January 30th is National Plan for Vacation day. This is my type of holiday! As a person who loves to daydream, but also loves organizing, there could be no better way to finish off January than to plan my summer vacation. Some people might say that it’s still early to think about that, but there are actually a number of benefits to planning your time off way in advance. Here are just a few.
1. You have options
Last minute deals are tempting. In reality, these options are discounted for a reason. When you start to plan your vacation early, you get to scope out more sites and find the perfect place (and maybe one that doesn’t break the bank either). There are plenty of great deals out there if you search well enough.
2. You have a specific goal to save money for
When you have a specific goal in mind, you might be more prone to save money. For instance, if you don’t get your usual five dollar latte every morning, you will have $35 to add to your vacation jar by the end of the week. Sometimes the best way to discipline yourself is to force yourself to save.
3. You have something to look forward to
Planning your vacation well in advance will motivate you to keep working and not taking unnecessary days off. If you have something that you look forward to time seems to fly by at a faster pace than when you have to work day in and day out.
4. You can get more people on board
Telling all your friends about your travel plans way in advance will also give them time to adjust their schedules in order to fit in a vacation. It’s always tempting to go on a spontaneous road trip only to have half of your friends bail on you the day before because they couldn’t get time off work.
5. You can plan out your sightseeing options
Touristy places and activities can be fun. Planning everything in advance is the best way to figure out what is worth seeing and what should be left out of your itinerary. You will have a lot of time to read all the necessary reviews ahead of time, rather than trying to connect to the airport wi-fi and seeing what top 10 tourist sites to check out on a spontaneous trip.
6. You don’t have to rush to get all the necessary things for your trip
You thought you had sunscreen but then it turned out that it became expired six months ago,and now you have to buy the overpriced airport stuff. This happened to the best of us. When you plan in advance you get to figure out what days work best for your vacation shopping so that you can fit everything in. You also get time to plan out all your outfits and make sure you don’t forget anything if you’re not packing last minute.
7. You have time to get all your documentation in check
I have heard numerous horror stories of people not realizing that their passport expired, and they were not eligible to leave the country. If you plan in advance you have the chance to get all your documentation in order way before your holidays, and avoid this mishap.
In the dead of winter it’s always nice to dream of a perfect vacation. So even if you aren’t actually going to go ahead and buy your tickets in the next couple of months to your dream destination, it is still nice to picture it.
Feature image via Unsplash
