Pre-Vacation Tips

   So you're going on vacation, Congrats! I'm sure if you're anything like me there are years and years between your vacations where you actually go somewhere and do something, so you definitely deserve this vacation.
   I'm currently on vacation and I figured I'd give you some helpful tips on how to get ready for your vacation. These are tips that I use and they can definitely make things easier for you before and after your vacation.
 
  Tip 1: Make your checklists.
So your vacation is all planned you know where you're going and you have all the reservations made for your hotel, travel, etc. Awesome start! If not, tip my first tip can be helpful for that too.
You'll want a checklist for all the things you'll need to make reservations for, as each reservations is made check it off that way you can't loose track of what thing needs done next and later on you don't have to question if it was completed or not. 
Make a checklist of all the necessities you need to pack.
                                   Example of my current checklist
- Shirts (2)
- Pants (2)
- Underwear (2)
- Socks (2)
- Swimwear
- Toothbrush & Toothpaste
- Brush
- Shampoo & Conditioner
- Body wash
- Loofah
-Cell phone
- Cell phone chargers
- Makeup
- Jewelry
- Wallet

Now if you're going somewhere, like me, that you'll need snacks and/or food be sure to make a grocery list and go grab what you'll need.
                                                     Example
- Chips
- Snack cakes
- Pop and/or water
- Wine and/or sparkling grape juice (for if it's a nice place/occasion)
- Lunch
- Dinner
Be sure to bring enough to get you through the entire vacation.

Also make a checklist of everything you need to do before you leave. We'll talk about this later.

Once again, for every checklist make sure once the item is packed or completed to check it off!

   Tip 2: Preparing your food to take with you, if necessary
You're going somewhere and you don't want to starve, but you also don't want to take a lot of time cooking. Completely understandable. Think of meals that you know how to cook and narrow it down to the easiest recipes. They don't need to be showy meals, just something so you aren't hungry and grumpy on your vacation. I chose to do Hamburger Helpers that we like, Cheesy Taco and Cheesy Pasta. Yeah, we're cheesy. I cooked them the night before and stored them in the fridge in tubberware, each meal separated in plastic bags. For things like the tacos we wanted cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, etc. so I put those things in ziploc bags or little tubberwares and stuck those in the bags with the taco meal. When it's time to get packed all I have to do is get those bags out and place them in a bigger bag to tote around easier. Keep in mind the size of the fridge and freezer of the place you'll be staying, you don't want to bring more food than you have room for.


   Tip 3:
Get things around the house done before you leave. The worst thing is going to vacation and being all relaxed and having to come back and do a bunch of work! So before you leave get the dishes clean, take out the trash, clean the laundry and put it away, sweep/vacuum, etc. Make a checklist of everything you need done around the house, you don't have to go crazy and clean the whole place top to bottom, but anything that you will look at when you get back and say, "I need to do (clean) _____", do it before. Definitely, definitely make sure to do dishes and take out trash beforehand though, you don't want to come back to ants or rodents.


   Tip 4:
Don't forget about your animals. If you have animals at home they can't feed themselves, they can't walk themselves, and they don't want to be alone for days. Schedule a close family member or friend to come over, feed them, and spend a little time with them or pay to have them at a kennel. Personally I'd prefer them to be in an environment where they're comfortable and not feeling completely like you've dropped them off and abandoned them, but sometimes that's not an option and that's understandable. Just make sure they're taken care of. 


    Tip 5:
Don't forget entertainment. Very rarely are you going to be CONSTANTLY entertained on vacation, you'll have time before bed or first thing in the morning where there's nothing to do so you'll want to bring things for those times. If there's a DVD player bring DVDs and CDs. If there's several people bring card and/or board games. Laptops, cell phones, portable game consoles, etc. Do not forget the chargers! 

   Well I hope I've helped at least a bit. If you have any other tips I may have forgotten and/or not thought of please feel free to comment on this post. Happy vacation!