As the year comes to a close I’ve been looking back at all the travel our family enjoyed. We’ve been very blessed to be able to get away to some fun places and I’ve worked hard trying to get some sponsored trips. With our trips done for the year I thought it would be fun to share everywhere we went! So today I’m sharing a summary of the trips we took this past year. You can think of it as a family travel bucket list for and start planning for your family vacations this year!

family travel bucket list

California spots

Living in California we love to visit places within our own state. I might be biased, but I think California is one of the best places to travel because there’s so much to see and do! From National Monuments to beaches to glamping we saw a lot of the Golden State in 2021.

At the beginning of the year we drove over to the Bay Area to spend the day in Muir Woods. We had a blast getting outdoors and social distancing as a family. In the spring we drove down to one of our favorite spots in Carlsbad for a beach getaway. In the summer we went glamping at the best family friendly spot in Lodi. Finally, in the fall we had another beach getaway at a spot Mike and I haven’t visited since our honeymoon.

| 50+ Things to Do in California |

Nevada getaways

We are so thankful that Nevada is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from us. There are so many places to explore in Nevada and we explored a lot in 2021. I’ll even give you a little sneak peek into our 2022 plans–we’ll be taking our kids somewhere they’ve never been in the Silver State.

In February we started the year off with a trip to Reno where we stayed at the neatest boutique hotel. We can’t recommend it enough both for location and cool factor! This year we also visited one of our favorite stops on I-80 and I finally shared about it on the blog. Finally, we finally took the chance to explore Nevada’s capital city and explored Carson City in early November.

| Why You Should Travel with Kids While They’re Still Young |

theme parks

No family travel bucket list would be complete without some theme parks! This year we went to two theme parks and two waterparks in two different states. We definitely had tons of fun and I can’t wait to tell you what theme parks we have planned to take over in 2022!

In our own state we visited California’s Great America and Knott’s Berry Farm with out Cedar Fair passes. We were actually able to visit Knott’s in Buena Park twice this year–once in the summer and once during the holidays! We also visited Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Texas and I can’t wait to write up a blog post (or two!) next year!

| California Theme Park Bucket List |

other top locations for a family travel bucket list

On our massive summer road trip we drove through Arizona and stopped at a couple places. I was a little nervous to visit Arizona in the summer, but we really lucked out with the weather while we were there! In addition to Arizona we also stayed at some fun places in Texas, including a brand new camping resort called Camp Fimfo.

While we were in Arizona we stayed overnight in Tucson at such a fun boutique art hotel! Not only were there incredible photo ops everywhere but lots of fun touches like bunkbeds and Pop-Tarts at breakfast. It was also very convenient to Saguaro National Park which we highly recommend!

| Best Family Beach Vacations in the U.S. |

What travel plans do you have for your family this year?