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| Vacation dreams: Sunny skies and smooth sailing! |
Shock!
When you prepare ahead, just a little, those disasters won’t ruin the trip.
We look forward to vacation, whether the dream getaway or a weekend to unplug, and all the wonderful promise it holds. We expect the picture postcard trip. Then reality strikes: lost luggage. The car breaks down. Emergency trips to the hospital. Bad weather. Flight delays. We have a choice: let the bad stuff ruin the trip or grin and bear it.
Travel tips for when things go wrong
Keep your cool. When you stay calm, you think more clearly, which is important for handling crises or other inconveniences. Besides, if you blow up, you’re probably screaming at an employee as frustrated as you are — and who cannot fix it no matter how much they want to.
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| A sweet surprise! Snow in July! |
Be prepared. Travel with emergency contact numbers for family, doctor, credit cards, hotel, travel agency, car and airport. When trouble strikes, you will have the contacts you need to make adjustments. When traveling internationally, register your trip with the State Department for better help in case of emergency.
Expect that things might go wrong. We returned recently from a dream vacation to Paris. Normally, Paris doesn’t get much rain in April, but we tend to attract it wherever we go. In the weeks leading up to the trip, I packed for rainy weather. I imagined myself with soggy feet and wet hair. We were pleasantly surprised to have rain only two evenings the whole time. The actual weather far exceeded my expectations. If you “imagine” perfection, you can only be disappointed. When you envision what could go wrong — not to the point of dwelling on it — your trip will invariably go better.
Learn from your mistakes. Did you forget to pack underwear? Head to the store, buy more and move on. You will remember to check (recheck and check a third time) to make sure you packed underwear in the future. Life happens, even on vacation, and we can learn from our mistakes.
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| Don’t let the little things drive you crazy! |
Choose to be happy. We’ve all seen them, the people who complain to the hotel desk clerk, the waiter, the lifeguard, the bus driver… and everyone else. Grumpiness doesn’t accomplish much, though, and it certainly won’t create memories people want. Choose to be happy, even if the weather closes the amusement park or the snow melts right off the ski slope. (You can apply this to family reunions, too!)
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| Have fun!!! You’re on vacation. |
Packing a positive attitude improves any vacation!
Oh! The airport nightmares! I absolutely hate those! These are really great tips Karen!
Karen, thanks for the great tips! I am a concierge by day and do a lot of travel planning. I’m going to hang onto these so that I can share some with my customers, also. 🙂
Love this! Man i need a vacation! its been over a year! 🙁
Such great tips. I always traveled well as an adult. But one I became a mommy traveling with kids I was often at a loss. I love the don’t expect perfection and choose to be happy tips. I know they have saved MANY a trip for us as well.
There is always something that goes wrong for sure, but they always make great stories later to cherish forever! Great post:)
Luckily I haven't missed a flight yet! (At least not on account of being late for one…) we've had delays and cancelled flights and its always a headache, more so now that we have a child. These are fantastic tips!
Awww…I felt so bad reading that story about your family getting stranded in the airport! Of course something like that would be terrifying for a little child. (Heck, airports pretty much terrify me as an adult!)
Yeah, there is inevitably SOMETHING that always goes wrong on any vacation. It's best just to roll with it. On our honeymoon I ended up with a UTI (I hear that's actually pretty common), and on our last cruise my son got a stomach bug and ended up puking all over the Bahamas. Oh, and then he got his hand crushed in an elevator door on the cruise ship. There's always something, it seems!
But hey, when those moments happen, I just remind myself that they'll make for fantastic stories later!
Following! Have a great weekend!
Smiles, Jenn @Misadventures in Motherhood
Jenn, My younger son spent his first cruise vomiting from motion sickness. For some reason, it stuck in his mind as the best vacation ever for a long, long time. Not sure why! Those misadventures do make the most fantastic stories. 🙂
Karen,
So, so true! I find that the older and more patient I become {ahem} I enjoy travelling so much more. I take delays in stride and end up a much better traveller over all.
Thanks for that vote of confidence!