We’ve all been there: you come home after a hectic vacation and “feel like you need another vacation.” This confession is usually accompanied by a feeling of guilt, as it pretty much fits the definition of the Champagne Problem, but I want to acknowledge your feelings. If you’ve spent a significant amount on your trip, you don’t want to come home and feel like you need another vacation to unwind. Maybe you crammed your itinerary with too many activities, went too long without being able to relax, or felt like you were hitting roadblocks at every turn. Whatever the reason you feel even more exhausted after your “vacation,” we’re here to help you actually relax on your next vacation. Scroll through our stress-free travel tips to make sure your trip goes smoothly.
Source: Dupe Photos | Lotte Nielsen
1. Set travel expectations
A stress-free trip starts before you even leave home. During the planning stage, take the time to define the goals of your vacation. Do you want to relax on the beach for a week? Do you want to immerse yourself in culture and live like a local? Do you want to visit all the tourist sites in the city? Decide all of this up front so you don’t have to curse yourself later for spending days wandering through museums instead of finishing that seaside read you really wanted.
Once you’ve set your own personal expectations, be sure to discuss your travel companions’ expectations as well. That way, if you both want to do different things, you can come up with a compromise or just spend a day apart and do what you want. The last thing you want is for your travel companions to feel like they’re ruining your perfect itinerary. While your trip may have gotten away from group chat, you want to make sure your group chat continues throughout your trip, too.
2. Schedule breaks
When you’re planning your itinerary, your mind is filled with all the little details: hotel reservations, sightseeing tours, restaurant reservations, and more. You’re so focused on what you want to do that you forget to think about time to do nothing. But building in some downtime can make your trip that much more relaxing. Consider planning a stay in a hotel just to enjoy room service and a good movie, or spending an afternoon sitting at a cafe and people-watching while saving your energy for dinner. Blocking out this time in advance allows you to actually enjoy your break instead of feeling guilty that you’re not using every moment of your vacation to do something. It also helps prevent you from accidentally overscheduling. Trust me, your future self will thank you for planning some time to relax.
3. Book in advance
I don’t know about you, but whenever I go on vacation, I feel like I spend 70 percent of my time thinking about where to eat. Especially when traveling with a large group, last minute reservations can leave you with very limited options. To save some time, make some restaurant reservations in advance so you don’t have to spend your precious vacation time anxiously scrolling through OpenTable trying to find somewhere you can get a reservation at. Booking a table in advance also gives you the chance to try some of the more popular and highly rated restaurants.
Booking your dining reservations as well as transportation and tour tickets in advance can save you a lot of time while traveling. This will prevent tickets from suddenly selling out and allow you to schedule the rest of your itinerary to coincide with must-see events.
Source: Dupe Photos | Tina Ghazi
4. Know your budget
There’s nothing more unsettling than checking your bank account after a vacation only to find out you’ve spent more than you anticipated. Instead of letting financial stress ruin your trip, create a budget in advance based on what you’re comfortable spending. That way, if it’s within your budget, you can treat yourself and enjoy a well-deserved vacation without feeling guilty or anxious about overspending. It takes a little more work up front, but it helps you be more in the moment while you’re traveling.
5. Narrow down your search to just a few cities
When traveling, especially internationally, you want to make the most of your expensive airfare and see as much as you can while you’re there. But cramming too many cities into one trip can quickly go from peaceful to chaotic. It’s easy to try to do too much and end up rushing and not enjoying anything. When in doubt, take the time to get to know one city thoroughly. It’s much more relaxing than spreading yourself thin and jumping from place to place.
6. Don’t overthink your trip
Have you ever had the experience of going to bed early the night you have to get up very early the next day, desperately trying to sleep so you don’t feel tired the next day, but then you end up sleeping less than usual because you end up overthinking things? A similar phenomenon can happen when you’re on vacation, trying to force yourself to relax but it ends up doing the opposite. Of course, planning ahead helps, but it’s also important to go with the flow and live in the moment. When you’re traveling, practice mindfulness to stay in the moment and not let your brain put too much pressure on you. This will go a long way to helping you feel refreshed when you come back.
Source: Dupe Photos | Ashley Diego
7. Unplug
It may be hard to step away from your hectic life at home, but unplugging is essential to a relaxing vacation – and work is no exception. Mute Slack and email notifications and close your laptop. After all, we have paid vacations for a reason. Work-related distractions aside, limit your phone usage so you can fully enjoy your vacation. Of course, you’ll want to take a few Instagram-worthy photos while traveling, but travel is outside of your phone, and getting too caught up in how you look on social media can cause you to miss out on the moments you’re experiencing.
8. Give yourself space
I’m a big advocate of giving yourself a buffer day while traveling. Having an extra day to acclimate to your destination upon arrival allows you a spontaneous day to get to know the city and allows you to step into your destination stress-free. A buffer day is even more important towards the end of your trip. You don’t want to arrive late at night and have to jump right back into work at 9am the next day. A buffer day allows you to sort all your errands before heading back to the real world. This helps keep your mental to-do list down while on vacation because you have a day to get your life back on track when you get home.
