While planning and throughout your holiday, what are your best tips for reducing stress?

Answer 1

Careful planning is essential especially top avoid stress when travelling with kids.

My top tips are:
Good flight departure/arrival times
Night flights with kids for longhaul
Pre-book seating and special meals
Take a new book for flight
Wear comfortable clothes in layers that you can take off when the temperature gets warmer or colder!
Minimise amount of baggage especially in the hold.
ie 4 passengers including children you can take 4 hand luggage cases
Make sure that the holiday has something for everyone who is going. ie golf kids club diving canoeing cookery class
If very stressed stay in a hotel where you are looked after with food at any time ie a villa rental/self-catering can be hard work!
Start the packing process a week before - just start putting clean/ironed suitable piles swimwear tops underwear trousers skirts and say will I really wear that?
Cardigan or wrap for evening if cool.
Do not get sunburn - it will ruin your relaxation - you will have a great tan after a week even if you use factor 40.
Buy a good guidebook or look at the internet for ideas for places to visit. Useful to hear personal reviews though everyone is different.
Do not spend entire time taking photos - enjoy relaxing with friends or family.

Answer 2

Firstly I wouldn't get stressed while planning a holiday because all you've got to worry about is packing some clothes etc. Not the be all and end all of life. You must have high stress levels! I usually pack a day before and I definitely don't get stressed throughout my holiday as that's the whole point of going on one - to avoid the worries of daily life! Relax more is my advice.

Answer 3

Don't plan to the extreme. Make some guidelines on what
you want to do, and where you'll do it. Leave yourself open to
a change of mind. So have several locations and places to
explore, and maybe decide after you arrive at your hotel and
have a rest. Then go over what you'd wanted to see, but hadn't made any definate plans. Sometimes, spur of the mo-
ment decisions work out better than the well laid out ones.
Sometimes weather will change and prevent you from
doing something outside you'd planned. So have alternate
ideas to consider in case of such an event.
List several restaurants, and know which type of food
is their specialty. If it's pub food you think you'd want, then
list a few if you know of some. Don't pinpoint down to the
exact one. Be flexible. Know if you need reservations at
particular places. And then make your decision on which to
reserve a table. Maybe you'd want to go for an early dinner,
so leave the reservations til mid day when you expect you'll
know when you'll be hungry later. Nothings' worse than to plan
and reserve a table for a set time, and then not be hungry til
much later. You want to be free from stress to enjoy your hol-
iday, so don't be too stringent on your plans. Give yourself
plenty of choices and then decide what appeals to you when
you get there and have a chance to rest and relax.

Answer 4

Open mindedness and preparedness are the keys. There's no real way of knowing what to expect, even on the commute to work so the best way to avoid stress is to prepare a little emergency pack, with some currency, a phone card, a first aid kit... whatever use your imagination. Shop around for decent travel insurance.

Then just do the common sense stuff; book your tickets, pack your bags and go.

What ever happens, see it as a good thing or else try to see the funny side. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Answer 5

Since is a holiday, why stress ? Take things as they come and forget about planning too much. By making too many plans we are creating the stress automatically as we all know things are likely to go not necessarily wrong but not always according to plan. So, do not make too many plans, just pack your luggage and go with the flow. This is my policy and I never get stressed. I may get a bit nervous about the travelling, but nerves are there to run up and down. Holiday is suppose to wipe the stress out not to increase it, what is the good having a holiday then?

Answer 6

On returning from a holiday, I wash and iron all holiday clothes, swimsuits, towels etc and put them into a spare set of drawers ready for the next holiday,the same goes for toothbrushes/toothpaste, shampoo, soap etc. New holiday clothes are always bought in the sales therefore avoiding the last minute rush to the shops. All passports etc are put in one travel document case in then safe and then when the next holiday comes around it's a 1 hours job putting everything back into the cases. I'm never stressed, cos it's all ready. The house is cleaned top to bottom the week before we go about 2 hrs a day sees this done, so when we get back it's like a shiny new pin and then the process starts all over again ready for the next holiday.

Answer 7

I'm not a good one to talk because I am always stressed before, during and after the holiday, but I look at my husband, who never stresses before, during or after. It's quite amazing. Packing consists of throwing some stuff in a bag about an hour before we leave (or when we're driving, my husband sometimes doesn't even bother with the bag, he just slings stuff into the trunk!).

So here are my scenarios as a stressaholic, and my husband's relaxed - and when you think about it very practical - response:

Me: But that's not ironed. It's not even clean!
Him: So we use the laundry service when we get there!

Me: You'll forget something (toothbrush, belt)
Him: Nothing I can't buy when we get there.

Me: Hurry, hurry, we'll miss the plane/train/ferry!
Him: When did we ever miss the plane/train/ferry? Answer: "Never".

Me: Nothing you have thrown into the bag (car trunk) goes with anything else. You'll look ridiculous.
Him: So? I'M ON HOLIDAY!!

Answer 8

To say in your mind, 'I am going on holiday to relax and not feel stressed.' Always keep in mind the holiday is a means of excitment, adventure, relaxation and enjoyment. If you have these beleifs you will enjoy booking the holiday and enjoy it when you are out there. Incorporate the whole family (if have one), so everyone is talking, laughing putting their input, making the experience bringing people together with negogiation and happy compromise. I don't think the holiday is the stressful experience you are just a stressful person who needs to learn how to relax. Good luck.

Answer 9

Stay in, travel in and see more of the Country that you are already in!

Don't stress at the air-port, burning the planet with a flight that takes your money out of the country; stay at home and find peace, tranquillity and the smugness of a guilt free, stress free holiday.

All you really need for a holiday is to nail up your letter-box and flush your phone down the toilet!

Holiday is a state of mind not a place!

Answer 10

The better you plan your holiday, the less stress you will get throughout it. Which may not always be true of course, but it is important to learn about the place one is travelling to, its' customs and traditions, especially if visiting for the first time.

But in general, what I've learned from my own experience, is to be open to everything, and try to see the best side in every new experience.

Standards differ from place to place, and what is unacceptable in one country can be perfectly fine in another, so be free to accept whatever you have on offer.

I had some few stressful moments when travelling to Middle East, but with hindsight, I shouldn't have worked myself up so much about the harassing sellers in shops and markets, about the change they forgot to return, about misplaced orders in restaurants, etc. Those petty things kept a fraction of my attention from enjoying the experience in general.

And the last, but not the least, is the sense of humour! It will help to deal with almost everything!