Most of us are planning a mid-year break or looking towards Christmas at our next holiday. Whenever we take short breaks, they always seem to end way too quickly and then they’re over and we’re back at work.
The best way to get the most out of your holidays is to anticipate them excitedly during the planning phase and the lead-up, enjoying them fully by being present during the actual holiday, and taking lots of photos or videos to capture the memories. Then you can reflect back on them later when you need a pick-up during the year!
Here’s some of the ways I try to get the absolute most of out my breaks – and how you can too!
Start a holiday photo board
If you’re into Pinterest, it’s a great way to ramp up the excitement visually during planning phase. I am organising a holiday with friends to New York and then to Iceland with Andres in December-January. I’ve started a Pinterest board to gather lots of gorgeous pictures of the destinations and to build excitement. Alternatively, you could gather images, brochures and any information of your holiday spot and keep them all in a beautiful folder to flick through at leisure. Whichever way you do it, visual reminders of where you’re about to go are bound to create a buzz.
Host a holiday planning night
This is awesome fun in the lead-up to holidays. If you’re traveling alone, invite someone who’s been to your chosen destination before or just plan it for yourself! Otherwise, get your partner and friends or whoever you’re traveling with over for an evening of flicking through photos, hotels and destinations. It’s a great way to get everyone to agree on a short list of things to do, hotels to stay at, places to visit and more. It also adds to the excitement – key to the longevity of your holiday!
Capture the memories for later
Take a digital camera and make sure you use it as much as possible during your trip. It can be a bit annoying at the time to always be taking photos, but it’s so worth it afterwards. My friends all joke that I have become the photo queen but it’s because I don’t have heaps of photos from more than about five years back, and I wish that I did! You can never relive this time so it’s really important to capture it all while it’s happening. There’s nothing more heartwarming than looking back at pictures of traveling and happy memories.
How do you make the most of your holidays?
