WHERE ARE REAL FAMILIES TRAVELING 2026 PART 2 SOUTHEAST

Mountains, beaches, amusement parks, southeast has it all.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Well, good morning. It is April the 13th, 2026, and straight from the Holly Caffeinet Studio. This is According to Willie B, and I, yours truly, am the host for the next half hour. Remember, we're doing a four-part series on where real families are traveling in 2026. Now, with that being said, last week we did the Northeast. This week we're gonna do the Southeast. And I'm gonna have some notes in front of me because I promise you there is so much stuff packed into this episode. I hope that I can get through it. I'll also warn you, I'm still struggling with a little bit of voice issues after two trips to the urgent care. Learned that I am been dealing with pneumonia, but I am up on my feet today, and we're gonna get through this because the show must go on. So let's get into it. The Southeast, what does this include? Well, we're talking about like the great state of Florida. Now, you can fly down there, but the most reasons that people go to Florida or other areas in the Southeast, because they don't have to fly. They can pack everybody in that proverbial 1970 station wagon. And yes, you can carry on your 200-pound suitcase. There's no baggage restrictions, unless, of course, the head of the family says, uh-uh, that's not going. But you know, the thing about family car trips is that is a big part of the journey, right? Because you get all the kids in the car and you're traveling down the interstate and you're seeing things that you may not have seen before. And the kids are seeing things out the window, and they're like, and they're asking important questions uh that are vital to their learning capabilities in their young life. Like, are we there yet? You know, I was gonna throw that one in there, or where's the next bathroom, or where's the next food stop, or whatever the you know, that's the important vital questions that they're gonna need for life skills later on. You know it is. So there is that. But you can load the family up in the station wagon or the car or truck or whatever, whatever the case may be, SUV nowadays, and take the family road trip and avoid the airline fees and avoid the uh cruise fees. I mean, everybody from the airlines to the cruise to everybody is saying, hey, we're gonna have some extra surcharges because of fuel prices right now. And that's absolutely crazy. I mean, if you take, I saw a news article yesterday, just just yesterday, that the cruise industry is saying, hey, we're probably gonna have some significant um surcharges for fuel because a lot of cruises are booked months and months in advance. And hey, we didn't know the fuel was going to be like $800 a gallon. Now, I don't know how much fuel is for a cruise ship, but I'm sure it's not cheap. So a family is not expecting those extra surcharges. They're like, okay, we're budgeting this out. We planned our cruise, we got it paid off, we're ready to go. I got some extra money for souvenirs, and we're ready to go. And then all of a sudden, boom, there's a surcharge. 250, 300 bucks for a family of four. That that can hit hard. And so you just have to be aware of those kinds of things when those things arise. But when you take the family car trip, you can more budget for things that uh are unseen. I mean, sure, if you have a flat tire, you can't predict that, but uh, you can predict the gas, you can predict the hotel stays, etc. But a lot of families are doing that, they're driving to the southeast. The southeast is one of the most heavily toured areas for 2026, and we're talking areas like Florida. Okay, what's Florida have? Well, Florida has pretty much attractions for families from one end of the state to the other, and it's not just Orlando, you've got Destin Beach, which is one of the most traveled beaches in the United States. I mean, it's and it's an absolutely beautiful beach until it's covered with a billion people, but you know, there is that. I'm sure under all those people, there are the still the white sand is still there, but you just got to remember that. But remember what I told you last week when you're planning your trip, make sure that you use the data at your fingertips on any kind of social media search, Google, whatever the case may be, and look for the high and low times of for crowds and try to plan your trip around that. Uh, if you're going to like a lot of families, they are not doing their traditional seven, 10-day Disney stay anymore. They're doing two to three days of Disney, and then they're dividing that time between the beach. So you have you have those things that you you can kind of make your budget stretch a little further. But if that's the case, which days of the week would be the best to visit the parks? Maybe you stop at a beach on the way and you spend one day there, and then you spend your two to three days at the park. It doesn't just have to be Disney, there's other theme parks in Florida. But the average person that goes to Florida, they're going to be a mouse coatier, so there you go. Uh, I mean, every every family needs a set of mouse ears in their house. But you have to be smart and be able to budget your money and to also budget your time because while you have a limited amount of money to spend, you also have a limited amount of time to give your family some enjoyment and things to do. So you have to really budget that time almost as tight or tighter than you do the money, so that you make sure you get the best bang for your buck for your family, so that you bring back the most memories. But it's not just Florida. You've got you can you're we're talking South Carolina, we're talking Myrtle Beach, we're talking Hilton Head Island. So now you're talking some areas that might not be in certain weeks traveled as heavily as Florida. So it could give you options there. And I mean, Myrtle Beach, if you do your research correctly here, I'm telling you, this can be one of those trips where you come off as a financial genius booking your family trip because you can really stay within a budget. Myrtle Beach has always been known for having really low budget family activities. Now, keep in mind there's going to be a lot of miniature golf, probably like PGA level miniature golf, and you know, there's go-karts, but you got the beach, so there's so many things to keep the family occupied doing so that everybody