I LOVE traveling.

Ok, I don’t LOVE the travel part of it, but I do love being on vacation. I mean, who doesn’t, right?

When I was a kid, I would get so excited to go anywhere, that my trip started weeks (or sometimes months) before the day we were scheduled to leave.

Shout out to all my planners out there!

When my kids were little, I would make sure that I had every detail of every little thing worked out for the sitter (usually my parents!). Then, as they got older, I didn’t do any different! As a matter of fact, I’ve probably become more and more meticulous with organizing their lives before I leave. I have checklists and lists and notes and files and everything else you can possibly imagine.

Yes, probably a little over the top, but I want to make sure that life doesn’t skip a beat for them (or the sitter) just because the hubs and I are gallivanting across the universe (or lazing on a beach somewhere tropical).

Let’s get into how to make travel easy peasy.

Lemon. Squeazy.

Well, Looky Here…
A typical vacation for us is when I find a deal online, quickly check coinciding flights, book the vacation and then usually leave within 5 days of booking.

How?

I’m ALWAYS looking.

I mean, usually the day I get back from vacation, I’m already hitting up my fav travel booking sites. You know, just to see what’s out there.

Regardless, I have tried and true favourites that I lean towards.

• Favourite Cruise Lines
• Favourite All Inclusive Resorts
• Favourite Airlines
• Favourite Deal Finders

I watch for sales and deals, freebies and incentives. This not only gets me great deals but it keeps me excited about our next travel adventure.

Plan on Planning
I have basic travel planners, spreadsheets and lists ready to go at any given time.

Sounds a bit crazy, but if you have a base plan, it will take the unnecessary stress away from the travel process.

Some of my lists include

• Packing List
• To Do For Vacation
• To Do Before Vacation
• Schedules (for kids and pups)
• Schedules (for vacation)

Be Flexible
Last minute vacations usually get you the best deals. However, it’s difficult to plan last-minute vacations if you are not flexible.

If you can, try to be flexible with things such as

• Vacation time with your employer
• Where you are willing to vacation
• When you are willing to vacation

Be Prepared
There is seriously nothing like being prepared for something. I usually keep a pre-packed travel bag that has everything but clothes so I’m ready on the fly.

You never know when the most amazing deal is going to strike and if you’re prepared, you could be vacationing sooner than later.

I’ll leave you with one of my favourite travel stories.

The hubs wanted to go away on vacation.

I didn’t.

To appease him, I looked and looked for a deal, but was not finding anything that fit in our budget.

Grateful, I finally told my hubs that it wasn’t going to work out and asked if he could maybe switch his vacation time so I could find something at a more convenient time (not so close to Christmas).

Before he did, I thought I’d give it one last go. I found a 7 day cruise from Houston for only a few hundred dollars. I laughed and told him that I would go if we found cheap flights (under $100).

I did.

Ugh! I found $50 flights from Detroit to Houston and on top of it, the cruise line offered an on board credit of a few hundred dollars.

In the end, the trip only cost us peanuts and it was one of the greatest times we had.

Do you find travel planning stressful or do you thrive in the wake of lists and schedules? Comment below!