Epiphanie Bags Give-away!

Summer is here. Let's celebrate with a give-away! Tell us about (or link to) your favorite vacation in the comments and you'll be entered to win an Epiphanie Camera Bag of your choice!

Winner will be chosen at random, and announced on this post tomorrow (June 3rd) before noon.

Good luck!  

**CONGRATULATIONS ERIN DANIELLE! You are the lucky Epiphanie bag winner! Thank you to all those who entered and shared your favorite vacation stories!

Comments

[Keely]

My favorite vacation was our one year anniversary trip to Ashland, Oregon. We had been there the previous year on out honeymoon and loved it so much, we decided to go back. We saw three shows: Twelfth Night, The IMportance of Being Earnest and UP. We had great food, walked around, took photos I will always cherish and had a "Benson" tv marathon in our room. This was the vacation we decided it was time to take our doctor's advice and start fertility treatments - so there was this feeling that we were about to start another big chapter in our lives. We said we'd go back every year to celebrate, but 6 years (this Saturday) and two babies later, we haven't gotten back. I think if I win, I might just say it's time to plan another Ashland trip! :)

[Michelle Adams]

My favorite vacation is to the beach, where there's nothing to do but watch the waves come in! :)

[Laura]

Today I would say, Old Orchard Beach Maine!
We just returned from spending three relaxing days away from the "kids" (they are college age), and the stressors of running our own businesses.
We plan on going back in September!

[Heather Wolff]

My favorite vacation so far has been a New Years Eve cruise to the Eastern Caribbean with the whole family!

[Roberta]

Monument Valley several years ago with Sisters on the Fly, women's travel trailer group. I still get goosebumps thinking about that trip.

[Kristina Hansen]

My best vacation was when I was pregnant with my daughter and my husband and I took a long weekend trip to Carolina Beach, NC. It was so relaxing. I loved lounging on the beach with my big ol' pregnant belly. I smile every time I think about that trip. :)

[SassyModernMom]

My fave is our 8 day blissed out stay in Paris to celebrate my 40th!
There are not enough words to describe how incredible it was. Thank goodness for pictures!
http://www.howtosurvivelifeinthesuburbs.com/2011/05/goodbye-paris.html

[KimL]

My favorite vacation is the low-country of South Carolina, beautiful beaches and a different pace of life.

[Cindy manly-fields]

My favorite vacation was several years ago when we spent a week at Manchester Beach KOA in Northern CA. It was a time that all of us, husband, son, daughter and beloved dog spent quality time enjoying all of God's magnificence beauty. . Taking walks on the beach, hanging out at our campsite, swimming, cooking outdoors, talking. and relaxingl.. such great memories, such a great time.

[Julie Vincent]

My favorite place to vacation is Red River, NM. I have been going there with my family since I was a little girl, and even now that I am married and have kids it is still my favorite place! :) It is just a quaint little town in the mountains...such a nice little getaway even if for just a weekend! www.redriver.org

[Jess]

My favorite vacation as an adult was when my entire family (husband, son, parents, & grandparents) picked up and went to New Mexico for a few days for my son's 1st birthday. It was just nice to spend that much uninterrupted time together.

[Maggie Hendrix]

Mine was a Caribbean cruise that my husband and I went on the year before our first child was born. The cruise was fantastic and I wouldn't trade that time with him for anything! Back when it was just the two of us and we hadn't a care in the world! Thanks for this opportunity!

[Minty]

My favorite vacation is sweet, sweet Trinidad & Tobago. Beautiful beaches, beautiful people, and best of all: THE ABSOLUTE BEST FOOOOOOD! :)

[Joyce]

Spending time on a beach vacation with fellow teachers, we joked we wished we could be in the classroom instead of soaking up the rays...

[Heather Fiedler]

My favorite vacation would have to be to Antigua. My husband at I went last April as a getaway because he just got back from a 1 year in Afghanistan. It was so pretty there. I have never in my life seen water as blue as it was there. If any of you ever get the chance to go I strongly recommend it

[Emily Nichols]

Oh, my favorite vacation would have to be a couple of years ago when I went to the beach for four days with my family and stayed in a cozy beach cottage on the ocean. It was so wonderful! =)

Please email me at (emmylou520@gmail.com), if I win the giveaway.

~Emily Nichols

[Maddie]

When my husband got his first "adult" job, he surprised me with a trip to Paris. We were still a couple of kids staying in cheap hotels in suspicious parts of town, but it felt totally romantic to us. I wouldn't trade the memory for all the five star resorts in the world.

[Talysa]

My favorite vacation was our last trip to Disney in 2010...kids were 14,10, and 8....first time with no strollers..and minimal whining. :-) Plus the best part was that we were all tall enough to ride all the rides together as a family for once. We had a blast.

[Jenna]

My favorite vacation is when my entire family of 9 siblings goes to Florida. We all stay in a huge house together and have the best, craziest time together. We stay up late, laughing and talking and eating. We go swimming and lay out in the sun, we shop and we spend a day at Disney World. It is the best time ever!

