Three Simple Steps for Taking the Stress Out of Your Vacation

Whether you're taking a day trip, long weekend or a vacation that lasts a week or longer, a vacation never seems long enough. That's why it's important to get the most out of it: it's one of your few opportunities to spend quality leisure time with your significant other, friends, family or just by yourself. By following these three simple steps, you can ensure that all involved will enjoy their time away from home.

Step One: Do your homework. You don't have to plan every minute of every day (although some people prefer this), but at least book a place to stay (if you plan on staying over night) and get a feel for the attractions, activities and eateries in the area you'll be going to. A spontaneous romantic getaway can add excitement to your relationship, but driving around trying to find a place with a vacancy with a car filled with tired kids will almost guarantee you a miserable time. The biggest cause of stress on a vacation involves making decisions - the bigger the group, the harder it is to get everyone to agree about where to eat and what to do. Taking everyone's wants and interests in mind prior to your trip will allow you to plan activities that appeal to everyone.

Step Two: Separate business from pleasure. With devices such as the Blackberry and email-enabled cell phones, you can stay in touch with the office no matter where you go. This can be a bad thing, especially on a family vacation, as the people you're traveling with may feel neglected. The best thing to do here is to leave your work at home if possible. Now if you own a small business or are in a line of work where you are expected to always be on call, try to schedule time each day for work. Perhaps you'll get up an hour before everyone else so you can check and respond to your messages, or maybe you'll have designated four hour blocks where you've set the expectation at work that you won't be available. In any case, if you want to relax on vacation, you can't be worried if the beach will have cell phone coverage or if you can get to a high speed internet connection within thirty minutes. Try to set the expectation at work that you're vacation is your time.

Step Three: Don't get worked up over small things. I've gone on trips and have forgotten everything from my shaving kit to baby food to a camera. Forgetting these small items (even though you can replace them all for under $30) can cause a lot of unnecessary stress. So you forgot to pack your toothbrush - in the unlikely event that the place you're staying won't give you a complementary on, simply go to a convenience store and pick one up for under $2. Forgot your camera? Well unless you're professional photographer, you can pick up a disposable one for under $10. The worst thing you can do is get into an argument over who forgot to pack the item. Also, don't let other people ruin your day. Some people are rude and obnoxious and will never change so don't let the fact that they cut you off in traffic or in line, smoked in a non-smoking area, bought the last item you were dying to pick up or used inappropriate language in a public setting eat away at you for the whole trip. After the incident, they've gone away and probably will never think of you again, so why let them continue to torture you?

Vacations should be happy and pleasurable. They're often the only opportunities we have to spend quality time with our friends and loved ones. So kick back, relax and enjoy yourself - you've earned it.