enjoys the trip, but you're also not yes, the family needs beach time, but you don't need a second mortgage just to uh extend a vacation. So you just have to be really smart in how you plan this out. And maybe Myrtle Beach is not your thing, maybe you've been there before and you're thinking, no, thank you. But you then you've got like the Tennessee Mountains. Now please be careful on this one because what I'm about to tell you, now don't get me wrong. Tennessee mountains, absolutely beautiful, and absolutely one of the coolest areas to go to. Case in point, what I tell you the other day, it's really heavily visited right now. And the lines like at Pigeon Forge and Dollywood, oh, it's insanity. So make sure that you do your homework, plan your trip accordingly, so that you can excuse me. But it's it's one of those areas. Sorry. These voice issues, I'm telling you. Um, if I edited them out, I would have to edit out like eight hours of coughing. So I'm gonna try to keep it to a minimum. But Tennessee is just such a massive area right now because you've got Gatlinburg, you got Pigeon Forge, you've got the great smoky mountains. I mean, if you got a family of 10, man, you could spread them out through the smoky mountains and everybody's got room to roam. They got plenty of elbow room. So there's a lot of things to there. And you got hiking and you got bicycle trails, you got all these different things of family activities that won't break the bank. Now, when you like I said, when you talk Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, these are really heavy tourist areas. So plan accordingly. I'm gonna keep saying that. And with Tennessee, you know, in the mountains, the Great Smoky Mountains, you could get a cabin to have your family in. And this is one of those things where you can have 10 people in a cabin, maybe it's two families splitting a cabin. You got 10 people in a cabin, and somehow nobody remembered to bring paper towels. So there's always stories like that. But it adds to the memories. You remember that trip? There were 10 of us in there, and nobody brought paper towels, so or nobody brought paper plates or you know, uh all these kinds of things. But it makes for good memories, it makes for good laughter moments later on. It might not be uh ha ha moment at that time, but it you know, after after a while it can kind of get the edge off and and have a good memory. But this this is what it's all it is, is you're just out making memories with your family. Not and that's the one thing that I want to remind everybody is when you're planning these trips, when you plan your vacation, remember that you're not planning the trip to make memories, you're planning the trip to deliver memories with your family. And and there's there's a subtle difference there if you just really think about that for a minute, because remember we said a few weeks back where when you're out traveling and when you're out taking your vacation for the year, remember that you're filming your own 4K blockbuster movie. So just remember you gotta make sure that you can't delete any scenes, you gotta have every action scene, and some of the restful scenes, some of the peaceful scenes in there as well. You know, maybe a a creek running through the mountains, and you know, you have a fishing pole and you sit there, even if you don't catch a fish. It's which is better, being at work or sitting on the edge of a creek in the mountains in Tennessee and hoping to catch fish. I mean, that's better than being at work. I don't know about you, but it is for me. So there is that, but there's a lot of budget-friendly options when you start talking uh, you know, in Tennessee. Now, here's another one for you that is can be really affordable and it has some areas that can kind of tap into that budget a little bit because they have some theme parks, but and that's in Virginia, because you've got Williamsburg, you've got Virginia Beach, and I you know, look, uh Virginia Beach, most of the time that I've looked and researched it, is not as have heavily traveled as say Myrtle Beach or Dustin in Florida. I mean, like I said, Dustin can be just insanely packed. So compare those areas, do the research and check the data to see which beach, which area has the most things to do. Then go back and say, okay, which one has the most crowds, which one has and and try to plan for that. And some of them are close enough together that you might could get two areas in at once. Uh you know, if you're talking South Carolina, Florida, if you're things like that. So there are ways to kind of maximize your vacation, it's but it's all gonna come down to planning. And I know I I say that a a lot of times, but this is one of the things that you where you can really stretch your budget. You've got where you do a combo vacation is basically what I'm telling you. It's like you've got history because you got Williamsburg, and then you know, you got the beach. So maybe some of the smaller kids in the family, you know, and you take them somewhere and you're showing them history, they're like, mmm, and they get that glassy-eyed look and they're brought back to asking those vital questions, or are we there yet? So this is where you take them to the beach and they get their energy by running up and down the beach, and now they're now they're tired and they're asleep and so you now you can have that peace for yourself as well. Whatever the case may be, just understand that the southeast has so many different areas that offers everything from theme parks to mountains to uh beaches. Uh it's just there's really nothing in the the Southeast that you can't find in the Southeast. I'll give you one more. North Carolina, right here where yours truly. When you talk about North Carolina, you've got almost as many or more different areas uh in North Carolina that you that you do in in all of the southeast places that I've mentioned. When you come to North Carolina, you got places like the Outer Banks. So you want beach, you can't ask for anything any better. Now, maybe the sand isn't as white, and the maybe the water isn't as blue as destined, but it's still a beautiful beach, and it is a lot less traveled. Uh, you've got Asheville uh up in the mountains, you've got the Blue Ridge Parkway. Uh, so again, you're talking areas that you can offer your family everything from the mountains to creeks to rivers to to nature to theme parks. It's just I mean, there's everything all