Would You Rather Spend Your Vacation at the Beach -- or in the Woods?

Hey Everyone,

I usually make a trip about once a year to visit friends and family. I was thinking the other day about how I have been blessed to see a variety of places due to their locations and personal preferences.

If you were planning a vacation, where would you rather spend it?

On a warm, sandy beach?





Or in the woods?






* Which setting would you choose?

* What would you see as the pro's and con's of each place? (What makes you choose one over the other?)

* If your spouse or kids/family members don't agree on where to go, how do you decide?

* What activities would you want to do in each of these places? (Swimming, hiking, sunbathing, canoeing, fishing, etc.?)

Of course, I realize there is a myriad of other places one could go, but I was thinking about some friends of mine and how one would love the beach, and the other would definitely prefer the woods.

What about you?

Just for fun, I'm going to create a rather ridiculous poll (aren't they always?) You can choose as many answers as you want, and people will be able to see your answers -- because we'll all want to know who agrees with the most sarcastic answers.

I like to commune with my laptop and air conditioner.

But there is no option in the poll for staying home.

I would also vote for a nice Hotel. Swimming pool not required, as I don't swim. But there was no option for that either.

If I had to go to either the woods or the beach... I don't know. I'm not sure which I would dislike least.

Now if a group of friends was going, and I wanted to hang out with them, it wouldn't really matter. Wherever they were going, I would want to go there. Just let me know whether I need to bring sunscreen or bug repellent.

There are too many bugs in the woods. And unpredictable possibly dangerously wild creatures.
Creatures that might try to eat you, or kill you, or chase you away. I would not be able to run away...
Mind you, there are bugs and sometimes wild critters at the beach. But they are much easier to escape.

Speaking of bugs in the woods, I hear a lot more and more recently about Lyme disease. Ugh. Bugs.

I admit this thread is kind of a trick question -- but this just leaves more ideas for future threads.

I was curious to see what people would say when narrowed down to only two choices (which I know for some people is being caught between a rock and hard place.)

I'm actually the same way.

I am. not. built. for the outdoors in any way, shape, or form. I burn in the sun, will find myself allergic to all kinds of flora and fauna, and every kind of insect will find me and turn me into a buffet. I still have this problem indoors -- every fall, I will wake up with fresh bites from, I'm guessing spiders and other tiny insects that find their way in from the cold. Just today, I woke up with 2 new fresh bites that are driving me nuts.

I like to joke that God made me to be a bit like a house cat -- and apparently, I even need a flea collar.

But I love exploring living spaces and hanging out with good people, so if a group of friends wanted to rent a beach house or cabin in the woods (with electricity, internet, and all the modern amenities,) I would happily go along to either location.

I live in the woods. I vacation at the beach. Actually I vacation at both. Cabo San Lucas (beach) and Breckenridge (woods).

I live in the woods. I'm on permanent vacation. Mama and I love to sit in the swing on the front porch and watch the continuous changing of the world around us.

my kids love the beach and I live 10 min away.
now if there was a waterfall or river in the woods, that might change things.

Waterfalls are a definite game-changer!

My daughter and her aunt holiday every year with their dogs, exploring trails, and mountain meadows...
one year, yeah, it was all waterfalls. That same year so many people died falling into places like that,
glacier fed lakes, waterfalls, and what not. Nature is beautiful but can be extremely dangerous.

If those were my only options, woods. I've done both, though, when I was young. We lived 20 mins from the beach in S FL. So we went many times during the summer. But when I was even younger we did a lot of camping in KY.
Now I find the beach annoying. Hot, crowded, sand everywhere, worn out, sunburns, sand everywhere (yes twice).
But I'm not camping fan anymore, either. I'm not really an outdoors type.
The quiet and seclusion of a cabin sounds much better than the noisy, crowded beach. A modern cabin.

Of course, I'm going to say the woods. I find an incredible amount of wonder and peace in the woods. On one of my favorites hikes in the woods, I was by myself and it was only 5 miles but I took all day because I was exploring and observing the wildlife, the scenery, the mushrooms, etc. Very rocky trail and very beautiful. Three miles of it was moderately difficult, so I didn't run into any people. They are missing out on the best trail! I had to climb around on some rocks in some areas, but that's part of the beauty of it. On another of my favorite hikes in the woods was on a trail that's made of mostly large rocks, I took it barefoot on a misty day. Incredibly beautiful. Out in the wild is where I enjoy talking with the Lord, it's where I personally feel like it's as close to the Lord as I can get in this fallen world.

I don't have a spouse/family/kids, so there's no one to disagree with me.

I will note that if it's any woods close to a town or city then I'll pass. There's always strange 2 legged critters creeping around in the woods that are close to the towns/cities. Although there was this one time I ran into a reporter on the trail system that runs through my city. There was damage on the trail. In fact, I had fallen and slid. Half of me was caked in mud. The trail in that area is thick with trees and it feels like its dusk. I come out of that dark area all muddy and here comes Mr. Reporter. What does he do? He sets up his equipment and interviews me. I was on the evening news! It all happened so fast that I didn't even have a chance to be nervous lol.

Gimme some woods, a cabin, freshly ground coffee, home made bread and I'm good.
😀☕

And Wi-Fi. Don't forget Wi-Fi.

And running water and an indoor toilet. Must have those.

I think 2 of your voting boxes needs to be changed to:

I'd rather eat sand (tastes better than Spam.)

I'd rather eat dirt -- more minerals that way (and tastes way better than Spam)

Stills:
Video :
Falls:

I've been swimming here many times.

My favorite waterfall.

The last falls I posted above was my favorite place to camp.
It wasn't popular as a kid because you had to drive on a really dangerous road with someone who had something with clearance and wasn't afraid to scrape the bottom of their car. My friend had just bought a new jeep and tore off a part on the way out. He wasn't a happy camper. But I have a lot of fond memories.

The last time I was there was to baptize someone at the pool at the top edge of the waterfalls.
People were jumping off them and enjoying the sunny day.
I stopped everyone for a few minutes until I was done with the baptism.
Right afterwards he said he wanted to jump off the falls too!

I asked him if he were to die today if he was 100% sure if he would go to heaven? 😄