It is fast approaching the school holidays and therefore many families will soon be off to warmer climates to enjoy a few weeks away. For some, planning may help to get into the holiday mood while for others it can be a stressful experience. Thankfully, for the latter there are some simple time management skills which if put into practice will hopefully take some of the stress of preparing for holidays away.
Holiday Preparation Tips: Write Out an Itinerary
Once all the flights and accommodation are booked and confirmations have been received, it is a good idea to type out a holiday itinerary on the computer and give each family member a copy. This will ensure that should a problem arise each person will know where they are meant to be and have copies of hotel numbers, addresses and airlines. The itinerary should ideally also contain numbers of who to contact in an emergency and copies of travel or medical insurance documents.
It is also well worth making a photocopy of each family member's passport just in case one goes missing whilst abroad. This should only take a few minutes and in the long-run should the worst happen it will save an enormous amount of stress.
Holiday Planning Time-Saving Tips: Create Packing Lists
As highlighted by Adams (2001) in The Everything Time Management Book, most people who travel regularly will know only too well it is so easy to forget an item and then have the expense and hassle of having to then replace it whilst away. To eliminate the possibility of forgetting essential items it is a good idea to create packing lists, one for hand luggage and one hold luggage. Hand luggage items should include medication, itinerary information, passport, wallet and anything that one cannot do without. Hold luggage should ideally not contain anything which is either highly valuable or irreplaceable just in case the suitcase gets lost or stolen.
Once a packing list has been created cross off each item to ensure everything has been packed and bring a copy of the list in holiday so that upon packing for the return journey nothing gets left behind.
Vacation Preparation Tips: Provide Relatives With Contact Details
Particularly if one has elderly parents who live alone it is vital to ensure that they have all the necessary contact details and a copy of the holiday itinerary should any problems arise back home whilst away. For parents in residential care make sure that the home is aware of the times one is away and has the relevant contact information.
As an alternative to having to worry about keeping the mobile on while on holiday, simply provide a hotel contact number and that way there is far less chance of being disturbed. Also, if friends are either house-sitting or looking after the family pets then make sure they have details too and are aware of who to contact if problems should arise such as the vet or plumber.
As highlighted above, simple time management skills and organisational plans may help preparing for a family holiday considerably less stressful. Also, once packing lists have been made for one summer holiday then they can be kept on the computer ready for the following year.
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
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