photo courtesy of Nanaskart!

It’s hard to believe summer is almost here … my kids are out of school a week from today!!! And if your May is like ours, you are probably in need of some kind of vacation. If you have a trip of some sort in your horizon – whether far away or close by {there are advantages to both} – here are great tips on upping the ” : )” of your vacay:

These tips come from a great article I’d clipped last year. I found the article on-line and have included the link at bottom of post – by Daniel Ariely, PhD, and comes from Bottom Line {one of my long-time favorite weekly publications}:

• Spend time doing some planning {research!}.  Ariely says, “It sounds counter-intuitive, but people get the biggest boost in happiness from the anticipation in the weeks before their vacations. All the planning, dreaming, reading guidebooks and surfing the Internet for recommendations doesn’t just serve to enhance the actual vacation – it can be one of the best parts of the vacation.”

{Personal note: I’ve noticed the same thing with planning a party… especially my children’s birthday parties. They LOVE planning (and changing weekly) every detail. My youngest has been planning his 8th birthday party for months now – and it’s not until August!}

Other interesting suggestions:

• Consider taking a few shorter trips {vs. one long one}
• Have a high point: “People tend to think it’s the overall average of the various vacation experiences {easy travel, good food, good weather} that determines your happiness. But studies reveal that what really matters is doing something memorable.” Also, if you make this high point happen at the end of your trip it’ll tend to stand out more when vacation is just a memory…
• Even if your vacation is to the same place doing the same thing year after year, Ariely suggests adding a little something different each time. His example: “cooking a meal that you’ve never tried before and inviting acquaintances you just met to share it with you.”  {That’s actually a good combo… if the meal is lousy,  you’ll never see them again so no worries!}
• Don’t let the vacation low points get you down. Another personal note:  When my amazingly incredible sister took us to Paris, my luggage {along with my brother-in-law’s} was MIA for 2 whole days.  Not to mention, we missed our connection due to bad weather and had to spend the 1st night at a hotel airport in DC. So despite spending 48+ hours in that {dreadful} head-to-toe brown velour sweatsuit {which I’m wearing in what seems to be a majority of our pictures} these “low points” actually are what we love looking back at now.

To read more {including why he says not to take too many pictures}, click on this link:  Ariely’s Surprising Secrets to a Great Vacation, from October 1, 2010’s edition of Bottom Line.

COMING SOON:

I’ll share some travel-related organizing tips soon… including two BIG things I do now {one before I leave and the other right when I arrive} that have become “absolutes” for me when I travel.