My family and I were playing a game of Jenga® last evening and it occurred to me that I’ve spoken to a number of clients who approach their vacation time like this game. They start out with a nice solid base of activities to do and sites to visit during the planning process. However, as the planning goes on there seems to be more and more that they want to add to the itinerary. The pace can’t withstand, many realize during the process that it’s just too much. While others insist on pressing through, only to realize half way into their vacation that they are ready to collapse.
We encourage all of our clients to be realistic in their planning. A week can be a great amount of time for a vacation, but not if you want to see “all of Italy” or you want to visit all of the National Parks in the Western part of the US. Sure, you may be able to work it out on paper, but even if you could pull it off, would you even remember what you saw at the end of the week?
I spoke last winter about the two couples we met in Northern Ireland who were finishing a 6 night trip around the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. When asked what their favorite part of the trip was one gentleman spoke up and said “Nothing! We haven’t seen anything, all we’ve done is race from one B&B to the next!”
Just like that game of Jenga® they stacked their itinerary so aggressively that it tumbled down before they finished out their vacation.
It’s important when you are building your itinerary, whether for a weekend getaway or a grand vacation spanning several weeks or longer, that you leave some space in for detours. As my daughter and I left Hampton yesterday after my picking her up from camp we rode around the block instead of making a u-turn. When we did, we saw that one of the streets had trees lining the sides that were covered in lights. We were in the wrong lane to turn that direction and she mentioned that we should have gone that way instead. We had plenty of time and weren’t in a rush to get home, so, we drove around the block again and drove through the lights. It was a nice little detour from our planned drive home. Much like wandering the neighborhoods of Paris or taking the scenic route instead of the interstate, it’s allowing yourself the time to really experience your surroundings. It’s the serendipitous moments like this that will be remembered far longer than checking off boxes on a list of sights to see during your vacation.
Let me know when we can help you start planning the vacation you’ve been dreaming about. You can click here or call the office and we can get started today. I look forward to helping you discover the world through travel.
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