Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #67| Enjoy a Blissful Vacation by Planning Ahead Using Mindfulness to Feel Less Overwhelm
Transcript
- 0:00Michelle Gauthier: Would you believe me if I told you that a fun vacation starts at home?
- 0:03Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
- 0:16Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, michelle Gothier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach.
- 0:20Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's working woman experiences and in each episode you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease and relaxation to your life.
- 0:32Michelle Gauthier: Hey friend, thank you for joining today.
- 0:36Michelle Gauthier: Do you ever go on vacation that you're looking forward to for so long and it ends up being way more stressful than you were hoping it would be, and when you get back, you feel like you need a rest, a vacation from your vacation?
- 0:50Michelle Gauthier: That is what we're going to be talking about today.
- 0:52Michelle Gauthier: We're going to be talking about how you can make vacations so much more fun and give yourself a chance to be so much more present when you start planning your vacation when you are still home.
- 1:03Michelle Gauthier: So today we're going to talk about some really practical strategies for planning ahead to make sure your family vacation is enjoyable and well, I want to say stress-free, but let's be real, that's not happening, but like the smallest amount of stress possible.
- 1:18Michelle Gauthier: How about that?
- 1:19Michelle Gauthier: A great way to prevent overwhelming stress in all forms and especially on vacation, where you least want to feel stressed is to plan ahead.
- 1:27Michelle Gauthier: So we're going to talk about packing, creating an intention for your vacation, having a flexible itinerary and just all in all, talking about how to set the stage for a memorable and relaxing trip.
- 1:41Michelle Gauthier: Okay, I don't know about you, but I have totally been on a vacation where it's pretty much stressful from start to finish when we have so few precious vacation weeks from work and we spend so much money and so much time and effort thinking about where we want to go for our vacation and choosing a place that we feel like will be perfect for either you and some girlfriends, you and a partner, you and your whole family with some kids, whatever it is.
- 2:08Michelle Gauthier: We spend so much time and effort choosing and thinking about it.
- 2:12Michelle Gauthier: It's a real bummer when you get there and it just turns out to be stressful because you haven't brought the right things, or you've brought too many things, or the people in your family aren't on the same page.
- 2:24Michelle Gauthier: You had a vision that it was going to be really relaxing and they had a vision that they were going to be doing a million things, or vice versa.
- 2:32Michelle Gauthier: So this episode is going to be really focused on the planning and organizing piece of travel.
- 2:38Michelle Gauthier: I have another episode, which is episode 12, which is all about the mindset on vacation and how to lower your expectations to have a really fun time.
- 2:47Michelle Gauthier: So we'll link that episode in the show notes.
- 2:50Michelle Gauthier: But the combo of that episode 12 plus this one will give you exactly what you need.
- 2:56Michelle Gauthier: All right, let's just think about the types of vacations that we could be going on.
- 3:00Michelle Gauthier: I'm just going to use my own examples here, so I'm just going to scale them from easy to hard as far as I'm concerned.
- 3:07Michelle Gauthier: So the easiest vacation for me to prep for, like, I went on a trip I guess it's been a couple years now with my handsome man friend.
- 3:14Michelle Gauthier: We went to Mexico, we went to an all-inclusive and we can just do whatever we want the whole entire time, so that one's like pretty straightforward and easy because we both just like to chill and then kind of medium is.
- 3:28Michelle Gauthier: I'm headed to Minnesota.
- 3:30Michelle Gauthier: I just got back from there.
- 3:31Michelle Gauthier: Actually, it's the same place I go every year with my kids and my parents and my siblings, and I know what to expect.
- 3:37Michelle Gauthier: We know how to pack for that usually, but there are a lot of people there and so it can get a little chaotic about about who wants to do what at what time, and then max prep and potential for stress.
- 3:48Michelle Gauthier: I'm taking my kids to Europe by myself, so they've never been, but I have, but not in a while, and some things are totally new to me.
- 3:56Michelle Gauthier: The way that you travel on trains is not the same as when I was there last time.
- 4:01Michelle Gauthier: So, no matter what type of vacation you're taking, maybe you have a real easy one around the corner, kind of a medium one, or, like I do, a one that really takes a lot of prep.
- 4:10Michelle Gauthier: What you're going to learn this episode today can apply to any type of vacation, so here is how to start to make your vacation much more enjoyable.
- 4:20Michelle Gauthier: Adopt the mindset that a fun vacation starts at home, and what I mean by that is do as much of the heavy lifting and planning as you can when you're still at home, because it's home and you can do that there, so that you can just enjoy when you're actually on vacation.
- 4:37Michelle Gauthier: There are three main things that I want you to do to plan your vacation and start the vacation fun at home.
- 4:45Michelle Gauthier: The first thing you want to do is set the tone, decide how much you're going to do or not do, and talk to your family or whoever you're traveling with.
