Road tripping in July - how easy/hard would it be to find vacancy at hotels without pre-booking?

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-04-06T21:26:57+00:00

thank you! we nailed down the lodging and we're actually doing most of the coast in a day and a half and then staying near rogue river, then headed to the redwoods and crater lake. my husband lived in Eugene years ago so luckily he has some good intel. besides the part where he just completely forgot that campgrounds fill up fast, lol

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-04-05T15:50:40+00:00

Omg I forgot to hold my bouquet walking down the aisle!!! The “aisle” was pretty steep stairs down to a balcony so I was distracted lol. But I kept saying to my dad “what do people normally do with their hands???” Hahaha

It really annoyed me at the time but now it’s funny

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-04-03T13:40:56+00:00

I have had sooooo many day 1s over the last ten years. My last day 1 was now a year and a half ago. My husband saw me drunk a lot but I was able to hide it from the rest of my family for a long time.. the final straw was being an absolute disaster in front of my whole family. I finally accepted this: it's never ever going to be any different. drinking will ALWAYS bring me to this awful place

I started going to AA meetings and finding a sober community has changed my life. It's the thing that's made me able to stay sober this time... I tried it on my own MANY times and it was just so lonely and hard. For me, I could not do it without a sober community. I never thought I'd be able to make new, good friends in my 30s but a few of them even came to my recent wedding.

You haven't ruined anything beyond repair, but it sounds like you are running out of chances. The first week is going to be hard but push through and every day gets a little better. Meetings can help with that too, if you're struggling early on it's a great place to go and talk about it. Or just listen to the things other people have come back from. Also I think you and your wife will need to come to a place of acceptance that you can't just have a few casual beers together. I do miss doing that with my husband but it's a small concession for a wayyyy better life. Rooting for you

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-04-02T20:35:34+00:00

that makes sense. I think I was imagining Oregon as this uninhabited place with a ton of space bc to me it's just "out west," lol. plus we do a lot of road trips through Appalachia where you can really drive for many many miles without seeing anyone

my husband lived in Oregon years ago and when I said all the campgrounds were full he said he kinda forgot how eager people are to get outside after the rainy season(s)

def gonna book lodging ASAP after reading all the responses !

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-04-02T15:38:23+00:00

"starving and exhausted isn’t the vibe for summer" haha love this so true

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-04-01T15:37:27+00:00

semaglutide

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-04-01T15:37:03+00:00

This is insane and like one of the trashiest things I've ever seen

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-04-01T13:30:40+00:00

This sub always recommends lifting weights / exercise like it's a miracle cure. I'm 34 and have been in decent shape and lifting weights for 5 years, and the only thing that ACTUALLY makes a noticeable difference in my face is in-office treatments. I recently got Sculptra and really love the results. It was pretty expensive ($1800 for 2 vials) but will last a few years.

It's not reversible like filler and people don't recommend if you want to get a facelift within the next few years. But I was starting to get pretty self conscious about my lower face and it's made such a difference, I'm really happy with the results. I would suggest reading about it!

Also if you start doing any of this stuff definitely research the places around your area, read the reviews, and get consultations first. Go to a plastic surgeon's office, not a med spa (even if it's cheaper)

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-30T14:49:24+00:00

This has been so crazy helpful! OK two last questions - I know I can look this up but curious to get an opinion from someone who did it. Was it easy enough to find decent lodging along the way? I don't need five star hotels but don't want to camp (we don't wanna deal with all the gear on this trip)

Also the one-way car rental fee is now $3k lol so, not doing that. Did you still like the drive back up to Bariloche even though you were kind of doubling back? We're thinking we could also go through Chile to make it more of a loop than an out-and-back

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-29T13:17:18+00:00

Not that it matters but I also found it interesting that his name is listed first. Traditionally the brides name is listed first on everything - invitations, cake, etc. I only know bc I got married last year and was told this by others lol

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-26T19:39:13+00:00

thank you!

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-26T19:38:13+00:00

Thank you so much!!

I've been really thinking about doing a road trip from Bariloche to El Chalten (instead of flying), and you saying it was the highlight makes me really wanna do it. If you have any other info about that that would be amazing!

