Holly Humbert
Every year, my family takes a 14-hour road trip from our home base in Utah to a house in Netarts Bay, Oregon.
Though it’s just an Airbnb rental, it’s become our home away from home. I stumbled upon it four years ago and loved that it faced the bay, had a beautiful wrap-around porch, and was the perfect size for our growing family.
We’d visited the Oregon coast before, but something about this rental really made us fall in love with the area. It’s tucked away from beach traffic, but it’s still close enough to town that we could grab a drink at the local coffee shop in the morning.
We love the house so much that we always book our summer vacation in January to ensure availability. I even dream of buying it one day, despite the fact it’s not for sale.
Though it might seem like we’re missing out by visiting the same exact place every summer, I don’t think we are. In fact, this is our favorite yearly tradition.
For us, this house is the heart of a family tradition
Holly Humbert
When we got married, my husband and I each brought a few holiday traditions into our family. Aside from those, though, our family didn’t have any of our own.
So, over the last few years, we’ve made visiting the Oregon coast our tradition.
After the first trip, we thought about staying in a different place just to mix things up, but my girls asked if we could stay at the same house again — probably because of the hot tub.
However, I don’t mind because going to the same house every year allows me to actually relax. When we go to Netarts Bay, we don’t have to learn our way around a new place and still enjoy a change from our everyday life.
As soon as we walk into the house, there’s a familiar coziness, and our family settles right in. We know where the coffee maker is and which drawer houses the silverware. The girls know how to work the TV and which room they’re staying in.
It reminds me of the same ease I felt visiting my grandparents every summer: We just walk right in and feel at home.
Even though we visit the same town every year, we never get bored
Holly Humbert
It’s fun to visit new locations, but when we do, I find I’m rarely able to turn my brain off and enjoy them. I’m constantly thinking about our schedule and maximizing our time while trying to navigate new restaurants, attractions, and spaces.
Luckily, this isn’t the case when we travel to Netarts Bay.
The first few times we visited, we went to all the typical tourist spots in the area like Haystack Rock, the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and the boardwalk shops at Cannon Beach.
Nowadays, about half of our trip includes revisiting our favorite places, and the rest is spent looking for new favorites outside the popular tourist spots.
We frequently have days when we pile into the car and drive around looking for a new beach or coffee shop to check out. Surprisingly, we still find new things to do and see each year.
Netarts Bay feels like a familiar home away from home for our family, and we’ve formed new traditions that we look forward to year after year.
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