Top tips for an organised (stress-free) holiday
Holiday planning (and travel itself) can be stressful, so make things easier for yourself by staying as organised as you can. These are our top tips.
Plan ahead
Make a list. A big one. Write down everything that needs to be done relating to your holiday, from booking the tickets and buying travel insurance to remembering to cancel the newspaper delivery. Keep this list as an ongoing project for a few weeks before you go away – every time you remember something, add it to the list. This way you (hopefully) won’t remember something really important that you haven’t done while you’re on the way to the airport.
Take it with you
Don’t rely on paper copies of important documents – these can be gone in a second. Email yourself copies of your passport, travel insurance documents, itinerary, important phone numbers and anything else you might need if you lose all of your belongings. Make sure you’re also registered for online banking so that you can keep track of your finances while you’re on the road. If you’re driving, there are a number of apps that allow you to download maps and then use them while you’re offline (so no hefty data bills). You can also set up an online calendar with all your movements and share it with family members so they know where you are and how they can contact you in an emergency.
Pack smarter
For a truly organised trip, you’ll need to pack properly. It’s tempting to just keep putting things into your suitcase until nothing else will fit, squeezing the top down and zipping it in. But how many times have you taken a holiday and worn hardly anything you brought with you (but still had to carry around). When you start to pack lay everything out on a large flat surface (like your bed) to assess what you really have. Then edit. Ruthlessly. Be honest with yourself about what you will wear, how much ironing you’re going to do and how much you really want to carry. Choose only items that go well with lots of other things in your suitcase and can be easily mixed and matched. Try to stick to a simple, fairly neutral colour palette and take a couple of accent items to jazz them up. Look for items that can do double duty – a great black t-shirt can be worn during the day with jeans or throw on a scarf and wear it with a skirt in the evening.
Time is golden
It’s one of the golden rules of travelling – always leave yourself more time than you think you’ll need. There is nothing more stressful than worrying you’ll miss your connection because your flight is late or making a mad dash to the airport because the taxi didn’t show up. Plan your timing carefully and then always leave in a comfortable buffer. If you’re early, you can grab a coffee and wait. But if you’re late…
But leave some of it to chance
Sure, it’s great to be organised know exactly where everything is and what you’ll be doing a week from Sunday. But don’t forget to leave some time for the unexpected. Part of the joy of being so organised is that you can take some time out from it, follow a whim, explore that detour and let yourself relax, without worrying that the rest of your trip will fall apart.