an easily overstimulated baddie's guide to low stress vacation planning & prepping

you probably guessed it, but yes my husband and I are both easily over stimulated baddies. just a cute thing we have in common. and as overstimulated baddies who also love to vacation, it can cause a little extra stress when we are prepping for a big trip.

so after years of traveling together, we've worked on creating a system that focuses on building a collaborative plan and doing as much things as we can in advance to prevent that morning of a trip rush/stress. and good news, it's been so effective that doesn't leave us crashing out and/or going non verbal for the first 45 minutes of a trip. yay!

and so sharing is caring, especially if it helps any other easily overstimulated baddies have a easier, better and low stress start to vacation. so I am sharing our planning with some examples and tips we've worked on over the years.

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you don't have to be an easily overstimulated baddie to need a low stress vacation prep plan...

but if you ARE an easily overstimulated baddie, maybe the scenario resonates with you.

it's the morning of the vacation you have been looking forward to for months. you have to leave pretty early, and you've done the math in your head. working backwards from the deadline time to making sure that you have time to make your coffee, time to get those last minute items in your bag, time to pack the car, etc.

...only to wake up in a Home Alone like situation or maybe nothing like a Home Alone situation, but it still feels like it (I mean we are easily overly stimulated baddies after all). and in the midst of all the craziness, things are only made worse by...

• little to no organization

• the panic energy of everyone rushing

• everyone shouting out random questions or requests (myself included) while trying to focus on your own responsibilities

and sure most likely everything will come together, maybe missing a thing or two, but it's highly likely you'll be spending the first 45 minutes of the trip fighting and/or in complete silence.

but things don't have to be that way and the key to this is really building a plan with tools that everyone has access to and not leaving everything to the last minut

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setting intentions

the best plan starts with the best intentions.

• the ultimate goal of this plan is to foster easy communication - we all know stress is lowered when everyone is on the same page.

• eliminate un-neccessary questions by creating a shared resource for everyone

• empower everyone to participate in the planning process, kids included

**IMPORTANT NOTE: I am a mom of a kiddo and a teen so this plan does have tips for integrating kids into the trip plan. I am a large fan of this because not only does it minimize some of the labor and repeated questions, it gets them invested and more excited for the trip when they get some decision making opportunties.

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the official low stress plan

the nitty gritty details of my official low stress trip planning and prepping. use this as a blueprint, adapt it for what works best for you, or chop it up and just take what you need. let this plan serve as inspo just like it suggests, a guide, no need to complete any portion of it that doesn't benefit you.

make a plan

one - two weeks before trip

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP!

make a shared notes app to store important trip information. invite everyone that is going on the trip to the shared note. This will allow anyone to update and add items to plan.

**as the family project manager I get the list started, but you could certainly start this at the group/family meeting.

• trip itinerary, including dates and destinations

• prep checklist

• packing list

• activity/restaurant ideas

  
  

PRO TIP: include a section for places and restaurants you would like to visit on your trip. this way you don't have SUPER schedule every day but rather refer to a list of ideas the night or morning of to plan the day!

reasons it has to be a shared note:

• gives everyone the tools to access the trip information

• allows everyone to add input and ideas to the trip itinerary

• minimizes repeated detail related questions since everything is in the list

• empowers older children (if applicable) to be more involved in the process and informed on packing essentials etc.

group/family meeting

one week - 5 days before trip

if this trip includes a larger group than scheduling the meeting earlier might be more effective.

meeting agenda:

• review/create shared note

• discuss travel details & trip itinerary

• collaborate on trip plans, scheduled dates

• empower everyone to add restaurant and activity ideas to this list

• review prep & pack list (assign tasks if needed)

the KEY to the family or group meeting is communication and encourage everyone to refer to the plan before asking questions.

prep everything you can in advance

the week of the trip

not leaving things to the last minute is the easiest way to prevent unneccessary stress. which is why I try and spend the week leading up to the trip to accomplish as many of the items on the prep list as possible. really leaving only the essential items to the day of.

here are some things you can start prepping ahead of the trip:

4-5 days before

• start washing, organizing and packing clothes

• gathering any additional items needed for trip: small self care items, passports or IDs, etc.

2-3 days before

• grabbing trip snacks (plane or road trip requirement)

• restocking on hobby items (mostly yarn) so I can crochet while traveling

• clean your house: maybe it's just me but I love coming home to a nice organized home after a long trip

the day before

• double check the kids packing (if applicable)

• gas up the car, if this is road trip

• make coldfoam: I don't go anywhere without it.

• pack the car, especially for a road trip, the night before if possible. saving my last minute self care items, phone chargers, etc to be thrown into my personal tiem the day of.

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my other traveling tips

these are some low stress traveling trips that I'd love to share, not strickly related to prepping for the trip, but helpful nonetheless.

• buy as much in advance as possible: excursions, events, accommodations, etc. Since I am usually always on a budget, paying for as many things as I can in advance relieves budget stress and leaves a little extra $$ on the table in case there are any unplanned for expenses

  
  

• don't overschedule each day: I like to leave 1-2 days at least, depending on the length of the vacation, where there is nothing on the schedule. this way we can klep things not sper booked, but more low key, and use the list everyone built together of places everyon wanted to visit and make a less formal plan.

at the end of the day, balancing organization while also focusing rest and fun. Ithink makes for the perfect low stress vacation. and making sure to start the trip off on the right foot, makes that more possible. but at the end of the day, regardless of whether you followed this plan or not we don't get enough vacation time in this life and so be sure to enjoy, rest and more importantly have fun!