TL;DR
Vacations are breaks from life’s major routines.
Plan everything you can before you go on vacation.
A day trip doesn’t require much planning at all.
Learn a few tricks and plan a little before going into nature.
Multi-day trips require a bit more planning, often weeks in advance.
Your vacation starts when you leave your house.
Keep yourself safe in an unfamiliar culture.
Unless you want a boring experience, don’t stop at the guided tour.
Always end the vacation on a good note.
Why have vacations?
The broad purpose of a vacation is to remove yourself from the routines of life, though the destination will determine if it’s a relaxing, thrilling or enlightening experience.
The most rewarding vacations always come after you’ve succeeded at something huge.
You can have fun anywhere, but planning ahead can make your vacations and trips much more rewarding.
Before you start
Ask why you’re going:
- Vacation planning is extra stress, so only go because you want to.
- If you’re worried about losing something free you’d otherwise lose (e.g., an expiring timeshare), really reconsider your vacation.
Set a budget:
- By setting a limit, you can recklessly spend up to that amount.
- If your priority is to save money, don’t go on the trip.
Plan for the worst and hope for the best:
- False idealism ruins your happiness as soon as you encounter any issue.
- Before traveling, get a health checkup and immunization for anything from your destination country.
- It can get cold at night, even in the tropics, so pack appropriately.
Plan ahead as much as possible:
- Start as early as possible to ensure you can schedule the time off and have everything you’ll need.
- If your vacation will be around a major holiday, start planning a year ahead.
Keep everything trip-related in one place:
- Destination, departing airport and airline, departure date and time
- Any transfers or trips to a second destination
- Returning airport and airline, returning date
- Tickets and confirmation numbers for all travel arrangements and events
- Contact information for everything
If you’re going with others, everyone should enjoy themselves:
- Everyone has their own unique preferences, so only choose activities everyone will like.
- If you need, schedule days when people split up to do what they prefer.
If you have children, keep them engaged:
- Mind the extra costs and time associated with children.
- Hold each child personally responsible for carrying their luggage, and have a plan if they lose it.
- Surprise them during the trip with new toys or books.
Do as much work beforehand to offset the inevitable pileup of activities when you get home.
Day trips
Generally, a day trip that isn’t overnight won’t require much planning.
Get your local area’s most recent guidebook or tourist guide to find new things to do.
Always research beforehand (and make phone calls) to make sure the event or location will be open.
Consider what to take, and make sure the venue permits it.
Routinely open venues like museums, parks, zoos, and movies require practically no planning:
- Go to the event, bring what you want, enjoy your time there.
- Get a map of the location before you go to know what you’d like to try.
- If you go to the zoo, wear the same colors as the zookeepers for the animals to come up to you instead of backing away.
Get a ticket for festivals, concerts, exhibitions and cultural events as early as possible, but make sure everyone has time off for it.
If you’re leaving your personal effects, store them out of sight:
- Put your valuables underneath your car seat or in the trunk.
- Hide money and smaller items inside an old lip balm canister.
- Put larger objects inside a cleaned-out lotion or shampoo bottle.
Outdoor trips
Budget for gas money, parking, food, and entrance fees.
Research where you can dine out, or bring food and drinks for the whole trip.
Freeze gallon jugs of water for your cooler, then drink them as they thaw.
Keep matches and cell phones dry with condoms or rubber gloves.
Since camping is a broad concept, pay attention to the type of campsite you’re getting:
- Individual campsites can hold up to ~6 people.
- A basic or standard campsite is typically an individual campsite with a driveway and a fire ring or grill.
- Family campsites are designed to hold 2 tents and up to 2 vehicles.
- A standard double campsite is a standard campsite, but family-sized.
- Group campsites can occupy 12-50 people, but can sometimes surpass 100.
- Full hookups simply means it has RV connections for sewer, water, and electrical.
- Most come with electricity or hookups, but nonelectric clarifies there’s no power going to it.
- Unserviced campsites allow RVs, but doesn’t have hookups.
