It's the start of a new year very soon and that means it's time to plan family vacations. For the past two years, we've went abroad for our summer vacation. A year ago, we went to Europe for a month and last summer, we went to the Philippines for a couple of weeks. Now, my daughter asked us if we can just stay close to home this summer. She missed going to summer camp this year since we stayed longer in the Philippines. So probably this year, we will go to the Carolinas. I'm looking at some Outer Banks vacation homes. I think it's better to stay at places like these instead of a hotel. The kids will have more freedom and will enjoy our vacation staying in a house rather than cooped up in one hotel room.