How To Get the Most Out of Your Upcoming Vacation
You have been thinking about your upcoming vacation for months or perhaps years. You thus want the entire trip to go as smoothly as possible. You also want to take advantage of your time away from work and other responsibilities. Here are some tips for making the most out of your vacation.
Limit Your Use of Technology
While most of the popular cruise ships and hotels have numerous places to charge your phone, you do not need to be glued to your device for your entire trip. Grabbing your tablet or cell every two seconds can easily get you sucked back into work-related tasks. By keeping your devices turned off for much of your vacation, you can spend more time enjoying your surroundings and bonding with your loved ones. To avoid constantly reaching for your phone, rely on paper maps and schedules instead of digital ones.
While you may want to use your cell for taking photos, research shows that snapping pictures can actually reduce your memory of an event. To truly get the most out of an activity, try experiencing it with all your senses first before reaching for the camera.
Plan Ahead
Nearly one-third of travelers worry about something going wrong within the first 24 hours of their trip. A stressful flight or car ride could take all the joy out of the vacation. After all, if something bad happens, that may be all you focus on for the duration of your cruise or your European adventure.
While you cannot prevent flight delays or lost luggage, you can minimize the impact of these potential disasters by coming up with a flexible travel plan. This may actually be enjoyable. Studies show that anticipating and planning a trip can be better for your mental health than taking the vacation itself.
Consider various different scenarios and decide ahead of time exactly how you will deal with them. This way, you will be much less stressed if any issues actually occur before or during your trip. For instance, you should be sure to pack all the essentials, including bug spray and sunscreen. You should also arrange lodging and transportation well before you arrive at your destination.
Avoid Overscheduling
Planning your activity schedule is important, as well. However, you do not want to go overboard. While it may be tempting to see every attraction in your chosen city, spending your entire trip rushing from place to place can be stressful. Instead, limit yourself to a select number of events each day so you have time to relax and unwind each evening.
Calm Your Brain
If you feel yourself getting stressed or overwhelmed, take some time to calm your mind so you can truly enjoy your trip. You can stroll around the boat or resort, or you can try working out at a nearby gym.
Sunshine can help you feel better, as well. It can also give you a needed boost of energy. Just be sure to apply plenty of sunscreen before heading outside. You may also want to bring a personal item from home to help you relax. It could be a pillowcase or your favorite mug.
Adjust Your Work Schedule
It will be hard to enjoy your vacation if you spend the whole time worrying about the mountain of paperwork and pages of emails you will have to deal with upon your return to work. However, cramming all of your job-related tasks into the week before your vacation could leave you too tired to function during your trip. To avoid being overly distracted or exhausted during your trip, spread out any pre-vacation work tasks over several weeks instead of cramming them into the few days prior to your vacation. You should also tell coworkers about the trip well in advance so they do not bombard you with requests while you are away.
Your dream vacation should be fun and relaxing, not stressful. If you follow the above suggestions, your trip should be memorable for all the right reasons.
