How To Meet Your Travel Expectations
K: Brandon and I feel very blessed to have traveled so much during our first year and a half of marriage. It’s something that we wanted to prioritize before having kids and we are always talking about new places to go, whether it’s as simple as the Olive Tree Orchard 45 minutes away, or as complicated as a trip through Southeast Asia. With every trip, it’s important to set goals and have a clear idea of what you want the vacation to look like. Today, we thought it’d be helpful to share ways on how to meet your travel expectations as a couple.
1. Brainstorm & Plan
Whenever we first start thinking about a trip, we turn to Pinterest and Instagram for sources of inspiration. If you’re looking to travel in a general region, or even a specific city, it’s great to get an idea of what is offered, what they’re known for, and all of the big things that pertain to that area. Brainstorm the sort of activities that you’d like to do and think about the general vibe you’d like the trip to have: is it going to be relaxing or filled with a “go, go, go” mentality? Will you spend the majority of time outdoors or do you want to devote time to museums, restaurants, monuments, etc? The major categories that we generally think of are: relaxed/pampered (think: spa vacation or all inclusive resort), cultural tourist (exploring and seeing all that a place has to offer with history, monuments, museums, etc), and finally, outdoor adventure (spending lots of time with nature and including outdoor activities. Getting a general idea of what you’d like to see/do is the most important step.
2. Make An Individual List
We love creating individual lists of our own “must see” or “must do” activities. Generate these lists separately and keep it brief. Maybe limit yourself to five things that you know you want to spend time on. Then, share your lists with one another. See if anything overlaps and make sure that your mindsets are similar with what you want overall.
3. Compromise & Communicate
From your list, you may need to eliminate some items based on time. If it’s just a simple weekend trip, you may find that you won’t have time to check everything off. Re-priortize together and communicate on what your most important items may be. Understand that with each trip should come a balance of what you want and what the other person wants. Side note for bloggers: I always make sure to discuss photos with Brandon beforehand. We communicate on what the expectation is, how many posts we’re trying to create with one trip, and when we may want to take photos.
4. Outline Your Days
I’ve talked about this tip before, but outlining your days in a simple spreadsheet is seriously the best travel tip we can give. While this takes a bit of research and time planning, it ultimately leaves you with a clear idea of what your trip will look like, ensuring that no one will be disappointed with the itinerary. We organize by day and break it down with morning, afternoon, and evening activities, restaurants, and notes. Some trips are much more planned than others and I’ll include names of the actual restaurants, reservation times, addresses of landmarks, etc. Other trips are more lucid and I’ll simply include a list of possible restaurants and options for the day. Either way works! But it’s nice to know what your options are and to keep a schedule of some sort so that you don’t fall behind with your plans. Plus, who wants to try and find a restaurant when you’re already starving? If you take time to research options, it saves a lot of time and frustration.