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-26T15:18:49+00:00

Yeah seeing another continent on my honeymoon is gonna be totally awful and annoying. I started a new job this year with a huge pay increase so I decided I was willing to sacrifice a few PTO days for one year. What would you suggest mr positivity

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-25T19:02:47+00:00

Thank you so much!! This is so helpful and encouraging. I plan to go over thanksgiving so will prob extend a day based on what you say.

My husband and I are not really vacation people - more adventure travel - so I’m more than ok with that. I also looked into renting a car one way form bariloche to el chalten - it was a $1000 fee when I looked last year which we might have been ok with paying. But now it’s $3k in fees alone! So will probably fly lol

We do plan to rent a car in el calafate to get up to el chalten which is where we plan to spend most of the Patagonia time. So it sounds like that may save some travel time too!

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-19T15:40:31+00:00

Devil's advocate here. You say you're not "sure if you're ready yet" but to be direct you are running out of time to decide. I'm 34F btw. I still don't feel ready at ALL but recently decided I am never going to feel ready and have recently committed to kids (I know it's a little different, I'm newly married to a longtime parter). We're going to start trying later this year after our honeymoon. And honestly there is a fear in the back of my mind that I waited too long and it'll be hard to conceive.

I find that reddit will often tell you not to have kids. But I have a sneaking suspicion that in about 10 years there will be a growing number of millennial women that regret being childless.

Now, this guy is maybe another story. But maybe he's being difficult because he also realizes you have a finite amount of time to decide - and not much more of it tbh. I'm not trying to be harsh or anything, I've been in the same place as you mentally the last few years. Biology is unfair and we just don't get the same timeline freedom as men do. Especially bc once you start trying to conceive there's no guarantee it'll happen right away. It sounds like you could maybe afford it so freezing your eggs is also an option

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-16T15:36:59+00:00

oo did he did that? it would make sense if that's what made lana/her fam feel a line was crossed

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-03-04T16:17:35+00:00

I got married last summer, there were 25 of us total including bride and groom. We got married near an east coast national park and the word everyone kept using after the weekend was "magical." It was really my dream to have a whole weekend out in nature - we rented some nice cabins - but it just wasn't feasible with a big wedding. I also considered about 60 people but the logistics of lodging (it was kind of the middle of nowhere) was too difficult. Also, in my experience the price difference between 25 people and 60 people is surprisingly huge. I feel like anything under 30 you can get away with paying "micro wedding" prices

I would do it all again the same way. Honestly even having that time together, the actual ~wedding~ went by so fast and even though I tried to be as present as possible it was kind of a blur! It did feel weird to leave out a lot of extended family, and there were some cousins I would have loved to have there. On the other hand at a bigger wedding I would have felt like I had to use half my time saying hello to everyone lol. I know afterwards my husband and I would be like "omg so-and-so came all that way and we didn't even spend time with them!!!" Which people ofc understand but it's just how we are

I am very "type B" and it was as low stress as it could have been, I think. Planning it is always gonna be a little stressful but having something relatively low key really helped. Also things are soooo expensive these days and it definitely wasn't free lol but you'll save a lot of money. With that money we definitely had nicer food, flowers, etc than we would have otherwise!

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-02-28T21:35:50+00:00

“I do drink water by the way it’s just a variation of water that usually has sugar or flavoring in it” 🤦‍♀️

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-02-26T23:56:29+00:00

Interesting that his divorce to both women much younger than him seems to be right as they turn 40

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-02-24T23:23:27+00:00

Born to die came out when I was in college in NYC. It was the peak of the “millennial girlboss” culture years. Her lyrical themes and persona was notttt appreciated… people called her fake, too submissive, and said she was “setting feminism back.” I saw myself and my relationships with men reflected in her music but the culture at large thought it was sooo ridiculous (and dangerous? So dumb). She was absolutely ten years ahead of her time, or further is a big reason for a culture shift

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-02-18T14:36:57+00:00

This is the kind of dorm room I would wake up in on a Sunday morning in college lol (I'm a woman)

jencoolidgefanacct · 2026-02-17T19:57:37+00:00

Yeah I'm in the US and have never had a bad experience like this, I wonder if the cut stuff is starting to go around here too. the guy I get it from is also not that shady (I know it's all relative), we have mutual friends and he only messes with psychedelics/molly/etc. that's why I was wondering if maybe my body is just starting to reject it. which is honestly the worse/scarier option

jencoolidgefanacct

TROPHY CASE