Colorado | 2018

Overalls | Puffer Jacket | Wide Brim Hat | Beanie | Tan Booties | Grey Leggings | Black Sweater 

This was one of those trips I'll be talking about for years to come! In January I visited Colorado with Matthew. I haven't mentioned him much on here, because I like to be more private about personal relationships and always respect what other's might be comfortable with. With that being said we've been dating since summer and he just made a big move to California! We wanted to do something big and fun and memorable before he took on his new adventure and we happened to find incredibly cheap flights to Denver! 

For travel posts I usually love to list out my restaurant, coffee shop, or shopping suggestions for wherever I just visited, but this trip was different. The goal was to relax and stick with our budget so we stayed in AirBnBs/VRBOs and cooked every meal! Here's what the trip looked like:

Day 1: We arrived to sunshine and jaw-dropping scenery. I'd been to Colorado before, but somehow forgot how prominent the mountains are. The drive to our cabin was just over an hour (we stayed in Woodland Park, near Colorado Springs). As we approached our VRBO we started getting nervous that our views might not be as spectacular as was shown in the photos. We noticed a lot of houses down in the the valley that looked straight out at the bottom of the mountains and thought maybe we'd been fooled. But take a look at that hot tub photo and you can see that we were in fact perched up high with a beautiful view of Pikes Peak! 

Day 2: There was no agenda for day 2, as it should be when you're on vacation! We just went with the flow as we woke up, watched the sunrise from the hot tub, and then decided to head into town. Woodland Park is adorably quaint and nestled in the base of the mountains. We found a great coffee shop (which I'm pretty sure was the only one), browsed a few antique shops and then drove around to take in the views. On our way back to the cabin we noticed an abandoned basketball court at the bottom of a hill off the road. It seemed so random and unexpected so we hopped out and took some photos! See above!

Day 3: We couldn't have asked for better weather, although it would be hard to disappoint coming from chilly midwest temperatures, our final days were 60's and sunny! We left the cabin and hiked the beautiful Garden of the Gods before driving back to Denver. We chose to only stay in the cabin for two nights and then do two nights in a cheaper AirBnB in Denver to make our trip more affordable :)

Day 4: On our final day we woke up in Denver and tackled the long commute to Breckenridge. Little did we know EVERYONE in Denver heads out to go skiing on a Saturday morning so traffic was heavy, but we listened to some great tunes and enjoyed the scenery along the way. Breckenridge's main street was so picturesque, I wish we would've had more time there, but we had to get to the big bang ending to our trip by 1pm...skiing in Keystone! We'd both only been skiing once before, so it was entertaining to re-learn and start tackling baby hills together :)

Affordable travel tips: With his big move on the horizon and just wrapping up the holidays it was important for us to keep the trip cost low! As I mentioned our flights were inexpensive, just $80 roundtrip (per person). We found a great deal through Southwest and then chose "flexible travel dates" and went with the cheapest options. We split our time between the cabin we'd envisioned for a trip like this and a smaller flat in Denver. Finally, cook your meals. We cooked every single meal at the cabin or apartment which saved us a lot of money!

As for packing, of course I over did it as always, but I loved keep it casual and sporty, re-wearing my overalls with different pieces and layering with lighter coats than usual! .

Click HERE for the link to the cabin we stayed in!