So, I feel as if I'm still trying to force a square peg in a round hole, here. So, these are two ideas I'm working that I think they would love: Idea 1: Fly into Seattle or Portland, rent a cabin somewhere in the surrounding areas, and use that as a home base to explore the areas nearby. Not sure which would be better. Idea 2: Fly into Vegas, stay there for about 3 nights. Then, take a drive through Death Valley and up to Sequoia National Park (something I know in laws want to do... Vegas and Sequoia), possibly hitting Yosemite as well (although parts may be closed in Mid October?). Fly out of, I have no idea? Sacramento? Can that be done properly in a few days? I could do probably 8 days max. I think idea 2 actually may excite me more than a beach vacation.
Its quite a long way from Vegas to Sacramento, and not a lot in between. Lots of driving through desert. Maybe you could throw in a visit to Tahoe as well? YOu would be better to fly out of Oakland or SFO.
Pick option #1. First rule of travel is never travel somewhere with worse weather than you have at home. Head north in the summer, south in the winter.
Kind of a strange thread. They've already told you exactly where they want to go. Why not just take them there?
In my experience, traveling with people who don't particularly enjoy traveling isn't very fun. Why not just get them a nice gift?
I absolutely agree with you, but I'm in the Northeast. Travelling in October, not a lot of places around would have worse weather than me, I think.
The correct answer is to take them where they want. You want us to give you an answer that you want. Someone may do that, but that is not the correct course of action in this case. If this is truly an appreciation trip, your opinions/needs do not matter.
The issue is that they both have very different preferences. And my mother in law always wins out. I feel kind of the need to make sure my father in law is represented. Where this all started out was when my wife and I were somewhere in the Caribbean on vacation, and we thought, "This is awesome. Wouldn't it be cool if we could spend it with family?" And then, I thought that since my in laws don't get to travel and had helped me out when I was younger (cosigning on loans and things like that), why not take them. That's where the whole Caribbean thing started. I wasn't sure if I could afford an all inclusive, then realized I could, so I gave them the option of that or a cruise. My father in law has always wanted to go on a cruise. My mother in law, who has never gotten seasick on a regular boat is afraid of getting seasick on a cruise, thus the resistance. Her mother got seasick on a cruise in the 70's, I believe and no medicine helped her. So she's afraid it will happen to her. As much as I try to talk her into it, she doesn't want to. Me personally, I understand it, but I think it's a dumb correlation. That's where this all started. This is why my latest idea is both domestic (I think the main issue is that she just has a fear of leaving the country/doesn't want to be bothered with a passport and/or submitting for a new birth certificate), and something they both want to do (I've heard both of them talk about Vegas before). I just don't think I could ever spend a whole week or eight days in Vegas (never been so I could be wrong). I know they both appreciate nature, and my mother in law has mentioned the giant sequoias before. Trying to come up with something they'd want to do. Something that may, in the end, take me out of my "let's just go to the Caribbean" box as well.
San Diego is much closer to Vegas than Sacramento, and the weather is still great in mid October. San Diego also is home to many more attractions such as the Zoo and Safari Park. You could stay in Coronado at the beach, which is as close to elder folks vision of paradise as I can imagine.
Didn't realize this. Thanks for the suggestion! The Tahoe suggestion was good as well, just wasnt sure about the weather that time of year? Thanks guys.
The FIL vs. MIL dynamic does make a little more sense. I was more under the impression that it was your opinions vs. theirs. Although, an unhappy MIL would make the trip miserable, no matter how much FIL may be enjoying himself.
I think their oldness and stable boring ways will prefer be asked directly than be surprised in this matter. I'm assuming these are two places that you would like to visit, and the illusion of choice is on them to choose one of them.
They've been married for awhile now, right? Your father-in-law is likely VERY accustomed to letting his wife run the show when it comes to these types of things. So if she's happy then he's happy. Are you trying to right all of the wrongs in their marriage, or are you looking to give them a trip that they'd enjoy? Father-in-law has it under control, no need for you to try and represent him.
Happy wife, happy life. Sounds like FIL is smart enough to know this. This is the reason I would just take them to Florida (like she asked) and just relax and enjoy it. If you're main goal is to give them something they would love and show how much you appreciate them (very nice of you, BTW), this is what I'd do. You may be over-thinking all of this. Besides, what's wrong with Florida? I'm taking the family to Vero Beach next month. Can't wait!
Just make sure you book yourself a Caribbean vacation after that week long road trip through the desert with reluctant in-laws. You'll need it.
The goal is for the in-laws to be happy. If one of them is not happy on the trip then everyone loses. The gift is for them. Goal 1: Stay in country ( mother in law ) Goal 2: A beach ( Father in law ) What you could do is say if we stay in country this year, would you be willing to go to the cayman or the carribbean next year as a trial run to see if you like. It sucks for you, but this is not about you, it's about them. You can't force someone to experiment, you need to get them to think it was their idea to go there. And then you'll likely be right, they'll go back often once the hurdle is cleared.