- RV-only sites don’t permit tents.
- Walk-up campsites are a short distance from a road.
- Wooded campsites give shade from trees nearby.
- Platform tent sites give a wooden platform to pitch a tent.
- Back-in and pull-through campsites are only for how the RV driver will have to park.
- Premium campsites are designed for RVs, but with a picnic table, grill, and firepit.
- Class-B frequently don’t offer electrical hookups, showers, or running water.
- Class-A are like premium campsites, but with a driveway and often with showers, toilet (possibly flushing), and potable water.
- Class-AA will have Class-A, but will also have flushing toilets, sinks with running water, and often RV sewer hookups.
- Class-AAA will be Class-AA, but also come with features like 50-amp electrical hookups and heated bathroom facilities.
- Backcountry and primitive campsites are walk-up only and along hiking trails, or may be another term for dispersed camping (setting up tent anywhere you want).
- Accessible campsites are ADA-compliant and designed for wheelchair access.
- Equestrian campsites are for horseback riders only.
Bring everything for a fire:
- Bring lighter fluid (or WD-40) and matches or a lighter.
- “Joke candles” (candles that you can’t blow out) work well to light a fire.
- Use scrap paper or old rags as kindling.
- Unless collecting firewood is illegal, don’t bring firewood.
- Add sage to a fire to keep bugs away.
- Make a Sterno container:
- Cut cardboard strips to the width of an Altoids tin’s height
- Densely wind into an Altoids container
- Fill the tin with wax
Bring everything you need to cook:
- Learn how to cook before you must depend on it, or at least have a backup plan.
- Propane or charcoal stove and a grill or griddle
- Skewers, tongs, spatula, ladle, and knife
- Dish set and silverware
- Scissors and can opener
- Tablecloth, if you want
- Coffee/tea
- Cooking spray, salt, and pepper
If you can, brush up on basic first aid skills before you go and bring a simple kit:
- Rubbing alcohol and triple antibiotic ointment
- Bandages
- Eye drops
- Pain reliever
- Skin lotion
Make a portable hand-washing station with an empty laundry detergent container.
Bring multi-use supplies:
- Duct tape is reliable for securing nearly anything.
- Tin foil serves as a reliable moisture barrier, a wrapper for cooking food directly in the fire, folding as dishes to eat, a marker for navigation, and as a reflecting signal or fire starter.
- You can also put tin foil on a pizza box to create a s’mores oven without a fire.
- Paper and plastic bags, toothpicks
- Dish towels, dish rags, and towels
- Tissue paper
- Extra batteries for everything
- Twine, newspapers, and clothespins
Plan for a hike:
- Wear good-quality hiking boots.
- Bring enough water and snacks for everyone.
- Closely observe the least physically active members’ needs.
If it’s nearby, visit a beach:
- Always pack umbrellas or sunscreen.
- Keep sand from getting on your electronics by using them inside sandwich bags.
- Either bring a shovel to dig out a seat or bring beach towels, blankets, and beach chairs.
- Jam a clean plunger in the sand to use as a can holder.
- Bring kites, beach balls, footballs, Frisbees, or a volleyball and net.
- Use a fitted sheet to keep sand out.
- To keep your sandals from overheating, set them face down.
- When you leave, sprinkle baby powder on things to remove sand when you leave.
If you want a more unconventional outdoor adventure, go beyond camping, beach trips or hiking:
- Sailing, kayaking, or canoeing
- Surfing, paddleboarding, or cycling
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Target shooting with a bow or gun
An overnight camping trip takes much more planning than visiting for part of a day:
- Honor the Leave No Trace guidelines and leave everything the way you found it.
- Unless you’re experienced, bring shelter with you:
- An RV is convenient, but it’s barely “camping”.
- Bring a tent with stakes, sleeping bags, and pillows.
- Use an air mattress with a pump or get foam tiles.
- To minimize bugs, lay out a ground cloth (like a tarp) below you.
