Travel Archives - Thrifty Wife Happy Life

4 Easy Travel Outfit Ideas To Wear For Spring Break

March 28, 2022 by Katie H.

It’s that time of the year when I get to be jealous of everyone’s warm weather spring break pictures on Instagram. With our recent move and Kevin’s busy work schedule, it looks like we will be staying home for another spring break in Michigan. I would love a good vacation, but at the same time, there are lots of things to be done around here. I’ll just have to wait until summer.

Travel Outfit Ideas from a Pilot’s Wife

July 21, 2021 by Katie Haller

Let’s talk about travel outfits today. This is a topic I’ve been wanting to cover for a while. I’ve written posts on travel outfits in the past, but today I wanted to dive deeper into the topic. Last month my husband and I went on a trip together for our anniversary. (Read about it HERE). It had been a while since I had last flown so I went to Pinterest for some travel outfit ideas. I am not going to lie, I was a little disappointed in what I found.

What I Wore in Las Vegas

June 8, 2021 by Katie Haller

Last week, Kevin and I snuck off to Las Vegas to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. It was our first vacation in over a year and the first time we left both Jack and Anna over night anywhere. It was a much needed get away for us after this long pandemic year.

What to Pack for a Trip to Las Vegas

May 13, 2021 by Katie Haller

My husband and I are going on a trip in a few weeks to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. It’s something that we have been wanting to do for a while, but with the pandemic, we weren’t sure if we were going to be able to get away this year. Luckily things are all working out for us and we have planned a trip to Las Vegas.Read more

Travel Must Haves with Rock Flower Paper

October 15, 2018 by Katie Haller

Back before we had Jack, fall used to be my husband and I’s favorite time to go on vacation. We always enjoyed traveling in the fall, because it’s not a time of the year when most people are going on vacation. You can usually get low prices and do a tropical vacation for a fraction of the price of what you would pay during the high travel season. I remember our first vacation together we went on a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas in late October and we paid under $250 per person (for everything). That was probably the best trip ever. Nowadays, our vacations are few and far apart. After moving to a vacation destination a few years ago, having a baby, having a husband in and out of training with his airline and both of us having busy work schedules, when we get a little time off we mostly vacation to visit our family. Our next trip is to Michigan in a couple weeks. Even though it’s not a “real vacation”, it still involves traveling, which is always an adventure when you have a two-year-old.

*This post is part of a collaboration with Rock Flower Paper. As always my opinions are 100% my own. It also contains affiliate links, which means by making a purchase through a link will result in a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!

For today’s post, I have teamed up with a store called Rock Flower Paper. Rock Flower Paper is based out of the San Francisco Bay area and they sell unique, high-quality lifestyle goods at affordable prices. They have everything from home goods items to clothing and accessories. Many of their products are perfect for traveling, that’s why for today’s post, I’m going to share my 4 must-have items when traveling.

1.) A Tote Bag– As a mom, I can’t think of anything more useful than a giant tote bag. The bigger, the better. I always like to bring a tote bag as my carry on when flying because it’s like bringing an extra suitcase. One thing that’s great about a large tote bag is that you can throw a smaller purse inside and still use the tote as your personal item when you’re flying and bringing your suitcase as a carry-on. This bag above is from Rock Paper Flower’s Jute Tote Bag collection. I love the whale tale print on the bag, but sadly they are sold out on this print, but they do have some other great prints worth checking out.

2.) A makeup/cosmetic bag– I always need a safe place to transport all my make up and this adorable pineapple print is the perfect travel makeup bag. It’s large enough to fit all my makeup, brushes and then some. I’m still debating on whether I want to keep it as my go to makeup bag or use it daily as a purse organizer.

3.) Small pouch- I don’t know about you, but I’m always losing all my stuff in my tote bags. Having a little pouch to organize all your important things in your purse is extremely helpful. It’s nice to have a safe place to keep your keys, passport and credit cards. I love this black and white wavy stripe canvas pouch. This is now going to be something that I use daily in my purses.

4.) Comfortable Travel outfit- Lastly, but not least, I always need to have a comfortable travel outfit. This black and white palm print kimono is perfect to wear as a comfortable travel look. I love how it looks over leggings and a tank top. The best part about this kimono is that it’s totally versatile. It’s great to wear on travel days, but it also makes a great bathing suit cover up. It would also look great layered over a dress.

Even though I plan on using all my new travel accessories now, it makes me really excited to plan our next “real vacation”. What are some of your must have travel items?

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A Week at the Beach with a Toddler

July 23, 2018 by Katie Haller

In my opinion, there is no better vacation than a beach vacation. I just love being near the water. Last week we headed to Oceanside, CA to meet up with my husband’s side of the family to celebrate his parent’s 40th wedding anniversary. We stayed in a beautiful beach house right on the Pacific Ocean. We couldn’t ask for a better beach setting. I was a little nervous about the trip because this was the first time we took Jack on a long vacation, besides our Michigan visits. Although it wasn’t as relaxing as a trip for me, it was still a lot of fun.

When I look at other people’s vacation pictures on Instagram, it always looks like they are having so much fun with their little ones. After our trip, I’m wondering how many of those photos are real or are those stressed-out parents trying to have fun? During our week trip, Jack had his good days and bad days. He was extra clinging with me and wanted nothing to do with everyone else unless I wasn’t around of course. He had a good amount of toddler tantrums over nothing. Only a couple days after getting to the ocean, Jack got congested really bad and ended up with a bad cough, which made for a couple long nights. I had imagined that I would be spending my days building sandcastles with Jack and taking walks along the beach collecting seashells with him, but I quickly learned that wasn’t going to happen. Jack was terrified by the loud sounds of the waves and he hated the feeling of the sand. I spent most of my days in a kiddy pool on the deck watching the rest of the family boogie board in the ocean.

I was extremely grateful for everyone who helped watch Jack a little so I could get a break here and there. Kevin and I were able to go on an adult-only wine tasting trip one of the days and all the adults got to go out for dinner one night while the grandparents watched the grandkids. That was really nice.

Overall it was a really fun family trip. Seeing my niece and nephew enjoying themselves and remembering how my sister-in-law used to be the one with little kids staying back while everyone was having fun made me realize that it’s now my turn. I’m the one with the little kid, so family vacations might be a little more stressful for me now, but that’s okay. One thing that I decided to do when traveling with a toddler is to just lower my expectations of what fun is. I know that my vacations will not be like the relaxing ones of the past, but there is a new kind of fun for me. I enjoyed watching my little guy look out at the ocean and listening to him learn new words like “ocean animals”, “sea nettle” and “succulents”. I loved watching his face when we got on a boat for the first time to look for dolphins. I know one day when he’s independent and off doing his own thing, I will miss the days of when all he wanted was to be with mommy.

Here are some pictures from our trip. Just remember these are the pictures that I am choosing to share. I’m not sharing the pictures of Jack crying because of the sand or the 100 selfies we took together while everyone else was off doing their own thing. But those are just the realities of vacations with a toddler.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means by clicking on and/or making a purchase through a link will result in a commission for this blog. Thank you for your support!