How to Have a Vacation on Your Vacation

When we visited Hawaii last year we were taken over by the island (we were on the Big Island). The feeling we felt was what they call the aloha spirit, and either you feel it or you don’t. Since then we have day dreamed about moving to Hawaii. Our next trip to the islands will be later this year and we can't wait!

I have been checking out Hawaii News Now and keeping up with things over there (fires, tsunami warnings, etc.) and I found this article on How to Actually Have a Vacation on Vacation. How often do we find ourselves saying, "I'm going to need a vacation after this vacation!" I definitely have felt that way before but I think I have found a few tricks to making myself feel less stress and enjoy my trip.

Make sure you pack before the night before

We always try and take as few bags as possible so making sure everything fits and strategically packed takes time. I tend to start packing the weekend before we leave. I lay the luggage out in the spare bedroom to make sure I have plenty of room to lay everything out and pack according to our trip.

Get a good night sleep

I am always too excited to sleep the night before so I need to take a sleep aid to make sure I am well rested for my day of travel. And if you need to sleep on your flight make sure you have a good travel pillow and ear plugs!

check out Singapore Air Business Class!

Get to the airport 2+ hours before your flight

We live in Houston, TX and usually travel out of IAH, one of United's (use to be Continental's) hubs. It can be VERY busy at times. And we usually park at one of the outsourced parking lots and take one of their buses to the terminal. Since we have to rely on someone else to get to the airport I am going to give myself plenty of buffer time. Last time I think we waited a full 2 -2 ½ hours at our gate but I can tell you I wasn’t stressed at all going through security while others were asking if they could cut in line so they wouldn’t miss their flight.

Make sure to have some free time

Not scheduling something is sort of difficult for me; I love to plan and schedule. Especially since there are always so many things to see and do where ever we go. But I always make sure I have some free time a few days during our vacations. And staying a place where you can just get up and go to the beach helps…because you can get up, take a few steps and voila unscheduled beach time! This trip to Kauai there is going to be a craft fair right around the corner from our hotel and this day is pretty much wide open because I don’t know how much time we'll want to spend there. Yay, I did it! Unscheduled time :D

enjoy the view

Plan for rest upon your return

I understand wanting to squeeze as much time out of your vacation days as possible but when you are traveling long distances like Hawaii, Asia, Europe (pretty much anything not in the US for me) I like leave a few days for me to unpack, unwind, and catch up on sleep. I think you are crazy if you are flying back on a Sunday and have to be back at work Monday. Typically I fly back on a Friday and then will be back at work on Monday. Also, what happens if your flight on a Sunday is cancelled or delayed?!?! Then you might have to make an emergency phone call to your boss saying you won't be able to make it back Monday morning and you'll have to take that extra vacation day anyway.

I hope these tips will help you relax and enjoy your time off!