The holiday spots you retain returning to, from Zion to the ‘perfect seashore’ in Hawaii – Boston Herald
By Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Instances
LOS ANGELES — There are occasions once you desire a trip that challenges you. However there are different occasions once you crave a well-recognized scene, a traveler’s model of consolation meals.
What’s it that brings folks again to the identical vacation spot many times?
Charlotte Russell, a Manchester-based medical psychologist and founder/editor of the Journey Psychologist weblog, didn’t see worth in visiting the identical place twice when she was in her 20s, however as she acquired older, her opinion modified.
Now one in all her most frequent locations is Seville, a brief, direct flight from her dwelling airport. Nonetheless, her journey cadence is strategic. “I don’t wish to spoil the connection I’ve to the place by visiting too incessantly,” she says. “For me, as soon as each few years appears to be about ‘proper.’” As soon as there, she savors “the gorgeous buildings, the orange timber, the smells and flavors of the meals,” having fun with the possibility to get to know the tradition extra deeply than a one-time customer would possibly.
Then once more, Russell acknowledges, possibly we are able to by no means actually go to the identical place twice.
So says psychology professor Andrew Stevenson in his 2023 guide “The Psychology of Journey.” In his view, “locations change on a regular basis, and so can we. Sure, we are able to go to the identical location once more, however are prone to expertise it in a totally totally different approach when visiting once more, because the place turns into extra significant, extra filled with recollections, extra important, every new time we arrive.”
We requested Southern California readers to inform us about their most prized repeat locations. The solutions took us throughout — Hawaii, Utah, Arizona, England and Hermosa Seashore, as an illustration — for all kinds of causes they share with us beneath.
London retains calling
Tommy Bui of Pacoima studied in the UK as an undergrad — “a really impressionable and lengthy influential time of my life,” he wrote.
“It was my first time away from dwelling with assuredly only a meagre bindle on my again. I used to be approach out of my consolation zone and flung into the deep finish on the opposite facet of the pond. I floundered however ultimately discovered my water legs and discovered to like pricey ol’ Blighty.” [That’s a slang phrase for Great Britain often used by British expats.]
So, Bui continued, “yearly I handle to lumber my approach again to London.” Aiming to “recapture that preliminary wonderment and whimsy,” he’s been going again for greater than 10 years, at all times searching for “some type of new and out-of-my-comfort-zone mischief.”
These adventures have included “operating the 2024 London Marathon (while guiding a sight-impaired runner), driving a penny-farthing [Victorian-era bicycle] to Buckingham Palace, and biking 100 miles from London to Essex to lift cash for the Alzheimer’s Society,” Bui wrote.
“What makes London particular is that the magic of that first go to is undiminished with every subsequent go to in some way.”
Between California mountains and Mexican seashores
Brandon Luna of Lengthy Seashore wrote to say his household has been making repeat visits to 2 very totally different spots over the past eight years. One is Yosemite.
“I grew up in Merced, the ‘Gateway to Yosemite,’ however had by no means visited the nationwide park till I lived in Southern California,” Luna wrote. “It’s nice to take my children and pitstop in Merced to go to my household. We love staying on the Yosemite Valley Lodge. Its handy location makes it straightforward for us to discover with out driving. We had been lucky sufficient to get snowed in a single yr!”
His household’s different prime spot: “La Costalegre in Jalisco is an space south of Puerto Vallarta,” Luna wrote. “It’s extra of a locals’ (Mexican) vacationer vacation spot, with some guests and expats from Canada and the U.S. We lease a automotive and drive from the outskirts of Guadalajara to the cities of Melaque/San Patricio. We love to hang around on the seashore all day, hit the pool, and discover the native cities. The picturesque sunrises and sunsets create a peaceful, enjoyable vibe. My children take pleasure in shopping for fruit and ordering from the native eating places whereas hanging out on the seashore. They at all times ask why we don’t have those self same varieties of choices right here within the U.S.”
Anniversaries on the Large Island
Joel Drew of San Clemente’s repeat vacation spot is the Westin Hapuna Seashore Resort on the Kohala Coast of the Large Island of Hawaii.
“It’s a superbly understated resort alongside arguably the perfect seashore in Hawaii,” Drew wrote. “The grounds are lovely and the ocean views are unbelievable. My spouse and I’ve been returning to this location for over six years. We love sharing our anniversary dinner at sundown from right here.”
