When I'm not writing, I'm traveling. (I know what you’re thinking, “Why not write about your travels?”) Well… remember the Reese's commercials from the late 70's early 80's, "You got your peanut butter in my chocolate! No, you got chocolate in my peanut butter!” The premise was, combine these two loves and life will be even better.
Wrong. I tried writing on vacation about my vacation and realized I don't like to write while I'm traveling—I’m traveling. I should be resting, relaxing, and enjoying each moment in the now, not worrying about what I’m going to tell my readers later. (No offense.)
Until one day I noticed a before and after picture for a weight loss program in a magazine and realized, that's it, that's my angle. (Just to clarify, not the weight loss program, not that I couldn’t stand to lose a few.) I want to share the before and after of a trip—the planning of and the unpacking from.
Planning is crucial to a great vacation. Some people come back from trips more exhausted than when they left, and didn’t do half of what they had planned. From my experiences in piecing together our family road trips and international vacations I coined the phrase, “Plan Enough to be Flexible” a key element behind every future post on this blog. Hopefully my yoga-esque approach to planning holidays will bring serenity to your next vacation.
In addition to planning your next getaway, I will share what I believe is the forgotten piece of most travel shows—the reality of how the trip actually turned out. I call this, the aftermath. I will tally the actual costs and overall experiences of the trip, recount what did and didn’t work, and analyze what should’ve been done different.
Rest assured I will share both the good and the bad, only the names will be changed to protect the innocent.
Where you go is up to you, but this blog will help you prepare for your adventure before you go and explain how to relish the journey after your return. So, if you want to start getting the most out of your vacations—follow along.
And Travel like Me.
Chris