I had been eyeing this Airstream in Malibu for years now. I first saw one of my favorite bloggers (Amber Fillerup) visit it and blog about it here! I then started seeing it pop up all over social media after Taylor Swift did a shoot for Vogue and Kortney Kardashian did a stay-cation with her boyfriend! We decided to bring the kids, and all our friends met at the top to watch the sunset with appetizers & Wine. Luckily my sister and dad were with us, so they took the kids at bedtime back to Santa Monica and let us enjoy the place to ourselves! There is only one bed, so its best suited for a couple. We did have some of our friends come camp out on the mountain right behind us though- so that could be an option for a big group!
But let me tell you, it is worth the hype (and hike!). We chose to do one night and Yeirdon wished we had stayed their the entire time (I mean he is a doomsday-prepper and all haha). If you’re into “glamping” with a once in a lifetime view, stay here. I was happy we just did one night, I like to be social and explore area (eat out nonstop) when we visit cities. We did go to Nobu the night we stayed at the airstream, and I immediately regretted leaving and have to drive back in the pitch black up the 5 mile dirt road back to the airstream. (minor anxiety attack). Other than that, waking up to the sunrise on the side of the mountain at 6am with no one else around but animals was surreal.
Here’s what you need to know:
You need an SUV to get to the airstream, I don’t think any Ubers/taxis will take you there (its off a beaten path)
The sun sets on the airstream side, so if your going to enjoy it and get your pictures in do it at sunset!
Follow the fall itinerary below the provided us, make sure to grab wine/groceries (they have a mini kitchen on site)
The bathrooms are open air
Bring bug spray, tennis shoes
Stay on the lookout for wild animals!
Bring “on the go chargers” for all your electronics, there is no service there!
This is the Itinerary we used for one day with them:
FALL ITINERARY:
Assuming you have the entire day off, go to malibu EARLY and either spend the day at the beach or go hike one of the many great hikes in the area (google Malibu best hikes). Finish the hike by noon, go grocery shopping in point dume or Trancas market so you can then check in by 2pm at the latest at the airstream and enjoy an amazing afternoon at the property. You can do a small hike up there if you want but odds are you will not want to leave!
If for any reason you run out of wine, Neptune’s net restaurant sells some and is only 8 minute drive down.
* Make sure to bring an iPhone cable to plug into the battery or stereo for your music and have an “offline” playlist ready as there is no reception for Spotify.
Don’t hesitate to do this if you’re in the area, I had to reserve it for one night months in advance! If you click this linkyou can get $40 off your first time booking airbnb! (this isn’t sponsored by airbnb, I paid for our stay. They give each user a coupon code to give people and that is mine).
Packing list:
I am officially Disney’d out (maybe for at least a year). My husband is a Disney fanatic, so for some reason we have been to Disney (Land & World) 4 combined times now in the last 4 years with toddlers! It definitely gets better/easier every time, but boy I can’t wait for the next age when they are older and calmer (no tantrums/no naps). See my first blog post on Disneyland & DisneyWorld here.
We decided to do Disneyland for one day since we were visiting my sister (who lives in LA) this month. We have never done Disney for Halloween season, so it was special in that way too. We went on an off day (thursday) that wasn’t “Mickeys Halloween Party” and the crowds seemed pretty low! Maybe when they are older we will do the trick-or-treating event one night.
We also chose to stay with Ayres Hotel Anaheim due to the convenience to the parks, and needing to have a break for toddler naps! It is ranked as #5 hotel in Anaheim, you can see the reviews here.
Here’s what we loved about Ayres Hotel:
Location- This is the main reason we chose this hotel (It is within minutes to disneyland & the Honda Center-across the street) The hotel provides shuttles to and from Disneyland for your convenience via transit as well. Beds- Very comfortable and black out curtains (for the kids). We came back during mid-day for nap-time, everyone slept 3+hours, the rooms cooled down instantly and were very clean. Amenities- They have a pool onsite if you have the time to use it, we didn’t! Service- This is key, since my husband is in the service industry. Everyone was very nice and responded to any of our needs quickly!
Here is Our Halloween DisneyLand Itinerary for One day: (Book your tickets through the app prior to arriving for sake of time, and make sure to chose MAXPASS!) 7am- do extra magic hours if staying on property.
8am- Arrive if no magic hours, We ate at Plaza Inn (make this reservation 90 days out!) With toddlers, this was the quickest and a sure way to have a good meal while seeing all their characters! (Minnie, Mickey, Pooh, etc).
Then We followed this by Touring Plans (one day with small children guide). With the MAXPASS at disneyland, you can reserve “fast pass” as soon as you enter the park every hour (ex. 9-10am one, 10am-11am another etc). We got fast passes for Haunted Mansion, It’s a small world & Buzz Lightyear.
