Vacations are supposed to be relaxing, but if you’re reading this, you know that going on vacation involves stress. Sometimes it’s stress before, during and/or after. But you can take action and cut down on the stress. Let’s break this down so you can get ahead of the curve and actually relax on your vacation.
BEFORE
A lot of the stress with a vacation happens before the vacation even starts. Making the decisions about where to go, what to do once you get to your destination, what to pack, saving money to pay for it… the list goes on and on!! Sometimes by the time you leave for your trip you are already exhausted.
Planning ahead and getting the family involved to help is key to cutting down on the stress before the vacation. Planning ahead can be very small simple things, it doesn’t mean you have to have every single detail planned out. For example, create a list in the notes app on your phone and use it to add items you will need to pack for vacation. Start it months ahead of the trip because things will pop into your head at random times like while you are waiting in the school pick up line, or standing in line at the grocery store. When you think of things at those random moments, open the app and add them to the list. Then when it’s time to start packing you have a list that you have compiled over time and you don’t have to sit there and rack your brain last minute, which can make you start to feel overwhelmed.
You can also take some of the stress out of picking a place by getting the family involved to make the final decision. Select a few places and get the family together to look at all the choices and decide together. Look at pics and videos online, discuss activities and excursions for each one, then talk about the pros and cons and narrow it down until you come up with a winner. You can make it into a family fun night type activity with snacks and everything! This can take the stress off of you to pick the destination, and then you won’t feel solely responsible and stressed out that someone in the family may not like the vacation.
DURING
So once you get to where you are going the stress may ramp up because you feel pressure to make sure everything goes perfectly, everyone is having fun and you get to do and see everything there is at your destination. It is unrealistic to think everything will be perfect and you can do it all, so keep that in mind once your vacation starts.
There are a few things you can do to combat the stress that pops up during your vacation including scheduling buffer days and being willing to change your plans if needed. If you have a lot of sight-seeing you want to do or you want to participate in a lot of activities on your vacation, you are going to need a buffer day. This is basically a down day to relax and recharge so that you don’t get run down and overwhelmed. You can stay in your room and order food in or sit by the pool and sip on fruity drinks, whatever is relaxing and stress free to you and your family. It may sound like you are wasting precious time that you could be doing stuff but the truth is, you won’t enjoy your days if they are so busy that you are exhausted.
“Even when you build downtime into your trip, it may not be enough. You may need to let go of some things and adjust your plan when necessary to take care of yourself. When we allow our trip to adapt to us instead of the other way around, we can find ourselves in a much more meaningful experience.”
So don’t put pressure on yourself to ‘stick to the plan’ at all costs, if you need to change your plans one day, that’s okay.
AFTER
It’s true that you will have a lot to do before you leave for vacation, but one important thing to add to your pre-vacation checklist is to prepare for post-vacation. When you get home you will be tired and probably a little sad that your fun, family time is over. The last thing you want to do when you get home is arrive back in a messy house with dirty dishes in the sink, no food in the pantry and laundry piled up.
To reduce that post-vacation stress, take care of those things before you leave. Have some non-perishables stocked up so that you have food available to cook when you come home and don’t have to immediately run out to the grocery store. You may not have time to do a deep clean of the house but get the family to help out in making sure things are put away and neat.
And don’t forget to give yourself some time when you return home to get things back in order. It’s okay if the dirty clothes you brought home from your trip don’t get washed the day after you return. You may want to schedule a day off of work after you return just to catch up on your rest and unpack. Even relaxing vacations can take a toll on you physically so allow some time to recharge before you jump back into your everyday duties.
Spending time with your family, outside of your normal environment and routine, is important. It can deepen your bond and create lasting memories. So don’t let the stress of vacations deter you from taking time to get away together. Just plan ahead and use some of these stress-reducing tips the next time you take a trip.
And, sometimes you will see things come to light on vacation: anxiety that one of your kids has, sibling fighting, one of your kids spills the beans about social challenges at school. If this does come up, that’s a good thing because then you know your kid needs support. If therapy is the kind of support you’re looking for, we’re happy to help.
