A lot of people spend their days, and nights dreaming about the perfect adventure. For some, this might mean travelling across the globe to watch the Northern Lights in Iceland, whereas others will be drawn towards stunning white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. Unfortunately, as much time as we spend thinking about our ideal trip, when the time comes to design your dream vacation, the chances are that you’ll get so caught up trying to “make things perfect”, you’ll miss the point of the entire experience. You can even have a dream vacation if you’re a sausage dog these days.
We’ve put together some simple and easy tips for the perfect trip, to help ensure that you design your dream vacation without the stress. Remember, vacations are time for fun, relaxation, and making memories – so don’t let the planning stage get the best of you.
Step 1: Remember to Plan Ahead
First things first, when you’re given an opportunity to design your dream vacation, you might feel as though it’s super adventurous to simply grab a few essentials, like your worldwide adapter plug, money belt, and sandals, and take off. However, the truth is that making the journey without any real plans leaves you open to a lot of different risks.
Taking the time now to research your chosen destination, from the culture that you should expect, to the sights you want to see, and the best transportation solutions around to get from point A to point B, will give you more space to actually enjoy your vacation when you get there.
Step 2: Avoid the Lounge Chairs
The thing about dream vacations, is that most of us really only get the chance to do them once. That’s why one of our most important tips for the perfect trip, is not to let the experience pass you by. While spending a couple of hours by the pool is fine, allowing your entire adventure to waste away while you soak up sun at the beach will probably leave you feeling disappointed when you look back and realize how much you actually missed.
Make a plan in advance about what you’d like to see, and make sure that you get out there to see it. You can rest later, after all.
Step 3: Slow Down the Stress
On the flip side, though filling your days with fun activities is the best way to get the most out of your trip when you design your dream vacation – it’s important not to take the idea too far. See as much as you can, but remember that you probably won’t be able to see it all. You’ll need to prioritize your goals, and set aside some time at the end of the day to unwind.
If you have your worldwide adapter plug on hand, and a tablet computer, you can always listen to music while you plan out your itinerary for the next day in bed.
Step 4: Choose Your Travel Companions Carefully
We all love our best friends – but that doesn’t mean that we want to share our perfect vacation with them. Remember that when you design your dream vacation, it should be all about you. Inviting other people along who don’t necessarily share the same interests and passions opens you up to the possibilities of complaints and arguments that could effectively ruin your trip.
One of the most important tips for the perfect trip that we can give you, is to think carefully about companions before you invite anyone along, and if you do choose to share the adventure with someone, schedule some alone time for both of you to save yourself a little stress.
Step 5: Get into the Moment
While we’re sure that you’re going to want to document your dream vacation with as many pictures and videos as possible, that doesn’t mean that you need to obsessively share every step of your trip on social media. Take some time away from the tech every now and again to simply enjoy the moment. Look around and really experience the place that you’re visiting, and don’t be afraid to venture off the beaten path every now and again.
Speak to the locals if you feel confident enough, and be willing to open yourself up to new experiences. You can spend time staring at your phone at home.
Step 6: Forget the Office
Regardless of what you may do for an occupation, it can be quite difficult to forget about what’s going on at the office, or the various responsibilities that you might have left behind at home. However, when you design your dream vacation, the chances are that the tasks of work aren’t something that you want to include.
When it comes to tips for the perfect trip, we think it’s important to embrace and enjoy the moment while you have it. You can worry about the stress of work when you get back home, but when you’re on vacation you deserve the time it takes to make memories, relax, and experience new things.
Step 7: Have some Fun
Finally, stop worrying so much and allow yourself to have some fun. Make sure you save plenty of cash away ahead of time, and budget for an incredible adventure, so that you always have the money you need to try every opportunity that presents itself to you.
At the same time, try to keep in mind that regardless of how much planning you might do, and what you expect to happen, your ideal vacation is unlikely to go exactly as you planned. But that’s okay! If you get lost on your way to lunch, you can use that as an excuse to explore a new area. If rain ruins your day at the beach, find a local museum that you can explore instead.
Look at every change in plans as an opportunity to experience something that you might never have discovered alone, and remember to make the most out of every moment. The best memories often come from the unexpected.