wrapped into one. So in the in the southeast, you can really do a lot of combo vacations. You could do a three-part vacation where it's part theme park, part beach, and part mountains. You could literally pull off all three, and there's there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Here's another thing. What is this really good for? Because there is so many small towns, so many different places, and so many different terrains that you're gonna go through. Now, these are perfect for road trips because it's perfect because you've got a lot of different road stops that you can do. Uh, it may be everything from an orchard, or it could be a quick stop at the beach, or it could be-I mean, the list just goes on. I could sit here for literally for hours and just tell you all the different things that you could stop at. If you go up through the mountains of whether it be Tennessee or North Carolina, there are so many small towns that have so many different shops and things that are handmade and and artisanal that are just really cool that you don't see anywhere else. And so you've you've got those things going for you where you can just stop for a few minutes and get everybody out of the car and give them a break, but it's not just your typical restroom stop, it's letting the family have almost like a few uh memory-building moments in those different stops. And what more can you ask for? Uh, and sometimes those those different little pit stops that you could do could be at places that are gonna be for one of your family members, could be one of the biggest memory builders that they have. Like, you know, that was a great trip, but that little shop that we stopped at going through the mountains of Tennessee or going through the mountains of North Carolina, I mean, these these kind of places are are what you're looking for because that's what's gonna build those memories. Um, I honestly uh when it comes to North Carolina, I think North Carolina can be one of the most underrated uh places in the southeast. Um, it has just as much to offer it without really the theme park part of it, uh, but there's still enough within driving distance, uh theme park-wise, that you again you could do a combo vacation and include North Carolina, and you've got some of the most beautiful mountains and beaches that uh right here at your fingertips. Uh so uh, you know, and in all real out in all reality, but um in all reality, you you've got everything that you need in the southeast, and you can do these just really big combo vacations where you're not theme parked to death because let's be honest, if you have seven days for a vacation and you spend all seven days in a theme park, now that may for some people that may just be the cat's meow, but I'm gonna tell you seven days in a theme park, and I love theme parks. I am a roller coaster junkie, but when you tell me we're gonna be in a theme park for seven days, I'm already exhausted. And maybe it's because of my age, I don't know, but even when I was younger, I don't know that I would have wanted to spend all seven days in a theme park because there's so much going on around these areas, there's so many other sights and sounds and experiences to have other than just inside a theme park. Because when you're inside a theme park, that's it. You're in that world. And I don't just mean Disney World, I'm talking about you're in that world, you're that is your whole day. Have you ever tried to is the size of these theme parks? Have you ever tried to just let's say you were in a theme park all day long and you wanted to go to Bob's burger joint outside of the theme park? That's an hour-long process, just to leave the park, come get in the car, find your car, uh and the 400-acre parking lot, and then leave the park, go to Bob's Burgers, and then come back and do the whole process all over again. I mean, it's a process just to get into the theme park. So leaving it like that is just not really an option. So you're in that park for that day. So I think these combo vacations are what families are really starting to lean more towards. Because, like I said, if you have a family of say four to six people, you're you've got a lot of different likes and dislikes in that group. And if you're doing a combo vacation of beach, mountain, theme park, you know, whatever the case may be, then hey, you know, you're you've got options, and ever the whole crowd is kind of there's no mutiny on a bounty, so to speak, because everybody's happy, everybody's kind of getting some of their own favorite things to do. And those are the most memorable vacations that you can have. And you can definitely plan them where they don't break the bank. Um, but you know, in 26, people families want drivable destinations. Um, airfare is just getting out of hand for a typical family vacation. I mean, when you look at what the price of airfare now, uh that's half of your budget, or it could be all of your budget, just to get on the plane, and then when you get there, you're gonna turn around and get back on the plane because your your budget's gone. So uh, you know, trips are being split into different experiences because people want multiple experiences in one vacation. It's it's almost like if you think about Disney World, they the reason they built the different parks because if you go to the Magic Kingdom, you don't want to stay in the Magic Kingdom the entire week. You want to go to the Animal Kingdom, and you may want to go to this park and that park. So you've got the different experiences, and that's the whole thing, and that's the same thing with your vacation. So think of planning your vacation as a Disney World park where you're having different components that satisfies the entire group. You know, the South, the Southeast isn't just where families are traveling, it's where families are learning out how to travel smarter. And you know, next week we're gonna look at the Midwest and some hidden gems up there. But again, this is gonna be a four-part series. This was part two, and I will see you again right here next week behind this big old mic, hopefully without any voice issues next week. Uh, like I said, I'm getting a little better each day, so hopefully by next week we'll, you know, it'll be 100%. But until I see you again next week, whatever you do, don't forget to caffeinate and conquer. It's very important, and I'll see you again right here behind this big old mic. Thank you for listening. Bye bye.