Peter Pan’s Flight
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Alice in Wonderland
King Arthur Carrousel
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Mad Tea Party
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
Gadget’s Go Coaster
Mickey’s House and Meet Mickey
Minnie’s House
Rest
Eat lunch In this step, set the time at which you’d like to eat lunch.
it’s a small world
Mickey and the Magical Map
Meet Disney Princesses at Royal Hall
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Walt Disney‘s Enchanted Tiki Room
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Mickey’s Soundsational Parade
Or whichever parade is being performed on the day of your visit.
Rest
Eat dinner
*Key things to note for Halloween Season:
-Haunted Mansion is decorated differently only this time of year! So that ride is a must.
-Take the famous Pumpkin picture as soon as you arrive if you want it, lines get long (we waited about 15 minutes to take ours).
-Grab the pumpkin Mickey Shapes beignets right by Haunted Mansion (Mint Julep Bar)! Only seasonal and so good!
I know it’s exciting visiting somewhere for the first time you’ve been dying to go to. That’s how I felt about Turks & Caicos 5 years ago, and we’ve been back 5 times since. This time was nothing short of exciting, for a few reasons. I did my first social media Instagram takeover with Villa Renaissance (where we stayed). We also got to bring my dad for his first time ever with us & one of our friends Nick traveled down too. There’s nothing better than traveling with friends and family! But here’s a secret I’ve learned from traveling so much. Vacationing to a place you love for a second, third, fourth time and so on, only gets better every single time. We created this same pic above of the kids napping on our last trip to Turks-Roman really was asleep the first time! (You can read my first blog post I did on Turks & Caicos Here) You can also see live videos from both our stays on my instagram, under my story highlights here.
(This pic is from island vibes tour/private beach: kids wearing Of One Sea Collection)
Here’s why it gets better for me: 1. The first time traveling somewhere new, I get exhausted from researching nonstop because the area is brand new to me. I want to know where to eat, what excursions to do, what are the happening places. I specifically research on google now “Blog” and input city (for example turks) when looking for things online in a new city because I know most bloggers probably have similar taste to me. (SN thank god for instagram/bloggers who did travel guides and document everything, It saves people like myself so much time planning a trip! ) The second time you visit the same place, you no longer have to research or plan ahead, you know where to go and what to see. (Grace Bay Beach- Villa Renaissance!) 2. By the third time and so on, you now can hit up all your favorite spots + try new places without having anxiety you are missing something special. You can try new accommodations, new restaurants, and discover even more areas you didn’t discover when researching. (We ventured out next door to Seven restaurant & it turned out to be our favorite meal on this trip!) 3. You know what to pack. (SN: Bring water wings/floats for kids to Turks, no hotels or stores sell puddle jumpers!) 4. You probably know the best time to visit. (Turks- September for us has always been lucky weather) 5. If you’re lucky, you’ve made friends and can catch up (We love Johnny from TCI Flyboard!) Instagram here.
So if you read all that, you know this trip exceeded all our expectations :)! Below is my ultimate travel guide to have the perfect family vacation in Turks & Caicos: (Boardwalk Villa Renaissance, wearing Lspace & Vici dolls)
*Accommodations: Villa Renaissance (Find them on Instagram here)- Go stalk all their beautiful pics like I do and get major vacay envy:)
This time around we wanted to try a new place. I knew we wanted to stay on Grace Bay Beach still (one of the top beaches in the world) and we were traveling with the kids again (lainey’s 3rd trip, Romans 2nd). We were mainly looking for our own Villa with home style necessities (kitchen/washer/dryer) that was at a more affordable price. Some accommodations on Grace Bay can break the bank, and its very hard to find luxury stays with the kids in a normal price range. Luckily we discovered Villa Renaissance and we are so glad we ending up booking a Villa with their resort. I tend to do a ton of research before confirming anything, and you can see all the reviews on where we stayed here and here. And You can book our exact room here: (Villa 603!)
(Villa Renaissance view from ocean)
(Pool at Villa Renaissance, Suit is from Pearl Street Swim (Becca20 discount code)
Things we loved about Villa Renaissance:
-Since we went in the fall (hurricane season) we pretty much had the resort to ourselves. It felt like we had our own mansion on the island.
-Pool & Whirl Pool are in the center of the hotel, so you can sit on your balcony and overlook the pool if you’re on the second level. (I enjoyed doing this when Roman would nap, but lainey was still swimming with my dad or yeirdon)
-Bar/Food you can order for on site (We ordered a pizza from across the street and ate it at the pool one day, so good!)
