Whether you're getting ready to travel to another country for a week or heading abroad for a whole month, the emotions are sure to start flowing. We're talking about the excitement, the daydreaming, the hype and...the stress? Luckily for you, we've been thinking a lot how to get organized for a vacation the night before it starts.
To some degree, we all get a little stressed thinking about vacation preparation. And while a little bit of it is good to keep you on your toes, you can eliminate the majority of your stress by getting all your ducks in a row the day before vacation begins. how to get organized for a vacation
Read on to discover our exhaustive list of essential travel tips, tricks, and cheats that give us that ever-powerful peace of mind the night before vacation even begins.
Run through your checklist one last time.
Check wallet for credit cards + cash.
Check for IDs/Passports (updated and valid).
4. Lay out anything you'll be using the next day.
Charge your electronics.
Double-check your itinerary.
Do a home check.
Communications: emails, neighbors, friends, etc.
Share you itinerary with trusted people.
Drink lots of water.
Sleep well.
Embrace the excitement.
vacation Preparation and travel tips
1. Run through your packing list one last time.
This may seem like an obvious place to start when we're talking about vacation preparation, but if you've created personal check-lists in different places (your work laptop, your personal laptop, your phone notes...etc.), you'll want to consolidate those lists and run through them to make sure you have everything you need already packed away.
2. Check wallet for credit cards + cash.
Two common mistakes travelers make that are easily avoidable are not having cash and not having credit cards cleared for international use. Make sure you've called your credit card company to let them know you'll be traveling out of the country – otherwise, risk having your cards declined in a new country! Some credit card companies allow you to do this online, but a quick phone call works fine. As far as cash, make sure to take enough to get you through your basic transportations and a few meals.
3. Check for IDs/Passports (updated and valid).
While this is probably something you should have covered a few weeks prior, still checking that your IDs are not expired is important to make sure that if you can make a call or swap an old ID for a more recent one, you do so immediately.
4. Lay out anything you'll be using the next day.
This is one of our favorite travel tips. Clothes, toiletries, electronics, IDs, plane tickets...anything that you're planning to use the next day, pack at the top of your luggage or backpack and make sure it's accessible to avoid rushing or messing with your perfectly packed suitcase.
5. Charge your electronics.
There is nothing fun about waking up to a dead phone (or maybe not waking up because you missed your alarm!?). Charge all of your electronics the night before vacation, and if possible, charge them all in the same space to avoid forgetting to pack them the next day.
6. Double-check your itinerary.
Do a quick run-through of your itinerary to check for flight details (and check-in to your flight if you haven't already!). Look for details in dates, host or contact information, and anything else that might be important.
7. Do a home check.
Make sure everything that needs to be off in the house is off, and everything that needs to be on...is on. Make sure any pets and plants are watered and fed before their assigned caretaker shows up, and that any home instructions or keys are placed where they need to be placed.
8. Communications: emails, neighbors, friends, etc.
When we thin about what to do the last day before vacation, we can get a bit overwhelmed and forget about the basics. But, believe us, those basics are important. When you're traveling internationally, it's not always easy (or desirable) to get back to people on important matters via text, call or email. Make sure whatever you needed to get done in terms of emails, coordinating with neighbors, friends or family, is all done so you're not scrambling for internet or phone service while traveling.
9. Share you itinerary with trusted people.
It's always smart to let a friend or family member know where you'll be traveling through. Even if that just includes some contact information for your accommodations, hosts, or names and dates for places you'll be visiting, that information could go a long way in case of an emergency.
10. Drink lots of water.
If you're traveling internationally, being in transit for several hours might be exhausting both physically and mentally. Try to use your prep time to be extra hydrated so that your body won't feel the impact of your travels as much (and to avoid bloating on long flights!).
11. Sleep well.
If you don't do anything else on this list...at least get a good night's rest! You'll thank yourself in the morning when you're well rested and ready to take on any challenges that your travels might present (like bloating or fumbling through your luggage!).
12. Embrace the excitement.
Don't let any bit of stress overrule your excitement! Run with the positive emotions and things will turn out fine. If they aren't quite unraveling as you'd wished, just remember...it will probably turn out to be a good story you'll be telling your friends and family for years to come.
Once you've covered all of these steps, you'll be extra prepared to take on the world and you'll be on your way to kick of the BEST. TRIP. EVER!
🌍Once you've figured out how to prepare for a trip, check out our travel ideas and upcoming group trips to beautiful places around the world: FTLO's master calendar.