I finally got to take a little vacation a couple weeks ago and went to Seattle for the 4th of July weekend. I was so ecstatic to finally get away from work and “real life” and was ready to explore! When I was on vacation, I tend to cram as much stuff I can do as possible in those 3 days, since I probably won’t be going back for a while. I took part in a variety of activities including hiking, kayaking, sightseeing, museums, geocatching, and of course, eating my weight.
I’m a huge advocate for taking vacation time because it helps with the demands of work (and the fact that you don’t think about it) and also helps you come back refreshed. Whether it’s going with yourself, significant other, friends, parents, or co-workers, your relationships may be renewed..
Here are my tips to taking vacations:
- Go with people you get along with. There’s nothing more annoying or boring than to go with travel companions you’re not excited about. Half the time, it’s the people who makes the trip so go with like-minded people. Luckily, one of my travel buddies was a foodie, so we were hitting the town!
- Leave your computer at home. That’s right, part of taking vacation is not working so shut your emails, put on those out of office message, and actually enjoy your surroundings.
- On that note, quit looking at your phone. Social media and texting is addicting, but you only have so much time in this place so make the most out of it. Your friends don’t need to know what you’re doing every single minute, so get your head out of your phone.
- Explore places you can’t normally at your hometown. Each city/country has it’s unique piece to to them (some might call them tourist traps), but take some time to check them out because everyone flocks there for a reason right?
- On the other hand, also check out popular places locals go to. Whether you hit up a friend or family member or do some research before, find out where the locals go to immerse yourself in their lifestyle!
- Plan. You only have so much time, so you’ll want to plan some of your adventures beforehand, especially if it requires reservations. You don’t want to spend half your vacation figuring out what to do.
- But don’t over plan. Sometimes, you have to just go with the flow and be spontaneous. There’s some things you may want to do last minute, so have room to fit those in.
- Pack light and just enough. The last thing you want to do is lug a bunch of suitcases around a new city, in risk of losing something. Pack enough for the days that you’re there and some extras, but don’t go overboard. With that, ladies, bring a small purse. No reason to bring a huge one that’s super heavy.
- Make sure to schedule breaks. While a vacation is time where you can either have a jammed packed schedule, or simply be sitting on a beach chilling the whole time, make sure you plan for breaks and not try to do everything. You don’t want to be coming back to work exhausted, when you should be refreshed and relaxed.
- Save up enough money. While on vacation, you don’t necessarily have to blow a whole ton of money or skimp on stuff, so make sure you have a comfortable amount of money saved up for transportation, hotel, food, souvenirs, attractions, and emergencies.
Of course, there are tons of other tips to enjoy your vacation, but I wanted to lay out some high level ones I learned from my recent trip. Vacations should be fun and not stressful and I hope you take the time to get away from your desk, perhaps with your significant other and enjoy everything there is to do outside the office and come back more motivated!