-Tennis/workout center on site
-Shops/restaurants all within walking distance (most breakfast spots we went were right across the street)
-On Grace Bay Beach (voted top beach in the world)
-Sandcastle storage at the beach & several comfortable lounge chairs
–Villa 603– one bedroom suite, with a pull out couch for the kids! The king bed was very comfortable. (Specifically Villa 603 Owner Nicola was amazing, we were emailed an entire island itinerary/things to do before we arrived that was very helpful)
(Tennis Courts at VR: another bikini from Pearl Street Swim)
(View from our balcony at VR overlooking pool, outfit: Little trend setter)
(Sandcastle fun out front of the hotel, they provide everything)
(In front of VR, Wearing Saha Swimwear, sandals Cambiami) (Sunsets outside of VR grace bay beach)
& One with my dad (he was designated babysitter)
We will be back VR! Thanks for having us this season 🙂
–TCI Flyboard: Third time doing this! Gets easier every time. We love Jonathan from TCI Fly-board. He is very responsive when scheduling and is such a help when trying to figure out how to “stand up” on the Fly-board (its a jet-pack under your feet, tip: keep your legs straight!). You can tell Jonathan takes pride in his company and is a genuine good person. It takes a great instructor for a first timer when trying to fly-board (see pics), He gets on the jet-ski connected to you and instructs you the entire time. He usually sets up in front of Blue Haven resort, so anyone watching can stand in the gazebo at the end with an excellent view to snap pics. My dad ( who is 62 years old) did this and got up a few times! Typically you “fly-board” for 15 minutes but can go longer if you want. Book this excursion here.
(Yeirdon)
(The kids loved watching everyone go, except me haha, roman was ready to nap by the time I went and over it, so all the videos of me he is screaming bloody murder, poor thing) (My dad) (Our friend Nick, his first time!)
–Island Vibes Tour– We always do the half morning tour. They pick you up out front on the beach (if you’re staying on grace bay) at 9am and bring you back around 1pm! The guys on that tour are so fun, I always see other boat tours jammed packed with people, and its never like that on island vibes! They stop at the prettiest beach for an hour and let you explore, and then take you snorkeling & wrap up the day by jumping off their diving board in the middle of the ocean. This is all while serving endless rum punch :). Book this excursion here. (Roman, Yeirdon and myself all got sea sick on the tour 🙁 This has never happened before (we’ve done this excursion 4 times too) but the waves were a little choppy, so Ro got sick first all over me, prompting me to feel bad, then yeirdon seeing it all got sick too! All while lainey remained calm. That was the one glitch on this trip, but we quickly got over it once we got to the beaches)
(It started down pouring for 10 minutes when we arrived at the island so we all snuggled up under the boat and watched the rain storm, this was a cool experience, but a little chilly!)
(Diving board off top of boat)
(The best seat on the boat, you can ride up here the entire time if you want amazing views) (All these images are from the private beach the tour takes you to, My dad did come in handy :))
-If you want to just stay at the resort, you can always go paddle-boarding or kayaking out front on grace bay beach.
(Breakfast view grace bay club, traveling clutch from justmadra)
*Restaurants:
–For breakfast, we love eating at Grace Bay Club, especially with kids you can overlook the beach in the morning while they play in the sand. We also walked to Shay Cafe & Lounge one morning, they had really good crepes! -Every Thursday there is a local fish fry, you can grab local cuisine for half the price at restaurants and listen to live music bordering the pier/beach. If you’re looking for a true island experience with locals, head here.
–Somerset Beach BBQ- We did this one year when Lainey was just with us and she danced the night away while we ate 🙂 They set a buffet out right on the beach in front of the somerset resort and set all the tables are on the sand. They have live music too, and its so beautiful to watch the sunset go down! They only do this once a week (Tuesdays).
–Seven- We went here for the first time and were blown away by food and presentation. I would sit outside if I came back, I just hate eating inside on tropical vacations when you could be anywhere in the world- I’d like to eat with a view.
(I got the pumpkin ravioli, it was so good we ordered another round)
*Nightlife:
-This is a pretty calm island, I would only come here for a chill vacation with friends, family or honeymoon. If you’re looking to rage on a bachelor/bachelorette this wouldnt be the place. They have some casinos, but I’ve never been to a club here (I know there are some though).
*Plane/Travel Packing List: (All images from pictures above/feed)
My looks: You can also shop my looks directly on the @liketoknowit app here.
Sunscreen/Kid essentials: We always use all Babybum products, they make an entire travel line too!
PJS: -Kids always in Babybreez (Used code Beccaingle)
-Mommy & Me matching robes (Little trendsetter)
Swim Suits: –Pearl Street Swim (use code Becca20)
–OfoneSea (matching family awakea collection)
-Little Minimalist Onsie suit (jelly fish print here) –Lspace (Skirt, Blue, and matching with lainey)
–Little Rumi (lainey’s here)
–Minnow Swim (Blue and Nantucket shade)