- Find your shelter at night with glow-in-the-dark paint.
- Pack the right clothes:
- Wear synthetic materials like polyester or nylon (cotton absorbs moisture and wicks heat when wet), and bring an extra outfit just in case.
- Keep multiple layers for nighttime.
- If you intend to swim, bring a swimsuit.
- While it may feel counter-intuitive, bring sunglasses and sunscreen.
- Pack toiletries:
- Toothbrush and toothpaste (dab toothpaste on a paper plate and let dry to make travel toothpaste)
- Disintegrating toilet paper (or sandwich fresh leaves in between dead leaves)
- Unscented deodorant (to avoid attracting mosquitoes)
- Prescription medication
- Glasses or contact lenses case, saline, and lip balm
- Camp soap (to avoid polluting the water)
- Bring survival gear:
- insect repellant and bite remedy (alternately, rub vodka into your skin)
- Flashlight, headlamp, lantern, and fuel
- Improvise a light by facing a light source on a jug of water (like strapping a headlamp inward or placing a mobile device under it)
- Bucket, water jug, broom, and work gloves
- Hammer, nails, saw, rope, shovel, ax, screwdrivers, and camp knife
Planning multi-day trips
Plan the event as early as possible, which may mean 6–12 months out if it’s a cruise or timeshare.
Schedule time off work for the trip, and give 1–2 days if possible before and afterward to recover from jet lag and travel stress.
To withstand the journey, get a high-quality wheeled suitcase and a lightweight, sturdy bag that can easily fit in an overhead compartment.
Arrange for everything in your absence:
Get the required paperwork done as soon as you can:
- Verify your passport is current with the correct visas and that you’re free to travel to that nation.
- Get traveler’s checks or small denominations of foreign currency.
- Most countries need cash, especially poor ones, but you can get by with bank cards in wealthier ones.
If the region is particularly dense with mosquitos or disease, consider getting vaccinated.
Learn the culture before you go:
- Local laws and how they differ from your home nation.
- Commonly-practiced customs.
- Learn a few popular phrases in the local language.
- The general geography of the region.
- Local weather patterns.
- Crime statistics, especially within various regions of cities.
- Food and water safety risks.
- The likelihood and forms of corruption.
- Political threats that may exist in the region, especially regarding your nationality.
- The economic exchange rate of currency.
Traveler’s insurance is always worth the expense if you’re visiting an unfamiliar culture, though a standard renter’s or homeowner’s insurance policy can cover at least part of the risk.
If the region doesn’t provide universal health coverage, traveler’s health insurance is also worth the cost.
Consider a separate bank card or credit card attached to a vacation-only expense account, preferably without high fees for that particular region.
Reserve your transportation:
- Fly if your trip is more than 1,000 miles away.
- Only take an alternate form of transportation (e.g., train, cruise ship) if a long trip is part of the vacation itself.
- If you have two people, pick a window seat and aisle seat for the chance to have an empty seat in between (you can ask to swap seats with the middle person otherwise).
- To keep your sleep cycle, schedule a night flight.
- For shorter distances, avoid flying and consider alternate transport like trains or long-distance bus.
- Arrange for transportation to and from the airport or depot.
- Have a backup plan if you miss any flight or transfer.
Reserve your lodging:
- Try to find places close enough to the events you want, but far enough away that you can afford it.
- You can negotiate many things like hot breakfast in bed for free (if they offer a hot breakfast buffet) or a room upgrade.
- For a unique lodging experience, try Unusual Hotels Of The World.
- If you request it, the hotel can’t guarantee a king-size bed, so call to confirm and call the day before you leave.
Buy tickets for every event you can before leaving, and have a backup plan for the ones you can’t.
Plan a general itinerary:
- While it feels like work, it lets you have the most fun.
- Unless you rush it, you can usually only attend 3–4 attractions each day.
- If you prefer, create a few lists instead of a day-by-day plan:
- Must Go To, that you feel are critical for your vacation
- Want To Try, which fill in gaps
- Wish To Try, which will probably not happen
Research the power adapter standards for the location you’re going to.
