Takeaways from Our Literary-Themed Vacation

Raleigh, Outer Banks, New Bern, Wilmington, and Southport

For our seventh anniversary, Kyle and I took a trip I’ve been wanting to take since I was a teenager. We visited North Carolina to see a few towns where many Nicholas Sparks novels were set.

We flew into Raleigh on a Monday and checked out the downtown area. On Tuesday, we rented a sweet mustang convertible and drove over to the Outer Banks, visited Rodanthe and enjoyed the beach town of Nags Head for the night.

On Wednesday we drove to New Bern, where The Notebook takes place, where Sparks himself lives and where his office and foundation is located.

On Thursday, we stopped in Wilmington where several of the films were shot, and finally made our way to Southport, where Safe Haven (and apparently about 400 other films) is set.

I’ve read over a dozen of Sparks’ books and seen all the films, but my planner-husband was the one who created this literary-themed itinerary. He nailed it.

There were many things I loved about North Carolina, the first being that the writerly piece of my heart had found its match. Sparks’ books and his charming North Carolina settings filled my imagination for much of my adolescence.

And while we were there, I realized another favorite author of mine, Sarah Dessen, is from Chapel Hill and sets many of her books in the charming state.

Even my favorite drama show as a teen was One Tree Hill, and I had forgotten that the fictional town was set in, of course, North Carolina.

The state has been speaking to me for decades and I finally got to experience it. Especially in the small town of New Bern, I felt like I fit in. Seeing Sparks’ foundation with all his books and movie posters validated my big author dreams even though I come from a town even smaller than New Bern.

Being there made me want to explore writing more fiction. While we drove through the state with the top down, I let myself daydream and make up stories, and those hours in the car were truly relaxing and enjoyable. (Minus the seatbelt-shaped sunburn across my chest.)

The second thing I noticed and loved was the true southern charm of the state and the friendliness of the people. It was hilarious to me that people could pick up in an instant that Kyle and I weren’t locals. Sometimes we were asked where we were from before we even had a chance to show our lack of southern accent.

But we picked up small talk with everyone. Servers, employees, people waiting in line for restaurants, airport security, and anywhere else. It felt weird to say we were traveling from Arizona, realizing every time I said it just how far we’d come.

When the locals asked what brought us there, I wasn’t sure whether to tell them about the Nicholas Sparks fandom. But I decided to go for it – I wanted to know if everyone in North Carolina knew about him (they do, every single person) and what they thought about him.

In some cases they helped me get more information. Kyle and I had passed right by his writing office and foundation without knowing it existed until a shop employee guided me right back to it.

The third thing I noticed and loved was the simpler pace of life. Small-town North Carolina was so laid back for it being the middle of the week.

Sure, there were many retirees and tourists out and about, but we’d also met younger folks who’d just moved there and whatnot. Even downtown Raleigh at our 7am coffee time was noticeably quiet, and it made me realize how fast our city of Phoenix moves.

This tripped me up a bit. I felt a longing for that simpler lifestyle, and I notice I’ve felt it recently when we visited our Illinois hometown. The days when it takes five minutes to get to work, and you can call someone or drop by their house in the evening and not have to schedule it in your planner three weeks ahead of time.

I do long for that, and yet I know how deeply when I was living in Streator that I longed for the hustle and bustle of city life. Maybe it’s different having a child now, and remembering the simplicity of my own childhood in a small town. I don’t see that for Leo, and it’s sometimes hard to come to terms with.

Kyle and I talked about how we ended up in Arizona – we had taken a vacation there in 2017 because he had a work conference. We hadn’t seen the sun in Des Moines in three weeks, and Arizona’s outdoor beauty and sunshine pulled us in.

But we agreed if we had taken this North Carolina trip back then, we probably would have ended up moving there. It was the sunny, outdoorsy, winter-less environment we were looking for.

But things worked out the way they did and we love where we are.

Travel gets you thinking about the different paths your life could take, the many different places you’ve gone and will go to, and the people you meet along the way.

It’s a whole lot of planning and getup (I’m speaking for Kyle, of course), but it’s those windows into other possible lives that make you realize what you want more of and what you’ve already got that maybe you’re taking for granted.

Arizona still has its hold on me – North Carolina’s coffee culture doesn’t compare; my hair is a much bigger fan of dry heat than humidity; and while the hustle is often exhausting, it also can be exhilarating.

If a vacation doesn’t compel you to uphaul your life and move across the country, then it serves to help you see what you would wrap up from that location and bring back to your home life. To bring more North Carolina into my daily life, I’ll remember to slow down more often, be more friendly and chatty, and read more Nicholas Sparks books.

And write, always.

What I’m Reading – The Wish by Nicholas Sparks

It’s the first book I’ve read of his in about a decade, and how could I not bring a Sparks book along for my North Carolina trip? At first, I’ll admit, this choice was for show. But I’m about 100 pages in and completely hooked. Enjoy this affordable trip to the Outer Banks 🙂

TS Song of the Week – “Right Where You Left Me”

Play it once and it will be in your head for the week 🙂

Parenting Tip I Tried – Countdown til Mom & Dad come back

Did I mention that sweet Leo stayed home from this vacay? Thankfully, he loves Grandma and all the patience my mother has for him, so I wasn’t too worried. But he sure loves his mommy and daddy too, so I looked for some advice on how to help him understand that we were on a trip but we’d be coming back soon. A speaker on the Katie’s Crib podcast gave the advice of making a calendar that allows him to cross off the days or pull off a tab so he can see how many days until parents come back.

Pro tip on this: it doesn’t have to be hard! Mere hours before we left, I told Kyle and my mom that I had wanted to get Leo a calendar but never got to it.

“Seriously?” Kyle said, before disappearing to my office. One minute later he came out with a hand-drawn calendar and posted it on the wall for Leo.

When we came back on Friday, the days were all x-ed out and Leo kept saying, “Mommy-Daddy are home!” and pointing to his calendar. My mom said he loved crossing the days off and he hardly whined for us.

You don’t need to buy anything, just draw a dang calendar.

Journal Prompt / Discussion Question

Where have you always wanted to travel to? Why? What’s stopping you from getting there?

Where have you traveled to that left an imprint on your soul? How do you revisit that place in your daily life?

Feel free to share in the comments!

Thank you for reading along. Go watch (or read!) The Notebook, have a good cry, and make some dreams come true.