[Heather Riley]

Definitely my honeymoon. We traveled to Napa Valley, California and spent a week drinking, eating, sight-seeing, being completely lazy... and a few other things :) My favorite memory is renting a 2-person bike (called a tandem) from the Calistoga bike shop and doing a wine tour. The tour includes a total of 6 wineries. By their estimation, 4 stops is the average that most tourists make. I'm proud to say my husband I did 5. Needless to say, we spent the rest of the night soaking up the wine with pasta while lounging in front of the TV. I don't recommend tipsy-tandem bike rides, but it sure was a day I'll never forget!

I'd never been to this beautiful part of the country before, I was a photographer gone a muck with my simple point-and-shoot Canon. Having just purchased a Nikon d3100 yesterday, I'm looking forward to returning to Napa this August and taking some breathtaking shots!

[Kristina]

My FAV vacation would have to be Kauai. My husband and I honeymooned there in 2009 and we compare every single vacation to Kauai....it was AH-mazing. Macadamia nut pancakes, horseback riding, and lounging on the beach...heaven. We can't wait to go back this October. LOVE it! :)
PS: LOVE Epiphanie bags! :)

[Tawney]

My all time favorite vacation was to the Big Island in Hawaii. My then boyfriend (now husband) and another couple went to celebrate college graduation. We hiked to the lava at sunset and my boyfriend proposed. I have so many great memories from that trip and I look forward to taking our kids there when they are a little older.

[Tina M]

My favorite vacation was to Kyoto, Japan last year. . My hubby and I love japan!! We can't wait to go back.

[amy]

my fav vacation was a gospel music cruise to the Bahamas that my cousin & i took several years ago

[Kristina]

I took a solo vacation last summer to Vail. It was unbelievably relaxing, and I was able to meet a bunch of locals since it was the off season. Sleep, spa days and photography. Glorious!

[Delaney Harbuck]

I would say my favorite vacation was one I went on with my family when I was about 16 years old. There were 2 adults (the parents) and 7 kids, making for a total of 9 people! We had a big family so we ended up taking two cars, one which I drove. We toured west Texas spending a day or two In New Braunfels, Austin, and San Antonio with a few pit stops along the way. Finding hotels was a disaster, keeping up with two cars in traffic was a nightmare, getting everyone to agree on what to do and where to eat was ab act of God, and getting that many people ready and loaded at a certain time was a miracle! My family now refers to it as "the vacation from hell", but it was one of my favorites. When we all get together we always talk about dads crazy driving and fighting over who got to ride in which car. We made so many memories on that trip and I wouldnt trade it for anything.

[Kendra]

My favorite vacation, would have to be last year to Wildwood, Nj. I had so many things to take pictures of and the beaches were beautiful ! We had beautiful weather the whole week!

[Erika Thornes]

My favorite vacation is the beach.

http://www.iceparrot.com/gallery/v/Project365/day2/Mission+Beach-6.jpg.html

[Emily]

My favorite vacation would have to be the one I took with my family when I was just 9 years old! We lived in MD and vacationed to Florida to visit my grandfather and my aunts family. I love love loved the beach and running around catching lizards and the afternoon downpours and walking around the flea markets. It was just a great time in the florida heat. A big part of why I ended up moving to florida I think :0) Would love to win one of your beautiful bags!!

[Stella]

My favorite vacation was when I went to Paris and London for the first time. I took the trip on my own and had a great time exploring everything in my own timetable doing what I wanted whenever I wanted. It was so liberating to travel alone and explore the two cities with no agenda.

[April]

Right now my favorite vacations are when we get to go home and visit family (I live on the East coast, family on the west!) I miss them so much and is great for all the cousins to get together and see my wonderful family :)

[Danny]

Pretty much any trip that the whole family can go on - it is so rare that we are able to do it that I don't care about the location! Though we do tend to have lots of fun at San Destin, FL. Yup, that is probably our favorite spot.

[Alissa]

Yes, give it up for St. Thomas! My favorite vacation was this past January in St. Thomas with 15 of my friends. It was not a traditional vacation because we all went down to spread the ashes of a lost loved one. Magen's Bay was where he lived for several years and it was his favorite fishing spot. We all rented out an exclusive villa, The Sand Dollar, with a maid and chef staff, private beach, gym and all that good stuff! This was a place that our friend had hoped to stay at for years so we decided that we would all go and have an awesome time in his name. And we did! We all spent a week together in the same house, getting to know one another and building friendships that will now last a lifetime. On the last day we chartered a boat that took us to Virgin Gorda, snorkeling at The Indians, Sandy Spit (an island so small that you can throw a football accross!) Wet Willies (a barge that you can hook your boat up to, climb up on and have awesome seafood!) and finally back to Megan's Bay where one of the girls sang a beautiful melody as we spread the ashes back into the ocean. On the way back we back spotted dolphins. The captain said that he had spent his whole life on that water and had never seen them there before and decided to follow them. As we rode out more and more dolphins started coming up along the boat and when we stopped, they circled around us for a few minutes and swam off! It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen and we were all left wondering if it had been a sign from our dear friend. We laughed and cried the whole way back as the sun came down through pink and orange skies. It really was magical!

