Organizing and Planning Your Vacation
Susan Kim
Last week I talked about providing some vacation tips for the month of July.
Usually my first step is to create a checklist to prepare what I need to do NOW, before I go, what I want to do DURING the trip and what needs to be taken care of while I’m away.
This gives me an opportunity to organize my thoughts and even dream a little about my vacation. (When I was planning for my New Zealand trip, it gave me a chance each evening to do a little online research about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. That was a fun process!)
TAKE ACTION! TIP:
Here’s a great exercise to organize and plan for your vacation:
List out all the To-Do’s that are on your mind and everything you need to plan your time. I recommend four main categories:
1. Vacation – this is where you list all of the things you want to do during your time away: sight-seeing, restaurants, tours, etc. My recommendation is to keep the whole list, but prioritize the activities and make sure you get to at least your top 1 or 2. In the long run, it will also help you on your vacation, because you will have already decided what is important for you to do. Include your family on this process to get consensus. It will save time and probably prevent some arguments along the way!
2. Packing – list out everything that you’ll absolutely need on the trip. And remember, most places that you’re traveling to will have shampoo, conditioner, all of those things that add extra weight to your luggage (which you’ll have to pay for now!). My recommendation is to pack light leaving extra room. I don’t know about you, but I like to bring home at least a couple of souvenirs!
3. Home – write down the things that need to be taken care of BEFORE you leave. Things like holding the mail, stopping the newspaper, putting the sprinklers on a timer, getting a dog sitter, etc.
4. Work – of course we have to prepare for our time away here. . . the obvious ones are your OOO (Out of Office) message for both email and voicemail. Other actions are setting up a contact for emergencies at work, and what absolutely needs to be completed and handled before you leave.
Organizing and listing things out helps me plan out my vacation AND keeps me positive in sight of what’s to come. . .what helps you?
Feel free to share here. . . Til next week. . .
Make Happiness Yours,
Susan
Susan’s daily goal is to laugh, be present and enjoy each moment without regret. Susan Kim Coaching, LLC is designed to support, educate and inspire women professionals to create better balance, accomplish more and live easier without compromising their career. Susan knows it is possible! Since 1994, Susan has been involved with business operations from development to management. Her business experience coupled with her educational background allow Susan to provide the support and guidance her clients need. Her clients feel more joy and start to take action from the very first session. Susan offers individual coaching, online services, group trainings and seminar presentations. She is a graduate of Cornell University (BS), Columbia University (MA) and Coach University (CUG). She has been honored as a nominee for the Maui County Mayor’s Small Business Award and is a recipient of the Pacific Business News Forty Under 40 Award which is given to Hawaii’s up and coming young business people. She has also been named by the SBA as a Home-Based Business Champion of the Year. Susan surfs and practices yoga as well as dabbling in photography, crafts, sewing and gardening. On her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, which includes her husband, a cockatiel (Phineas) and a dog (Tia). Find out more at http://www.susankimcoaching.com.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Ooooh, I so need to get better at this. I am usually very good at organizing for trips (some *cough*hubby*cough* might say over-organizing), but I always manage to overlook something.
Or, as in the case of this last offsite meeting when my computer was taken down by a virus on the day before the trip - the same day I’d allotted for printing out boarding passes, agendas and presentations - I don’t leave myself enough time for things to go wrong.
I think my issue is that, as a stereotypical geek, I just don’t travel much. So I have to remember it all from scratch every time. Now that I’ll be traveling quarterly (or more) for Compass, maybe I’ll get better at it.
*furiously scribbles reams of notes to self*
July 16th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I love the internet when it comes to vacation organization. I love how you can search and find and learn about every little thing before you get there. Well before you get there. I pretty much start my planning and organizing right as I’ve decided to go.
As the trip nears, lists are key. Since I have to pack for more than just myself, I need a packing list. Then a to-do list for those things that need to be done or bought.
This is a great list to help get everything broken down in small parts to make it not so overwhelming to travel.