There are many adventures awaiting me and my family in the next 12 weeks: everything from a trip to Colonial Williamsburg to the Oregon Coast to Disneyland to the rim of the Grand Canyon. And of course there is my getaway to Italy mixed in there too. Wow, all of that in the next 3 months!
Needless to say, I've been preparing: because if there's one thing I know, it's that successful traveling comes from careful planning.
Here are a few of my own travel tips:
- Buy a folder. A simple 50 cent folder will do. I purchase a separate one for each trip we take and it holds everything from flight confirmations to hotel reservations to directions I've printed off of Mapquest. It all goes in the folder and it keeps my life [and family] organized and happy.
- Don't pack the house, meaning: scale back. Don't feel the need to stuff every last thing that you might need into the suitcase. My opinion is that unless you are going to some 3rd world country you can always buy stuff on the road (if, that is, you realize you are desperately in need something you left behind - but chances are, you'll be fine.)
- Use priceline.com. Seriously, I swear by that website. I have used them time and time again and I simply cannot fathom the thought of somebody paying full price for a hotel or rental car. So go name your own price like I did (and perhaps you too will be staying in the Hilton for a mere $50/night).
- Do laundry there. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with my pack-less rule. I like to pack clothes for half as many days as we'll be gone and do laundry once half way through the trip. Many hotels these days have laundry service. It's way better than packing around all those dirty clothes, trust me.
- Research. Learn about where you are going; things mean so much more when you have a good understanding of them. For example, this weekend we are taking the girls to Colonial Williamsburg, so to help them prepare we ordered the movie Felicity: An American Girl from Netflix. The story is about a girl who lived in Williamsburg during the American Revolution and it provided a fun way for Alexandra and Lorelai to learn more about where we are headed.
- Clean the house. This is my number one rule. Before we leave on a trip I scrub the house from top to bottom. Maybe it's the OCD in me, but I seriously have a panic attack if we go on a trip with things out of order - drives me crazy. And....what a wonderful feeling to arrive back at home to a sparkling clean house.
Happy Traveling!
[Painting of Machu Picchu by my grandfather - the world traveler himself - Claude Coats. Someday, rather, some-year, Donald and I are going to have to go there....]
