Planning Your Vacation and Creating a Checklist   

By Jayaram V

It is said that Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology, used to suffer from anxiety before traveling. Some anxiety before going on a vacation is normal, because travel implies change in your surroundings and moving out of your comfort zone, which may be your home or workplace, to a new and different place. If we are planning to go on a vacation to an entirely unknown place or a foreign country, which we haven't visited before, we are bound to experience more anxiety.

It is one thing to wish for a dream vacation and another to make a realistic and practical plan to make it happen. If you want to go on a hassle free vacation to exotic places and enjoy your vacations, you need to plan carefully, gathering as much information as possible and making wise choices. You need to be familiar with the places you want to travel and possess some basic skills in scheduling, budgeting, time management, forecasting and event coordination. You have to be good at adaptation, improvisation and communication so that you can cope with the challenges and contingencies that may arise during your vacation.

If you are traveling with your family, you have to be doubly careful and make sure that neither you nor anyone else would be part of the baggage others have to carry!
When it comes to planning your vacation, it is important not to take anything for granted or rely upon your memory, even if you are blessed with high IQ. It is a good measure to prepare a comprehensive checklist, well in advance, and use it as a reference to make arrangements for your travel and stay. The purpose of going on vacation is to relax and enjoy. No one would like to see their vacation turn into a nightmare, because of someone‘s negligence or mistakes. A vacation checklist will empower you to keep your vacation planning under your radar. It will save you time and effort and loads of trouble. With the help of a written checklist, you can minimize oversight and pull off a memorable and happy vacation.

A checklist can be as simple or as detailed as you want it to be, depending upon where go, how long you stay and what you intend to do during your free time. A simple check list will suffice if you are familiar with the place you are planning to visit. But if you have not visited the places before or if you are traveling with others for whom you are responsible, you may require a detailed checklist.