I love taking a day trip. It’s like a mini-vacation without all of the preparation and hassle that sometimes comes along with planning a longer trip. A breath of fresh air. New scenery. A break from the same-old, same-old. Yep, that’s what it’s all about.

There’s something exciting about not really having a plan, loading up the car and just driving to where you want to be. Sure, once you get there, you inevitable don’t want to leave, the time flies, and a day away doesn’t seem long enough. But I think that’s part of the allure of a day trip. You don’t get much time to miss the comforts of home, and you leave wanting to come back for more.

We went to Wrightsville Beach on the coast of North Carolina yesterday for all of the above reasons and more. (You could add to that the fact that a few hours in the car to the beach and back is way easier with a one-year-old than a full-fledged excursion for a week or more. Plus, it was enough to completely wear him out and he slept the entire ride home. That, my friend, is a byproduct of a successful day trip.)

I got to enjoy the sun and surf, sink my toes in the sand, breathe in the salty sea air, and I even read a book. Trust me, that rarely happens much these days. That was all done in between chasing my son as he played in the tide, building sandcastles, collecting shells and walking the shoreline as I followed the tiny footprints of a little boy who loves the beach as much as I do.

It was a good day!

When was the last time you took a day trip? Where did you go?