Vacation! It’s supposed to be fun and relaxing. A chance to get away from the daily grind, see the sights, kick back, dine out, have some adventures, and generally enjoy life.

Sounds nice, but it isn’t always so easy, is it?

Vacations can also be a lot of work. We can stress over the details, spend too much money, or make ourselves miserable when things don’t go as planned. We sometimes come back drained, grumpy, and needing a vacation from our vacation.

Perfectionism and FOMO (fear of missing out) can be a struggle for me, and maybe it is for you too.  So it’s no surprise when I transfer this tendency to my vacations.

I am typically that person that does exhaustive research on wherever we’re going to make sure I am not missing out on any amazing and cool experiences.  

 This typically leads to an over-packed itinerary with little margin for rest and spontaneity.

Adventure Calls

So last summer my husband and I were itching for a little adventure together. One day we were taking a walk and we started dreaming of going to Europe together – something each of us had done separately, but never experienced together.  By the time we got home, my husband said “let’s just do it!”

In the coming weeks, we started seeing what we could do to remove the barriers to us taking a 10-day trip away.

Letting Go and Going with the Flow

In order to make the vacation fun and possible due to our family’s busy schedules, I decided that I had to let go of several common tendencies of mine:

• Setting Unrealistic Expectations
• Doing too much research in advance
• Thinking I have to experience everything a destination has to offer
• Placing too much emphasis on the “doing” aspect of the vacation
• Knowing exactly what we were going to do each day
• Distractions – smartphones, social media, politics, news.

 

And two months later, we were on a plane headed to central Europe – ready for a road trip through Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg.  The weirdest part – we had planned nothing.  All our planning had been on making the vacation possible.

My husband and I boarded the plane with the intention of enjoying the quality time together and letting the vacation flow. Let me emphasize that “flow” was a new concept for me! 

 

 

9 Tips to Enjoying Your Vacation

We enjoyed our vacation so much that I gave myself space afterwards to reflect upon what made this particular vacation so great. Below are my key takeaways that helped us fully relax and enjoy the adventure.

1. Be Intentional. Focusing on what we wanted and needed out of the vacation and letting that drive our days.  We wanted to spend quality time together, seeing and learning new things, having adventures together and returning home feeling refreshed.

 

2. Prioritize What Matters to You. Making time for things that WE enjoy and not necessarily doing all of the top tourist attractions in a guide book. Sometimes the must-sees didn’t truly interest us. For our trip that meant long private walking tours with a local resident, eating at good local restaurants, and experiencing amazing music and art while often avoiding the tourist traps.

 

3. Stay Open to the Adventure. Each day we had a loose idea of what we were planning to do or see that day.  Inevitably, things didn’t always go smoothly or pan out how we hoped, but we chose to adapt and find enjoyment and opportunity in each circumstance. For example, one day it rained continuously and we had planned it to be our main sightseeing day.  Rather than stressing about the weather, we took the opportunity to sleep late, go to an indoor museum, and spend some time enjoying some great wine, coffee and desserts at a charming cafe.  We also scored a romantic upgrade for no charge at a hotel because we decided to leave a city early and get a jumpstart on our next adventure.  Champagne and strawberries in the Presidential Suite overlooking the city of Salzburg.  Yes, please!

 

4. Less Research, More Connection to Actual People. We arrived without much of a plan. Instead of spending hours online once we arrived, we depended on locals and our hotel concierge to provide suggestions. We figured people that actually lived in the city had a good idea of what might be worth our time.  We would also just see things as we were walking through the city and ask about it. It led us to stray off the beaten path and enjoy some lesser known areas of the city.  For instance, we took detours on our road trips between cities to see sites and towns that only locals know about based upon suggestions people gave us.  We would have never known about these places without having talked to people.

 

5. Active Self-care. Paying attention to our physical needs helped keep us from dehydrating ourselves or exhausting ourselves in the name of checking things off the tourist list. We let ourselves take breaks and even take afternoon naps after a day of sightseeing.  We also allowed ourselves to sleep in on some mornings after a travel day.

 

6. Stay Present. We made a conscious decision to stay present with one other and our location while on this vacation. We disconnected from technology and only used it for GPS. We took a million selfies and only posted three pictures on social media.

 

7. Permission to be the Cheesy Tourist. If there was something ultra-touristy that one of us wanted to do, we did it!  We weren’t above the tourist traps! For instance, we spent a day channeling our inner Maria, belting out the “Sound of Music” soundtrack, and recreating photos of the iconic shots from my favorite childhood movie as we did the cheesy SOM tour in Salzburg. We loved every minute of it!

 

8. Be Decisive & Don’t Look Back. Sometimes having fewer decisions is the best option. Starting with the quick decision to take the trip to Europe and going through the entire trip.  We didn’t allow ”paralysis by analysis” to trip us up.

 

9. Invest in one extravagant thing. We wanted one of our experiences to be over-the-top while we were there.  My husband and I share a love for really great food. So, while in Vienna, we made a reservation at the top restaurant in the city. OMG, the food was AMAZING – so innovative and tasty.  We even got to meet the chef.  It is an experience I will never forget.

 

The Memories Live On

It’s been 10 months and my husband and I are still experiencing the benefits of our European road trip.

At least every couple of weeks there is something small that reminds us of something on our trip – having those private jokes or callbacks continues to reconnect us.  I love all of the memories and experiences that we made together.

I cannot wait to share those stories with other people, but most of all I am looking forward to reliving those memories with my husband throughout our lifetime together.  That’s so much better than planning the perfect trip!

Be intentional about your upcoming vacations.  Choose joy over perfection!

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