To avoid extreme fees, ask your mobile phone provider their rates for that region or disable your mobile data on your device.
Make multiple printed copies of all travel documents, and store them in separate places.
The week leading up to the trip
If you’re going to a different time zone, adapt your sleep schedule a few days beforehand, since even 1-2 time zones can disrupt your circadian rhythm.
When packing, only consider legitimate needs:
- Most people over-pack because they don’t realize they can buy what they need when they’re there (e.g., toothpaste) or want to maintain their entire lifestyle while on vacation.
- Only bring what you can’t live without or can’t buy at your destination.
- If you can go minimal enough, bringing only a carry-on will make life dramatically easier.
- If you can’t carry a suitcase with you, avoid checking it at an airport and mail it to your destination after informing your lodging.
Make two near-identical lists when packing: everything you need to pack, and everything to verify when you’re ready to come home.
Pack everything into as few bags as possible.
If you’re traveling with others, mix each person’s possessions across checked bags to ensure a missing bag won’t ruin the vacation.
Consider all aspects of security, but with more consideration for going to an unknown region.
Make your bags distinctive to find them more easily in a pile:
- Paint or print something on your bag
- Tie a brightly colored cloth to the bag
- Use a visually unique tag
- Take a photo of the bag tag and store it on your phone
Plan for basic toiletries:
- When it’s a famililar culture, it’s often less trouble to simply buy what you need when you get there, especially if you’re flying.
- Soap, shampoo, and conditioner (though hotels often give them free)
- Sunscreen, sunglasses, umbrella
- Vitamins, prescription medications, decongestant, allergy medications
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Razor and shaving cream or electric shaver
- Makeup, skin care products, nail trimmer
- Hairspray, hair gel, hair dryer
- Deodorant, cologne or perfume, body powder
- Tissue packets, basic first aid kit, lip balm
- Pain relief pills, antihistamine, and antacid
- Pack enough for 1-2 more days than you expect you’ll be at your destination.
- Travel-sized items can last 1-4 days, depending on use.
- Bring a towel, which can be useful for shoe shining, makeup removing, mess cleanup, and as an emergency pillow cover.
- Medication, or a location at the destination that would have it.
Pack clothing:
- Select clothes that don’t easily wrinkle and all match with each other.
- Remember shirts, pants, shorts, jackets, sweaters, shoes, swimsuit, and hat.
- Since shoes and boots are bulky, choose a versatile pair of dress shoes or walking shoes.
- Since tourists are prime targets for scams, wear clothing that makes you appear poor or middle-class for the region.
- Fold your clothes in the same shape to make them stackable.
- If you need more space, use packing cubes with vacuum sealing or roll into military-style cylinders:
- Fold in sleeves or flared ends to make a rectangle.
- Fold the left and right sides inwards towards the center, overlapping each time.
- Roll it up, then tuck it in to make it stay.
- With longer trips, only pack 2–3 days with laundry soap and wash your clothes at your destination.
- Pack extra underwear and socks.
- To save space, roll socks and underwear into shoes.
- Cover the bottoms of the shoes with old shower caps.
When flying, pack a carry-on:
- Keep travel-size toiletries and one change of clothes in the bag, just in case your luggage is lost.
- Include power adapters and plugs, for both your home and destination regions.
Bring fun distractions for the trip:
- Deck of cards and pocket board games
- Pens/pencils, notebook, puzzle books
- Reading books, clip-on reading light, pocket flashlight
- Laptop, mobile devices, music player
- Extra batteries for everything
- Power converter if you’re traveling internationally
- Camera and charger
- Snacks while in transit
Bring reference items:
- Travel guides and paper maps for your destination
- Pre-downloaded mobile device maps for the region
- GPS unit or GPS-enabled mobile device and charger
- Any necessary paperwork or documents like driver’s license or confirmation printouts
Bring any other conveniences or needs you want:
- Battery alarm clock
- Snacks
- Luggage locks
- Bags to hold dirty laundry
- Pocket sewing kit
Before you leave, double-check everything:
- Clean out all wallets and purses of anything hard-to-replace that you don’t need to bring.
