Every year since I can remember, my immediate family, most of my extended family, and our family friends have gone to the beach in New Jersey during the summer. For about the first 12-13 years of my life we all went to the Seaside and each family rented a house. In total it was about 7 houses, yes we have a fairly big family. When Hurricane Sandy hit, much of the seaside area was destroyed. Almost all of the roller coasters and piers in general were washed into the ocean. Because of all of the reconstruction issues that would have been happening there for the next couple of years, we all decided to change where we go to the beach next year. After a couple of different ideas were thrown around, the parents ended up settling on Wildwood. They chose this out of sentimental value. My mom, her family, and her friends all went to wildwood every summer when they were all kids. The main difference between wildwood and seaside for us has been the fact that we all stay at the same motel instead of getting separate houses. This new change of scenery actually ended up making the trip a little bit more fun. With us all being in the same building, we end up hanging out about ninety percent of the time. This increase in communication leads to more family bonding time. This actually ends up being extremely important to the entire point of the trip. Which is to catch up and spend some time with the people we love. That is the main reason why the annual beach trip has been my favorite vacation. It allows my entire family to gather in one place and catch up on things.