Snowballs and wild turkeys in Utah
“Since I used to be 11, I’ve gone virtually yearly with my dad to Zion Nationwide Park in Utah,” wrote Joshua G. Baum of West Hollywood. “I’m 32 now, and the park has given us a lifetime of recollections, from climbing the Narrows and Angel’s Touchdown to stargazing at Large Bend and recognizing wild turkeys alongside the paths. We nonetheless go after my dad’s coronary heart transplant, although he can’t hike like he as soon as did, and I do know we’ll maintain returning. My favourite reminiscence is a winter hike to Scout’s Lookout once I spent your complete climb up Walter’s Wiggles throwing snowballs at [my dad], and we nonetheless snort about it immediately.”
Tradition and cocktails on Maui
“Palms down, Napili Kai Seashore Resort in Maui is our household & mates all time finest trip spot, yr after yr,” wrote Greg Vanni of Arcadia. “The resort honors the tradition of the numerous Hawaiians who’re part of the employees by supporting the Napili Kai Basis which, partly, supplies increased schooling scholarships.”
The resort, Vanni wrote, “sits on some of the lovely spots in Maui: Napili Bay. It’s all about household (ohana) at Napili Kai. Our household is just not distinctive in having three generations of household staying there. It’s a tranquil, outdated Hawaiian expertise — every constructing is restricted to 2 tales. The resort options an 18-hole placing inexperienced, which hosts a placing social gathering for all company each Monday” with 50-cent cocktails.”
One other attraction: the plush grounds, “lovingly overseen by Uncle Joe, who conducts a weekly strolling tour. I can’t maintain observe of the handfuls of milestone occasions we’ve got celebrated at Napili Kai.”
Scribbling by a creek in Arizona
“We dwell in San Diego and each summer season we head to Arizona,” wrote David Williams of San Diego.
“Sure. Arizona. In Summer time. Our not-so-secret secret spot is deep in Oak Creek Canyon. Our base camp for our adventures is a five-bedroom home overlooking Oak Creek alongside AZ 89-A in between Sedona and Flagstaff.”
Each summer season for roughly the final 20 years, Williams wrote, “we load the household, the canine, and per week’s price of provisions (with re-supplies accessible in Sedona and Flagstaff) and head throughout the blazing desert to the forest sanctuary of Oak Creek Canyon.”
Annually, Williams continued, there are household excursions to native landmarks like Slide Rock State Park. And annually, adults and kids alike are anticipated to write down one thing in a quantity referred to as the Creek Home Ebook.
“We now have now stuffed THREE full books,” Williams wrote.
Meals, drink and jazz in Monterey
“My spouse and I’m going to the Monterey Jazz Pageant yearly,” wrote Richard Haro of Fort Collins, Co.
“With mates we normally lease a home in Carmel for the week earlier than and do some issues which have turn out to be a practice. We buy groceries in Carmel sooner or later, we go have lunch at Nepenthe in Large Sur sooner or later. We begin our lunch with Champagne and French fries. … We go for a sundown on Carmel Seashore. … We spend time with longtime mates that we love and mainly eat and drink an excessive amount of. And all of it ends with a weekend of world-class jazz on the competition. We now have been doing this since 1983. We plan on going for so long as we are able to.”
The sands of Hermosa Seashore
“We now have gone to Hermosa Seashore, California, for my total life. That’s 66 years,” wrote Albro Lundy of Palos Verdes Estates. “Wherever we lived in the US, we traveled to Hermosa Seashore. My father was within the Air Pressure and we lived in lots of states, however when summer season got here, we acquired within the automotive and drove via [to] Hermosa Seashore. The sand is the best sand on the earth and the seashore goes on and on. … It’s our dwelling away from dwelling.”
Winter at Mt. Baldy
“We head to the Mt. Baldy Lodge virtually each December twenty third,” wrote Jennifer Nutting of Los Angeles.
“After getting married in 2015 on the Beverly Hills courthouse, we went to the Mt. Baldy Lodge simply to mark the event, and it turned a practice.”
Every room has a hearth, Nutting wrote, “and so they adorn the rooms for the vacations. The restaurant has 2 crackling fireplaces, a number of pool tables, and a few good diner meals. Generally it snows, and also you get up on December twenty fourth to the church bells throughout the road enjoying Christmas Carols.”
©2025 Los Angeles Instances. Go to at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content material Company, LLC.
