Finding the Right Balance
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ravel is back (yay!) and recently I’ve been noticing a trend with a number of my clients – they are so excited to finally take their long-awaited vacations that they are trying to build way too many things into their itineraries. Visiting all four of the Hawaiian Islands in seven days? Sorry friend, but that’s not going to work. The best vacations have balance. With too little planning the vacation can fall apart and with too much planning it feels like one endless to-do list that needs to be checked off. So how do you achieve the right balance for your vacation? First, know the travel style of everyone taking the vacation. Some people love to have an action-packed vacation full of planned activities while others take the approach of booking a few things in advance and seeing where the vacation takes them. Knowing which end of the spectrum you and your travel party fall on matters. You also need to know your destination. While you can have an amazing time with essentially nothing planned for your week-long beach house rental vacation, a trip to a destination such as Italy requires more advanced and detailed planning. For example, you (generally) can’t just show up to see The Last Supper in Milan. Tickets are sold in advance and sell out quickly, so this would be an activity you would definitely want to plan as far out as possible. Knowing what level of planning your destination requires will help you avoid missing out on something important to you.
Make sure to have a mix of planned and unplanned time and activities. Having the right balance with this is crucial for a great vacation. How that mix shakes out depends on both your travel style and the destination you’re visiting. In my personal and professional experience, I have found that building in unscheduled time is the key to successful vacations and having free time to explore often leads to some of the best vacation memories. Use a professional to assist you with your vacation. As my clients’ trusted travel advisor, I take the time to get to know them, their travel style, and their personalities. We start the planning process by chatting about their vacation wish list and I then use my expertise and experience to help them strike the right balance of planned time and activities for their vacations. And I’m not afraid to let my clients know when I think they want to do too much or aren’t planning enough. Finally, remember that you can’t do it all. I often see this issue with my clients booking Disney vacations where their wish list far exceeds their vacation time, and I have to remind them that they can’t experience all of Disney in one visit. Regardless of the destination, you simply cannot do all of the things in one trip. My advice is to choose the most important activities for you and really take the time to enjoy them. I hope you find your perfect balance with your upcoming travel plans!
Heather Meliski is a travel agent specializing in the Caribbean, Hawaii, Mexico, Europe, Australia, the South Pacific, cruises, theme parks, and more. She lives in Smyrna with her husband two sons. Heather@yellowshoetravel.com FB @heatheryellowshoetravel IG @yellowshoetravelheather
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