Travel Diary: Topsail Island + Sneads Ferry

Dress / Shoes / Necklace / Sunglasses

For the past four months we have been completely in love with living back in the city of Raleigh. Living in a bigger city has opened up so many doors for us. Being able to step outside of our building and walk to dinner and drinks was exactly what we needed at this stage in life. But as soon as the June heat hit we immediately missed our 10 minute drive to the beach back in Wilmington!

Where We Stayed

We weren’t planning on a long, expensive beach trip but we were craving the sun and sand. So we hopped on Airbnb and started our search. We used to live near Wrightsville Beach which has quickly become one of the most popular (and therefore crowded) beaches in North Carolina. Just north of Wrightsville Beach is a less populated beach called Topsail Island. I’ve always loved this beach because of the shark teeth that are so easy to find. But the fact that you don’t have to drive around for an hour to find parking (like you do in Wrightsville) makes it a total winner. We decided to look in Topsail for place that would fit our needs for the night. Because Topsail is a dog friendly beach year around we figured we would save money on boarding the dogs and just take them.

The only place we found with a pool that allowed dogs was a house with a private room for rent. We have traveled using Airbnb many times but only once stayed in a private room. This means the owner lives in the house and will most likely be there, but you will have a bedroom to use and come and go as you please. The first time we did this was in the Florida Keys and the room had a private door to the outside so we rarely saw the owner. Kyle sent me this listing and I thought it was totally sketchy. I didn’t want to stay in a stranger’s house with them there, even for a night. But the more I thought about it the more I was open to the idea. We (Kyle) did not want to pay over $100 for a night since it was a last minute trip and we have lots of summer getaways coming up. This room was only $75 AND had a pool on the water. We weren’t going to be at the actual house a lot, so I said fuck it lets book! I am so glad we took a chance on this listing because it turned into such a fun start to the summer. We spent the entire day at the beach before checking in. The host was so incredibly nice but also gave us our privacy as we laid by the pool that evening. It was so great having the dogs there and they played with the owner’s dog all night. It completely opened my eyes to the fact that we didn’t have to stay in the nicest most private Airbnbs or hotels every time we traveled. You CAN get a great deal on Airbnb for under $100 if you’re willing to be open to the idea of staying in someone’s home for the night. We checked out early and spent some time exploring before heading home. Between gas, food, and lodging we spent under $200 for a spontaneous and really fun quick & cheap beach trip.

What I Wore

I bought this dress and another one I will share tomorrow before we even talked about the beach. I totally lucked out and they were so comfortable and beachy for our quick trip. This dress is amazing for the price and I can’t wait to style it a little dressier. I am a size 4 in pretty much everything Asos, and I am wearing a size 4 here. I love the pattern blocking and the colors so much. I also snagged these shoes (that are on sale now!) and they are SUCH great quality for the price! The silver part is real leather and at only $20, you can’t beat it! I wear a 7.5 and sized up to a 8 since they didn’t have half sizes. I recently caved and spent the $19 on Asos 2-day free shipping for an entire year and it has been a game changer. It was so worth the money and my stuff arrives super fast.

I am so excited to see what the rest of the summer has in store for us! Here’s to many more quick and cheap trips!

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