First vacation in years? Let's go back over the basics

Are you going to be going on vacation for the first time in years? If the answer is yes, then there are certain things that you need to make sure of, and make sure that you have considered. There are so many things that you need to plan out before you can even go on vacation that the stress alone might be enough to change your mind, but we all need that break, so stick with it. If you don’t know what we’re talking about when we say ‘the basics’ then it’s a good thing that you have come across this article. Down below, we’re going to be looking at some of these, so keep reading if you would like to find out more.

Choose A Destination

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The first thing that you are going to need to do is choose a destination. You might have a few ideas saved up from the last couple of years in which you haven’t been able to go anywhere, but you also may be struggling to narrow it down. Or, you might be in the position where you know that you want to go somewhere, you’re just not entirely sure where somewhere is. This is a common problem for a lot of people so don’t think that you shouldn’t be going somewhere simply because you can’t figure it out just yet. 

So, if you are trying to work out where you want to go, then we’ve got a few ideas for you. First, you can use the globe method. To do this, you simply need to get a globe, spin it, close your eyes and then put your finger on the globe. It will stop, and whatever destination you have put your finger on will be your holiday destination. Of course, if it’s somewhere that you have been or in the middle of the ocean, try again. This is the best way to do it because you will end up visiting places that you never would have thought about before, and these could be the best times of your life.

Or, you could find an event that you would like to attend and then head to that destination. There is bound to be more than just that one event going on, so it’s the perfect opportunity to explore a new place, where you know that you have at least one thing to do.

Sort Out Accommodation

The next thing that you are going to need to do is sort out your accommodation. Too many people leave this to the last second and then aren’t able to find accommodation in their chosen city, and are forced to venture outwards. The problem with this is that you are likely going to have to pay more than if you would have just booked it online when you did everything else, and it is going to eat into your holiday. Not to mention the amount of stress that it is going to cause you trying to sort this out when you should be enjoying yourself.

You will be able to find lots of fantastic accommodation deals online, so we suggest that you take a good look at them. Find the one that suits you best, and then go for it. Don’t think that you are going to find something better when you get there because the chances are that you aren’t.

Think About Some Activities

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Once you know where you are going, you can try and figure out some activities that you can do while you are there. Of course, there is always the fun element of simply going where the wind takes you and doing random things on any given day, however it is also nice to have some kind of structure sometimes. For example, you could visit MetLife Stadium, New York Jets/New York Giants if you are a fan of baseball and find yourself in New York, or you could head out to explore the Anne Frank Huis if you are in Amsterdam. There are so many different things that you can do, you just need to find them!

It doesn’t just have to be things to see though, there are also plenty of things that you can do. Each place is going to have it’s own fun list of attractions for people, so working out what they are shouldn’t be too hard. It could be a theme park, it could be a place where you can do water sports, skydiving and so much more.

Budget Your Money

Of course, you are going to have to budget your money or you are going to end up with none. There is nothing worse than being on holiday and running out of money with a few days left. The problem here is that you are going to be incredibly bored for those few days, especially if you can’t get any more money from anywhere. As such, we highly recommend that you budget your money before you even get on the plane. To do this, you need to work out exactly how much you have for the duration of your trip. Once you have got this worked out, divide it by the number of days that you are staying. Each little pile is going to be your money for any given day to ensure that you always have some.

If there is some left over from the day that you are on, then it can roll into the next days and so on. But, you should never take money out of a day that is ahead, because this is a bad habit to get into and you can end up running out of money this way too.

Packing What You Need

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You have got to make sure that you have packed everything you need to avoid a nightmare. You need to go through your packing checklist and ensure that you have got everything on it, even if that means that you are unpacking and repacking your suitcase three times. It is better to ensure that you have everything than to be stuck in a place that you don’t know without an item that you need. Of course, if it’s something that you can easily buy locally then it’s not going to be too much of an issue, but it’s very rarely the case that these are the items we forget.

Don’t Book Until You’re Sure

The last thing that we are going to say is that you should never book your vacation until you are sure that you can go on it. Of course, when we say this, we are not including any last minute emergencies that may or not come up, but that’s what travel insurance is for. No, by this we mean that you need to be sure that you have the time off work to go on this vacation, and you’re not booking it with the intention of requesting the time off later down the line. You should never book a vacation until you’re 100% sure that you will be able to go on it.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the basics that you need to know if you are going to be going on your first vacation in years soon. It’s important that you do all of these things and consider everything on this list, otherwise you could be at major risk of something going wrong. Seeing as this is going to be your first vacation in years, this is certainly not something that we want to happen. We wish you the very best of luck.

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This post was written with the Life According to Steph audience in mind