Planning your next vacation can be fun and has actual benefits. When you plan your vacation you get to immerse your thoughts in relaxation, you look forward to happy times and to live without worrying about your daily stressors.
Plan Your Dream Vacation
Are you dreaming of your next vacation?
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? What would you do? The concept of a dream vacation is fascinating, as it can be as different as shades of blue. Some people prefer to stay at the beach or at the mountains enjoying some peace and quiet while others enjoy the thrills of theme parks. If you are like me, you enjoy visiting big cities with their museums, theaters, world class restaurants and the opportunity of easily adding day trips.
Whichever is your vacation style, you don’t need to wait until you actually travel to start living the experience. Planning your next vacation can be fun and has actual benefits. When you plan your vacation you get to immerse your thoughts in relaxation, you look forward to happy times and to live without worrying about your daily stressors. Investing some time in planning can help you save money and make the most out of your time.
How to start planning?
- Select what type of vacation you’d like.
- If traveling by plane, use web pages as Google travel or Hopper to track your flight and changes in pricing. If possible, avoid traveling during high season. Traveling during low season is less expensive and your destination will be less crowded (fewer lines and more Instagram pics).
- When looking for a place to stay, use filters to accommodate your needs and read the reviews. Consider if it makes more sense for your plans to stay close to the city or if it is worth it to stay farther away but to save some money. Use reliable pages such as Booking.com or any other you prefer.
- Figure out what you would use for transportation. Do you need to rent a car? Will you use Uber, shuttles, trains?
- Once you have your destination and hotel, it is time to figure out what to do. Apps like Visit a City or Tripadvisor present lists of activities. However, Visit a City lets you save your itinerary by date and arranges your activities by distances from one place to another to help you maximize your time. If going to Europe, Rick Steve's Europe is a great resource.
- If you are a planner like me, do some research including “must see” sights. This is especially important when visiting museums. You do not want to go to The Louvre and not see Michelangelo’s sculptures (lesson learned and that is why I now do this research. It still hurts my soul, lol).
- When closer to your trip, take into consideration the weather. This will have an impact on your clothing selection (you don’t want to have to buy more clothes just because you didn’t plan for it…. being there, done that, lesson learned at Madrid).
- Don’t over pack, you will need space to bring back your souvenirs. Packaging gadgets are helpful to save space and to keep your clothes organized. Especially if you are visiting more than one destination and will be changing hotels.
- If traveling outside of the United States, call your cell phone provider and ask about internet services, text messaging and phone services overseas. You do not want to come back home to a big bill because of texts or voicemails received. If you do not have coverage, you can turn off these functions and use wi-fi.
- The time has come for your vacation, have fun, let go, enjoy the experience and create memories for a lifetime!
Enjoy! Happy Summer Vacation!
