We still have nearly three weeks until our Spring Break (who came up with this year’s school calendar?! ACK!), but many people are traveling in the next week or two. Whether you are headed to the beach or the mountains, here are four last-minute tips for a great Spring Break (or a trip in winter, summer or fall):
- Travel Lighter – one of my favorite travel tips, especially when journeying with kids, is to stay in a hotel, condo or homestay with a washer and dryer. You can typically get away with packing half as much clothing. Since I’m an early riser, I do a load or two in about half way through, choose quick dry fabrics and do a rinse in the sink and hang to dry.
- What’s Going On? You probably have your itinerary locked down – time at the beach, visiting museums, the zoo, and other local attractions, or hitting the amusement park, but have you considered checking out a calendar of events for your destination? Check out the local newspaper’s Web site or Google “Things to Do This Weekend in XYZ”. You might find a concert, musical or other activity in town that would be worth checking out. On a great weekend trip to Chicago, we discovered that our favorite musician was in town, and were able to score tickets, making a fun get-a-away, even better and more memorable. Another tip – check out the local Groupon or Living Social sites. Not only can you find deals on restaurants and activities, but you might find something unique to do like learning to surf or going for a speedboat ride. I once booked bike rentals to ride the Spanish Moss Trail in Beaufort thanks to a Groupon deal in South Carolina.
- Know when to say “Whoa!” — There is definitely something to be said for building in a day to relax, rest and get over jet lag. Adding time onto a busy trip can be tough, especially when you want to maximize the limited time you have – and particularly when you’ve traveled far to get there. But, it is well worth padding some time to adjust your slow down if you need to (see From On-the-Go to Whoa).
Taking a break from a ski trip in Wisconsin
- Save Those Memories in Hard Copy – One of my New Year’s resolutions (and more here) is to make photo books from each trip we take (and even make a few from past trips). With websites like Mixbook, where you can simply drag and drop your FaceBook, Instagram and Google Photos pictures into your account. There’s even an option for travel books. Once you import your photos to your account, you can choose to autofill directly into the book, which literally took me one minute to do. Have wi-fi on your flight home or a hot spot in the car? Do it then and have a lasting keepsake of your trip waiting for you in a few days.
