This is a blog post about how not to fall in the trap of trying to push everything in your vacation and come home needing another one. This is just the way that I have learned to travel more slowly and enjoy my experiences more and more. Slow travel is all about experiencing life in the moment and living out more authentic experiences. Read more about slow traveling in this post.
Start by making a list of what you want to do
Make a complete list of everything you want to do in the place that you’re going. Don’t think about it too much, just write down everything that comes to mind. It doesn’t matter if the list is 3 pages long, we will start changing it in one of the later steps.
What are the things that hold you back
This can mean a time limit, your health or energy level, the season that you are going, the money that you have. Write down what these things are.
Write down what you want out of this trip
You might be surprised about how many people come home and feel exhausted after a vacation. What is the feeling that you want to get when you are back home. Do you want to have lots of experiences with locals, have 10 sites you want to see, do a cooking class, come home refreshed or read 3 books. Whatever it is, write it down. Now it’s time to add, remove and change or list.
Changing the list
Start with the things you absolutely want to do while you are there. Do you have enough time and money for it, can you already see what you can’t do because of this choice? Now start to think about what you would like to do if you have the time. It might be handy to make a rough itinerary. This is just to see how much time you have and what is possible in that time. What are the this that you have to skip? Your list is getting smaller.
Make your itinerary
Now it’s time to see if your rough estimate for your time is reasonable. Check your list of what you want out of this trip and see if you’re feeling good about the possibilities. Are you okay with letting go of certain things? Maybe you need to add something or let go of a place or activity. Keep you back to your vision for what you want out of this trip.
Hope this has helped you in your process of developing yourself and the way you travel. It’s not something that happens easy but it’s so worth it in the end. No more stress and more wonderful memories while you travel the world.
I made a list of favorite travel gadgets to make my trip as easy as can be, on the page below you will see a preview of that, check out the full link if you are interested in that.
Items I love while traveling
Feet hammock airplane
This airplane hammock for your feet is great for when you are traveling long flights. I love that it can be hung over the airplane table and I can rest my feet when I’m tired. It is adjustable and it is really comfortable.
Collapsible handheld fan
I don’t know about how you deal with heat but I need a bit of cooling down when I’m traveling. This easy (and cute) fan is my go to for when I am too hot. It can be charged with usb which is super practical.
Airplane pocket
Being organized always makes me happy and when I saw this amazing pocket for over your airplane table I was sold. You place it over the table (so you instantly have a clean table) and you can add all you need, when you have a long flight.