We wanted to take a vacation, but with everything going on we weren’t quite sure where to go and what to do. You see, we didn’t want to travel to any crowded areas or popular tourist destinations. We also knew we didn’t want to leave New Hampshire.
I’ve used Airbnb before, so I searched for some cabins in NH via AirBnB without much luck. We wanted a particular location and options in a cabin that we simply couldn’t find on Airbnb. That’s when I switched to VRBO.com to look for a cabin in the woods that would provide us with some specifics for a family vacation:
- Minimum of -3-4 bedrooms. Although, my oldest opted to stay home rather than go on vacation and sleep in a cabin with us, so we ultimately searched out 3 bedroom cabins in NH.
- Games on site – like pool, darts, and similar indoor and outdoor games to have fun without the internet.
- Lawn and fire pit for campfires or fires at night.
- Privacy – plenty of woods separating the cabin from other humans.
- Optional wishes – hot tub or jacuzzi, river, or some form of water running near/thru the property. The hot tub idea sort of came to us while browsing cabins but wasn’t originally part of our “wish list”.
Side note: I admittedly am bummed my 17-year-old didn’t opt to go with us, but I totally get why she opted to stay home. I mean, I probably would have opted to house sit instead of staying in a cabin with my little brothers, mom, and step Dad too if given the choice at that age.
Determining which cabin was the right fit was what helped us determine when we would head out on a week-long vacation in New Hampshire. We found a couple of cabins that we loved on VRBO. Each offered almost nearly the whole list of wishes we wanted for a cabin vacation.
After checking the dates of availability, we opted for this beautiful cabin in the woods in Errol, NH. Another cool thing is that Errol, NH only has about 291 residents according to their 2010 census. For me, this sounded like the perfect New Hampshire getaway. I was excited about there being few people and lots of woods up in Errol, NH.
Errol is located in Coos County, New Hampshire, and is just North of my favorite area in New Hampshire – the White Mountains!
We booked our stay for the last week in August and waited quietly for WEEKS before vacation day finally arrived! The cool thing about VRBO is that we only had to pay for about half of our vacation upfront, then pay the other half at least a week before our stay or something like that.
This is a good tip for anyone planning a vacation through VRBO but doesn’t quite have the full funds right away. Just take a look and see what your deposit requirement is, before booking your cabin in the woods on VRBO.
The owner didn’t provide us the details on how to get to the cabin nor how to get into the cabin until about a week or less before your arrival date. I’m sure this is mostly for security reasons! Basically, all we knew is that we were staying in Errol, NH in a cabin in the woods until we got closer to our arrival date that is.
Those few weeks of waiting were so HARD. We’ve been through so darn much stress and sadness lately, that we all needed to get out of the house for some time away!
As much as I wanted to take a vacation in the second week in July, we had to wait until later to get the best cabin in the woods to rent option. I’ll admit, it was difficult to handle the waiting, I wanted to go within moments of finding this beautiful cabin in the woods to rent.
This cabin in the woods of New Hampshire vacation could not come quick enough!
Click here to Rent this beautiful cabin in the woods in NH via Vrbo today!
This trip was about a 2 hour and 51 minute drive, although we skipped highways so we took a bit longer to get there.
When we arrived, OMG, it was so beautiful!
I was ready!
The boys were ready!
My man was ready!
This cabin in the woods to rent was so far out there in the middle of nowhere. It’s on a private road where only homeowners and guests are allowed. There seems to be a few people who do live out in this area, but we were surrounded by woods to get maximum privacy and a break from human beings!
This cabin in the woods had a loft that was set up as a game room and bar. We had more than enough things to do right there at the cabin.
Pool table, darts, two bedrooms, and a loft bedroom, outdoor yard games, table tennis aka Ping-Pong, and pinball machine were all right here in this cabin!
There’s a full kitchen with dishwasher, stove, and fridge. Everything, except food, is stocked so that all you have to do is bring your clothes and food. The linens, towels, dish soap, laundry soap, etc are all there for you to use.
We did bring a lot of our own things like laundry detergent, dishwasher soap, towels, and other supplies that we later found out were not items we necessarily needed to pack for this cabin rental.
We wanted to make sure we were overly prepared with extra things than to arrive and be without so far from home in the middle of nowhere. We also knew that we didn’t want to go into local stores and such, so we packed all that we could think of to be fully prepared for our vacation time.
When you search for a cabin in the woods to rent using VRBO, do make sure to read the fine print and all of the instructions. Also, never be afraid to ask the owner a question. More often than not, the owner who is renting their property is more than happy to answer any questions you have.
This particular owner was pretty awesome and well-prepared for anyone who rents his cabin in the woods.
He had a welcome list, a lease, and everything we needed. There was a local person we could call if we had issues getting into the cabin and the name of the neighbor should we need assistance during our stay.
The owner provided us with a list of things to do and instructions on various things in the cabin. We truly appreciated how organized he was and how much information was provided for our vacation in his cabin.
So the cabin in the woods in Errol, NH was amazing!
Trying to calm my anxiety in a new place to get any sleep?
Well, that proved to be a little bit of an issue.
I did have some major anxiety while trying to sleep all four nights, but I made it through and was able to relax during the day!
We took one day to relax, and then explored a bit on Wednesday and Thursday.
We steered clear of any local stores or popular spots. {Not that we saw many people around in Errol anyway, except perhaps the one gas station we drove by}
This cabin in the woods to rent was the best family vacation for us because we wanted to stay in our home state, be in the woods, and relax without having to worry about work or any adult responsibilities.
I mean, our sons were with us, so we had to be the parents from time to time but mostly we all just had fun!
We took the beast (our off-roading rig) out on some logging trails to explore and see what we could find.
We tried to get access to take a photo of an old abandoned hotel, but sadly all of the roads there were gated or posted private property.
We taught our sons how to play pool and darts!
We ate at the dinner table every night, as normal, and we watched television before bed.
All the while, the boys had access to the internet for a very limited time on a cell phone (their laptops and tablets stayed at home) so that we all could detach from the real-world life and just enjoy our little family vacation.
We explored a couple waterfalls.
We located the rocket in Warren, NH on our way home. I’d seen this rocket before but was so happy to see it again!
There’s so much more to tell you about this fabulous vacation, but I’ve been away for a week and it’s time for me to enjoy the rest of the time I have before heading back into the real world schedule of homeschooling and work!
If you get a chance, I highly suggest you find a way to plan a low-key vacation in a cabin in the woods!
We didn’t have to go to a store or any location where there were people, because we brought everything we needed and enjoyed time away from “civilization” for four nights!
You can book this cabin in Errol, NH too. Click here to check the listing on VRBO USA.