Summer, the more relaxing season of the year, just begs you to take a trip, if even for a few days. Summer is the time when your friends get out of town and you want to too. You’ve worked hard and you’ve earned a vacation!
Deciding where to go on your vacation and then planning it is half the fun. First decide whether you want a beach, a lake, some mountains, a city, or what. Perhaps it’s time to visit the relatives, but you don’t have to go to their house, especially if it doesn’t jazz you. You can meet up with them somewhere that’s pleasing to all of you.
Then it’s time to decide what you want your accommodations to be – a tent, an RV, a hotel, a bed and breakfast, a haunted house, a cruise ship, a boat, a tree house, a log cabin, a castle… there are quite a few options.
The next decision will be when to go. This can be like trying to put puzzle pieces together because many factors will play into this. When can you get the time off work? Your significant other? Your friends or extended family? If you have kids you’ve got to look at their schedules and figure out when they’re not going to miss their sports games, dance recitals, or camp(s). Rest assured that no matter how open it looks at the time when you book the trip, several things will come up later that you’ll just have to miss.
Finding that window of opportunity will most likely dictate how long the trip will be. Another big factor here is the costs involved. Obviously the longer you stay, the more expensive it will be. If you want to book an extended trip, look for deals. Some destinations reward longer stay times.
After you lock in your trip, it’s time to go shopping. You all will need a few new things, probably new swimsuits, and generally enough underthings to last for the duration of the trip. Kids will have grown out of last summer’s duds so do inventory and shop accordingly.
Now look at how to make the trip preparation time less stressful. Well in advance, find someone to watch the pets, water the plants, and take in the newspapers. Write out instructions for them and have a spare key ready. Tie up loose ends on work projects, mow the lawn one last time and get packed.
Destination – vacation! You’ve planned it out, taken care of the home front and packed. Now all that’s left is to go on and enjoy yourself.