m not kidding y’all, it was one of the most romantic places I’ve ever been. 

I think what I loved most about Napa was just how laid back everything was. Now don’t get me wrong – we dressed up and experienced some gorgeous properties, but everyone was so cool and you just felt relaxed the entire time. Not to mention wine is one of my favorite things so it was so great to learn about the process and different flavor profiles with B by my side. You can actually check out all of the things we did here, here and here

Did anything go wrong? If so, what happened and how did you get through it together: 

I don’t really remember anything going wrong – I am a major planner and had our itinerary set months before we arrived. We did however drink wayyyyyy too much champagne one afternoon and it kind of ruined plans for the rest of the night – as in one of us had a major hangover and one of us passed out with pizza on their chest. I won’t name names. The important things was that we tried to remain patient with one another and have some flexibility with our plans to makeup for some of the things we missed out on! 

One Piece of Advice for the Baecation Duo:

Try one new thing you’ve both never done before! This is something we’re trying to do more and more on every vacation. Whether it’s a new food, a new experience or just visiting somewhere new, experiencing something for the first time together is a great way to bond and create fun memories! 


Mae:

Favorite Vacation with Bae

 Don’t get me wrong, any time we travel together is a good time. But my favorite vacation with Nick is, hands-down, our honeymoon. We went to Bali, Indonesia and Singapore and it was magical. Monkey forest, temples, riding elephants, relaxing in a private pool overlooking rice paddies. Then a city tour, night safari, and the Singapore Flyer in Singapore. We had so much fun. Not to mention we were just married, obviously, and were just so hopelessly in love. We’re coming up on our 6 year wedding anniversary this weekend and we STILL talk about this trip. Often.

These photos are from 2011, before the days of Mae Amor. Let’s just say I didn’t have the same travel style then as I do today and we definitely didn’t have the photography skills we do now. My phone camera now is better than my DSLR back then. Did our phones even have cameras then? Haha! Enjoy the treat!

Did anything go wrong? 

I’m pretty sure our honeymoon was a fairytale because I don’t recall anything bad happening at all. That or we were just too smitten to care. We had some could-be-bad moments (like, trusting our driver that the place he was dropping us off for dinner was legit and that his cousin who would pick us up was a great guy and not a murderer at all. It was legit and he was not a murderer, btw) but other than a monkey stealing sunscreen out of Nick’s backpack, our trip went pretty smoothly. My straightener did blow up like the first day though so I went around with frizzy hair all week until I got a blowout in Singapore. See photo evidence of my frizzy hair above.

During a trip to Hawaii a couple years ago though, we had a little hangup. We had a wonderful trip but when we got to the airport for our return flight home, we discovered a major boo boo – I had booked our flights for the wrong day. It was Memorial Day and we HAD to get home that day. That was one expensive mistake and I was so mad at myself because, guys, I don’t make mistakes like that (I mean, obviously I do. But that’s not typical). Nick was upset at first but quickly turned to comforting me and said, “I’m just glad it wasn’t me. You’d be so mad at me.” Haha. He wasn’t wrong.

One Piece of Advice for the Baecation Duo

I would love to talk about baecations all day long, but these are the tips that have been most meaningful to us. Sorry there’s more than one but they’re related, promise. 1) Be patient with one another, 2) Don’t get caught up in doing and seeing everything, and 3) definitely don’t get caught up in sharing everything on socials. Take a step back and enjoy being with the love of your life. Things can and will go wrong. You probably won’t get to do EVERYTHING you want. And it’s 100% okay to not share 487 photos of your trip on Facebook. Your vacation is for you and your SO first. So chill out, relax, and DO get caught up in the romance and love you share.


Sabrina:

Favorite Vacation with Bae

Man, I wish I could tell you some wild story… but like Mae, our favorite trip was our honeymoon too! There was something magical about immediately getting away from all of the madness of the wedding week and just being together. Sahir and I went to a few cities in Europe on our honeymoon. We started in Barcelona, flew to Granada, back to Barcelona and got on a 7 day cruise to France, Italy, Montenegro, and Athens. We ended our trip with 3 days in Santorini and it was the perfect finale.

Our trip was so magical, from waking up every morning to the most extravagant breakfast on our patio in Santorini to hiking the fortress of Montenegro, and even making our own wish in the Trevi fountain in Rome – It was the best 14 days of my life. Vacations are tough now because the bar is set so high!

Did anything go wrong?

I studied abroad in Spain in college and I always wanted Sahir to come back with me to see my favorite city, Granada. We went to Alhambra and climbed the fortress and even scoured the city to find this small hole in the wall restaurant that I went to 5 years ago and after hours we actually found it! I walked through a corridor and I just knew that this street (although it was identical to the other 10 streets we were just on) was the one. Sahir was so patient with me about being adamant about finding this restaurant. His patience is definitely one of the best things about him.

One Piece of Advice for the Baecation Duo

Make sure that you are both involved in the planning process. It can get tedious to be the only one who is picking restaurants, planning excursions, booking flights, and finding hotels. Split the chores and make sure that you don’t criticize the other for their part. Hotels can look wildly different in photos and reviews can be misleading, just enjoy your time together and don’t be too picky!