Somewhere along the way, we got very bad at vacationing. We take a perfectly good week away from work, pack everyone into the car, drive to the beach…and then immediately create a schedule that would exhaust an event planner. There are dinner reservations to make, dolphin cruises to book, attractions to visit and at least one morning when somebody is yelling, “WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN FIVE MINUTES!” while another person hasn’t even gotten in the shower yet.

BEACHBALLERS, we have a radical suggestion for your next trip to Alabama’s Gulf Coast: do less.

Not a little less. We’re talking about leaving entire stretches of your vacation gloriously unaccounted for. No reservations. No alarms. No feeling like you somehow failed the Gulf Coast because you didn’t squeeze every attraction into five days. Sometimes the very best beach vacation is the one where absolutely nothing is happening.

Your Itinerary Has Left the Chat

We love a good Gulf Coast adventure as much as anybody, but somewhere between planning the fishing charter, making the dinner reservation and figuring out what time everyone needs to leave for putt-putt, vacation can start feeling suspiciously like real life.

So give yourself a day with nowhere to be.

Wake up when you wake up. Pour some coffee and take it to the balcony. Eventually somebody will suggest going down to the beach, and eventually everyone will agree. Pack a cooler, grab a chair and settle in until hunger, sunburn or a small child forces you to reconsider your plans.

That’s it. That’s the day.

The wonderful thing about vacationing along Alabama’s Gulf Coast is that the scenery does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. There are sugar-white beaches, Gulf breezes, dolphins if you’re lucky and sunsets that have absolutely no respect for whatever dinner reservation you thought was important. You don’t always need entertainment when the Gulf is right there putting on a show.

So…What Do You Actually Do on a Do Nothing Vacation?

Glad you asked. A Do Nothing Vacation doesn’t mean literally doing nothing. It just means choosing things that require very little planning, very little rushing and preferably no alarm clock.

For the day, keep things easy. Spend the afternoon floating in the pool, hunt for shells, watch for dolphins from the balcony or wander down to the beach with absolutely no plans afterward. Take an easy walk through Gulf State Park, drive toward Fort Morgan just because the road gets quieter that way, or take a nap in the middle of the afternoon without explaining yourself to anyone.

And when everybody eventually starts asking what’s for dinner, keep that same energy. Skip the whole Where are we eating? What time is the reservation? Does everyone have shoes on? production for a night and order pizza or seafood to the condo. Better yet, pick up steamed shrimp and fixings from a local seafood market and eat on the balcony. Paper plates encouraged. Real pants optional. We’re fairly certain Royal Reds taste exactly as good in a swimsuit cover-up. (Maybe even better!)

And if you feel like venturing out, do! Grab lunch and wander the shops in Fairhope, head over to Pensacola for the afternoon or make an ice cream run because somebody mentioned it and now no one can think about anything else. The trick is resisting the urge to turn one outing into six. One thing is allowed to be enough.

That’s really the secret to a Do Nothing Vacation: do whatever sounds good next without worrying about what you’re supposed to be doing after that. There’s no prize for fitting the most activities into one trip.

And if an entire afternoon somehow disappears while you’re sitting on the balcony? You’re doing it right.

Consider This Your Permission Slip

Your Gulf Coast vacation doesn’t need a packed itinerary to be a good one. Leave some room for slow mornings, long beach days and whatever sounds good in the moment. Sometimes doing less is exactly what you came to the beach to do.

And if you need a good place to do absolutely nothing, BEACHBALL PROPERTIES has you covered with vacation rentals throughout Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Fort Morgan, with plenty of balconies, pools and beach access to help you perfect the art.

Pack the swimsuit. Leave the itinerary. We’ll see you at the beach!

Come Have A Ball At The Beach!

– Ginger & Hunter Harrelson