Are you tired of the cold and snow?
Do you feel the need to get away…and soon?
Have your children been to your very favorite places?
You need a vacation. And the time to plan it is now!
Dreaming of a fabulous vacation and actually pulling one off are two different things. As a modern professional, you are probably an expert at scheduling, time management and project coordination in your career.
These are the same skills you need to use when it comes time to plan your dream vacation.
And the first tool you need is a vacation checklist.
A vacation checklist will get you on top of your planning immediately and keep you there right up until the day you leave on your trip. A vacation checklist will ensure
- you don’t forget anything and take exactly what you need,
- and you actually pull off the trip of your dreams.
Your vacation checklist doesn’t need to be fancy. Just thorough. You can make one yourself or find a free one by looking in the resource box following this article. Whatever checklist you use, you’ll need to customize it for your own use, of course. And if you start now, customizing your entire trip will be easy.
Using your vacation checklist to keep track of your notes, start out by vacation dreaming.
- Where do you want to go?
This is easily decided by determining what type of vacation you’re in the mood for. If you’re tired of the cold, you’ll want warm…and maybe beaches. If you need rest and recreation, you’ll look for places that can pamper you and evaporate your stress. If you want to show your kids the world, you’ll look for family-friendly and educational adventures.
- How long a trip will this be?
Mark down on your checklist the length of your vacation. Are you working around a school schedule? How many vacation days are you willing to trade for your dream vacation? Would you rather take one long vacation or several long weekend jaunts? Factor in travel days…that will tell you whether you want to drive or fly. And that will affect your next item…
- What’s your travel budget?
This part of vacation planning needn’t be a downer. By planning ahead, you can maximize your travel monies through booking the least expensive travel and hotel arrangements. Do a little upfront research and write down on your vacation checklist how much your dream vacation will cost. Divide that amount into equal monthly payments between now and your travel dates. Can you make that happen? Do you have other monies set aside you can allocate for your trip? Be wary of just putting your trip on credit. No matter how wonderful your dream vacation is, paying for it after the fact can tarnish its memories.
- What are your expectations?
We’ve all been on vacations that we had high hopes for but didn’t turn out as we envisioned. Sure, stuff happens, but you can put the odds on your side that your vacation will be what you dream of by planning as much detail as possible ahead of time. It also helps to ask yourself the simple but powerful questions of
- am I wanting to make lifetime memories with this vacation?
- am I wanting to cram in as many activities as possible on this vacation?
- are my vacation wants in conflict with my vacation realities? For example, do I want to take my spouse on a romantic getaway but I have five children under the age of ten and they must accompany us?
Bottom line…when it comes to vacations, planning is king and your vacation checklist is queen. Plan your dream trip, make sure your expectations are in line, keep track of everything on your checklist, and before you know it, you’ll be THERE…exactly where you want, with the people you want, doing what you want. Enjoying the vacation you dreamed of.
