Here it is about 10 days from leaving the house and heading off to Florida. So, naturally, my thoughts have been all about getting ready to go. Now, some of this is basic pre-trip packing advice and some of it is what to do to prepare for a Disney trip advice. If I leave out anything feel free to let me know. First, when packing time draws near I start to gather up all the things I know that I’ll need and won’t use prior to the trip. I find a designated area and start setting them aside. Here’s a list of some things that can be set aside early.
Out of season clothes. We often travel to Florida in the Fall and while it is cold here it is hot there. Shorts and T-shirts can be set aside once the weather turns.
Travel Toiletries. I try to travel light (it doesn’t always work that way) so I use the small bottles of shaving cream, toothpaste, etc. I often don’t bother packing shampoo because most hotels and cruises supply it. I have a travel bag that is packed with stuff to go so it’s usually ready at a moment’s notice.
Travel Documents. For Disney trips there’s always luggage tags and helpful booklets. Passports if needed. Pre-purchased tickets, etc. I make sure that I have everything I need well before the trip and have it set aside for easy grab and go convenience. Nothing’s worse than already being off on a trip and realizing that your documents are still at home.
Chargers. We don’t always need all the chargers that we have all the time. So those that I can set aside are put away so they are not forgotten. I take each charger and place it into its own Ziploc baggie and label the baggie with what is in there. I used to just put them all in a bag and go but what I got on the other end was a mess of tangled wires. Things to remember: Camera chargers, computer chargers (or iPad charger), Phone chargers, MP3 player chargers, video camera chargers. Here’s another helpful tip. If you can bring a lightweight out let strip with you. All the chargers in our lives can quickly overwhelm a small hotel room with a small number of outlets available. But remember, cruise lines tend to frown upon their use. I plan on bringing a triple-tap a simple three prong device that plugs into a wall outlet that extends it to three.
Verifying your plans. I always take time to stop and re-look at all my travel plans. Depending on the vacation some of these plans can be quite complex so I re-examine them to make sure that there’s no problems, long before they can become problems. Look at your time line. I use Google calendar to track all flights and travel arrangements. It allows me to see all the time frames in a graphical nature that enables me to see where conflicts (such as too short layovers) lie. Confirm your plans. I log onto the airlines websites and make sure they haven’t messed up my flight arrangements. (airlines will change your flights at will so as the trip draws near I keep a close eye on this. Make sure that you have logged your email address and/or cell phone number with them to be in-the-know right away with any changes. Call your hotels and confirm your reservations and if you’re using a transportation service make sure that you are keeping them posted on any changes to your flight plans (although good travel services will take down your flight info and will track that in order to keep up with you)
Understand that sometimes there’s nothing more you can do. I always suffer from the need to cram more into a trip. Realize that you just cannot do everything. Something’s will just have to wait until next time. Once planning is done resist the temptation to continue to work adding things in. Frustration will only follow. Either you’ll not be able to get what you want due to the late date or you will and then need to re-arrange a bunch of plans to accommodate.
I start hoarding money just before a trip. I really don’t like coming back from a trip with debt so I’ll start setting aside money whenever I can. Find a place that you can stuff away money. Then come up with a plan to set money aside. I have a friend who months before a trip will do this. Her rule is simple, whenever she gets change she examines all the bills given. “Crunchy money” as she calls crisp bills is set aside for her trip and the “used” money is of course used. My rule is this: Coins are dropped into a jar at the end of the day and a dollar is placed in the vacation fund. All recyclables are turned in and that money goes into the vacation fund. At some point we’ll hold a garage sale to get rid of junk and all proceeds go into the jar. You’ll be surprised at how much money accumulates over the course of just a few months. Here’s another possibility: many banks now have a savings plan that is ingenious in its simplicity. They simply take every purchase that you make on your ATM card, and round it up placing that change into your savings account. My bank will add a dollar to every purchase and place that dollar in the savings account.
That’s all I can think of right now, I’ll probably want to add stuff later.
Steve
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