- Turn off the thermostat and set the sprinklers.
- Lock all doors and windows.
- Unplug all appliances and computers.
- Set the radio, TV, and lights on plug-in timers
- If you’re leaving your car at the airport, remove all valuables from it
- If you’re not using it for at least a week, unplug your car battery and top off the gas tank:
- Unplugging the battery ensures it won’t drain.
- Filling up the tank both prevents moisture from building up in the tank and the seals from drying out.
If you need, consider a sabbatical
Sabbaticals, unlike vacations, are unstructured and allow you to take your time.
Since you’re in the area for a while, you can typically earn a living while taking time off from your career.
The only true way to experience a region’s local culture is to live in it for at least a few months.
While a sabbatical is often a dramatic change and far more unpredictable, you’re guaranteed to find more meaning from the journey than visiting for a few days.
A vacation starts when you leave your house
Have a good attitude, and find something meaningful at your destination that’s better than home.
However, it isn’t stress-free until you get there:
- Traveling to and from the destination can be stressful.
- Keep enough paper literature to read.
- Add a half hour to each deadline to permit room for error and time to relax.
- Expose yourself to natural light at your destination to quickly realign your body clock.
- If you must take a nap in a public place, prevent theft by strapping your bag to your body.
Make traveling comfortable:
- To keep your blood flowing, stand up about once an hour.
- To cut down on jet lag, stay hydrated and avoid alcohol.
- Many hotels allow takkyu-bin, where they’ll send your luggage to its next destination for a small fee (i.e., another hotel or an airport).
Since the locals understand the area more than maps, don’t be afraid to ask people for directions.
Use the Las Vegas twenty dollar bill trick to ask for an upgrade to your room when you arrive:
- Increase your chances by arriving earlier in the day while they’re preparing rooms.
- Slip the desk clerk a $20 bill with your credit card when checking in and ask if they have any complimentary upgrades available.
- Make sure other guests don’t see you do it.
- Generally, if they can’t find anything they’ll return the $20 tip.
- Even if they’re unscrupulous and keep the tip, it’s a $20 risk for a much nicer room.
While amenities like water bottles and wireless Internet typically come with a fee, you might get them free by asking in advance.
If you’re not sure if your bed is damp, set a small mirror between the sheets for a few minutes to see if it fogs up.
Stay up until bedtime to realign your sleep cycle.
Even on guided tours, look ahead and plan for what particularly interests you.
- On a cruise, schedule the events for the next port as you leave the previous port, not when you dock.
Don’t stop at the guided tour
Tourist traps are expensive and unfulfilling:
- Companies tailor everything as safe, predictable, reproducible experiences.
- Some concierges are paid to recommend tourist traps, so ask the hotel clerk about local events.
Try new, unconventional experiences:
- Wander around the local city center.
- Meet people and speak with them.
- Watch and observe how people behave.
- Try the local food in off-the-path restaurants.
- Drink in out-of-the-way bars.
- Try new food to create a permanent connection in your memory to the place.
- Go to your most remote desired location first, so that the civilized place you return to is a comparative relief.
- Even a vacation disaster can become an adventure if you change your attitude about it.
Turn off mobile devices:
- Unplugging from others is liberating and fulfilling.
- Escaping from life is the entire reason you took a vacation in the first place!
Vacationing in a new place will force you to grow, and many of the components of societal hardship apply in small ways.
End the vacation on a positive note
It’s always nice to grab a unique souvenir you’d never be able to get back home, but you can typically have it mailed to you later by searching online.
Always clean your suitcases after staying in a hotel, since bed bugs frequently travel in them.
Remember that you’re going on vacation to have fun, and you’re doing it correctly when you want to go back to your lifestyle afterward.