RIP Joe, we love and miss you <3

[Dianne]

My favorite vacation was my honeymoon. My husband worked for an RV dealership and they let us take a brand new motorhome out. We traveled around southwest Colorado and it was the MOST relaxing vacation ever. We would stay if we wanted, leave whenever we wanted, and we only used a clock one morning (to get up super early to go fishing). There were not schedules, time frames, nothing. It was glorious!! :-)

[Sarah Long]

http://www.joyfulphoto.com/blog/summer-recap-2010-family/

The link above will take you to our summer vacay last year to Omaha Nebraska. It was our first vacation as a family of five, after our adoptive daughter came to live with us. I will truly never forget it. xo

[Andrea]

My favorite vacation was to Disney World when my daughter who is now thirteen years old was five. Even though we have vacationed at Disney World three times over the years, the vacation when she was five was the best because she believed all the characters were real and was in complete amazement of Disney World. Especially now that she is thirteen, her father and I realize that innocence and excitement can never again be replicated and was purely magical.

[Arena]

Disneyworld for sure! Nothing tops that and I want to go back and do everything this time (I was 9 weeks along so no coasters back then for sad me!)

[LindaMar]

My favorite is vacationing in Denmark. My family history is there. My parents came to the USA when they married. All of our relatives are still there. I didn't meet any Aunts,Uncle or cousins until I was 15yrs. old! We visited there, and I was simply amazed!!! People are SO friendly. I especially enjoyed the smaller islands and the countryside. I've gone back a few times. I would love to have a summer home there someday.

[Candy Navarrette]

My favorite vacation was my son Zachary's Make a Wish trip to Disneyworld. I have such great memories of that week. Unfortunately he was only 3 so he doesnt remember much of it.

[Colleen]

my favourite vacation hands down has been our honeymoon in France. My husband planned the whole thing himself as a surprise for me and I didn't find out where we were headed until we got to the airport. we spent time in Paris and then took the train down to Nice. it was AMAZING.

[Kristin]

Since I live in Alaska, pretty much every weekend is like a mini-vacation! I did love visiting Hawaii though and would LOVE another vacation there.

[Lisa Bentrim]

3 years ago I had had a very rough previous year. I decided that although I was married with kids, I needed to take just myself on vacation and visit some girlfriends. I'm from northern California and a friend had moved to Southern California and another had moved to Kona, HI. These were two beautiful places to visit...I had an absolute blast visiting my two girlfriends, lots of shopping, lots of pictures...now i'm saving to repeat that trip again!

[Kristi]

So far this year my favorite mini vacation was to Palouse Falls over Memorial Day weekend. This is definately something everyone should see in person. We had seen a video on youtube of a young man from Montana (where we live) going over these falls in a kayak so we had to check it out in person. Beautiful falls for sure.

[SusanHnSC]

I would have to say it's the cruise I went on with 13 of my closest friends!

[Vanessa Ho]

My favorite vacation was in the south island of New Zealand. There is nothing better than to be right next to the southern alps, have mother earth all around you, taking in the splendor of it all. There is nobody around and you feel like you have all the grand nature all to yourself, yet you're being humbled by it's grandeur, it's history, feeling so small as a human being. Needless to say, I'd definitely consider going back there again if I had the chance.

[Lulu]

My favorite vacation was last year's two week vacation in Hawaii. The first week I was with my husband, my son and his girlfriend. We toured every nook and cranny in the island. The 2nd week, my 2 daughters and their families joined us. Thereafter, it was always "Table for Ten, Please" !! We frolicked in the ocean with the two little kids and spent a lot of quality time together. As a photographer, the sunsets provided me with a lot of spectacular shoots and so did the beach. I came home with a full 32GB memory card all shot in RAW.

[leslie]

When I think of favorite vacation I do remember the grand ones but the ones that touch my soul are what I think of as "soul" cations. Those times when I escape with my camera and look at the small, nuances of life. Those everyday things that others over look. As I become lost in the grandness of the small things I slip away from life's madness and hectic pace in order for my soul to rest and recharge. Those moments are found in the rain dripping down a chain, or shooting leaves or waves, or a small child. Yes the soul-cations are for me just as grand as any "big" vacation.

[Kassie B]

Can i tell you about one i haven't gone on yet? We are leaving for Europe in 19 days, for our 10th anniversary! It is going to be the best vacation ever! The honeymoon landed him in the hospital for 3 of the 7 days we were in Hawaii... The cruise ended up with me being sick... This one has to be great!

[bina]

My favorite vacation is starting in less than three weeks... Me and the hubby (minus the five kiddos) are headed to Europe for 10 days...I grew up there thanks to a proud USAF Daddy and am so excited to go home for the first time in almost 20 years!!

Thanks for this chance!!

[Aminta]

I loved my honeymoon cruise to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and Grand Turk!