- 4:55Michelle Gauthier: Talk to them about this too.
- 4:57Michelle Gauthier: So, if you think about yourself, what level of activity do you like?
- 5:01Michelle Gauthier: Do you like a vacation where you're literally just lying on the beach for days, or do you like a vacation where you have a thing or two planned, or do you like a vacation where you're just back to back?
- 5:11Michelle Gauthier: My cousin, Kate, shout out.
- 5:13Michelle Gauthier: Kate probably takes like five vacations a year.
- 5:15Michelle Gauthier: She makes the most of every minute.
- 5:17Michelle Gauthier: I was considering going to Iceland and she sent me her itinerary and it was planned down to where they were going to eat.
- 5:24Michelle Gauthier: She's also a foodie where they're going to hike, what they were going to do, and she really likes to do a lot on vacation, and it seems like her husband also likes that too, and I love following them and seeing all their pictures.
- 5:38Michelle Gauthier: Then there's somebody like my dad.
- 5:39Michelle Gauthier: He and I went to Panama and Colombia and we had the best time, but his approach to vacation is that the most fun that happens on any trip is when you just wing it.
- 5:49Michelle Gauthier: So we would just walk around, find a place to eat, ask the waiter to bring us whatever the most popular or best dish was, or ask the people sitting next to us or whatever.
- 5:58Michelle Gauthier: So our level of planning on that trip was like a 2 out of 10.
- 6:01Michelle Gauthier: We barely planned.
- 6:02Michelle Gauthier: And then when I went on that Mexico trip, we planned almost zero because we agreed that we both just wanted to chill.
- 6:09Michelle Gauthier: But even if you're going to an all-inclusive, if you're a big planner and you enjoy it, you can plan excursions, you can make dinner reservations, etc, etc.
- 6:16Michelle Gauthier: So just have that conversation with your family.
- 6:21Michelle Gauthier: While it can be tempting to fill every day with activities, especially this trip that I'm planning with my kids to Europe, it's important to remember that part of the fun of vacation is just the rest and the downtime, to kind of allow everyone to recharge so that they can enjoy parts of vacation.
- 6:38Michelle Gauthier: When I had this conversation with my kids about what I was planning for us to do each day, what I found out is neither one of them wanted to go to any art museums which is a bummer because I really like art and that my daughter just basically wanted to, in Paris, go to bakeries and go shopping, and so that was not on my itinerary.
- 6:58Michelle Gauthier: And I also had a day trip planned to Normandy for my son, who really loves World War II memorabilia and learning about World War II, and that I had to end up changing because I had booked us on a super early train.
- 7:13Michelle Gauthier: It's about a two-hour train ride and I booked us on a super early train so we could get there and really get going.
- 7:18Michelle Gauthier: On the day he was like, oh, that sounds horrible.
- 7:21Michelle Gauthier: And I thought, oh yeah, that kind of does.
- 7:23Michelle Gauthier: Why am I doing that to myself?
- 7:25Michelle Gauthier: So just have this conversation with your family.
- 7:27Michelle Gauthier: Make sure everybody's on the same-ish page.
- 7:30Michelle Gauthier: Remind everyone, too, that there will be times when everyone gets to do what they want to do on vacation, but it's not going to be the whole time.
- 7:37Michelle Gauthier: So sometimes you might be doing something that's not your favorite thing, and you'll still survive.
- 7:42Michelle Gauthier: Okay, now that you know at a high level what you're doing, how much activity you're going to be taking on, you can start thinking about packing.
- 7:51Michelle Gauthier: So my main point, number two number one is have the conversation about how active you want your vacation to be.
- 7:57Michelle Gauthier: Number two is pack smart.
- 7:59Michelle Gauthier: You never hear anyone say like you know what I really love.
- 8:02Michelle Gauthier: I really love packing.
- 8:03Michelle Gauthier: It's just my favorite.
- 8:05Michelle Gauthier: But here's how I like to think about it.
- 8:08Michelle Gauthier: I actually do kind of like packing because I'm such a planner, but packing is just making decisions ahead of time instead of in the moment.
- 8:15Michelle Gauthier: So it's the difference between choosing one sundress to bring or packing six sundresses and deciding which one you want to wear in the moment.
- 8:24Michelle Gauthier: So all I'm doing is making the decision at home which one I'm going to wear.
- 8:29Michelle Gauthier: You still have to decide.
- 8:30Michelle Gauthier: But you've just not lugged five other options with you and I know you're probably thinking but I won't know what I'll feel in the mood to wear until I get there.
- 8:40Michelle Gauthier: Okay, just decide now.
- 8:41Michelle Gauthier: Try on the options, choose the one you feel best in, make the decision and make that part of your packing.
- 8:48Michelle Gauthier: And this is a whole side note.
- 8:50Michelle Gauthier: But having a bunch of crap in your closet that doesn't fit and you don't like will not help the packing process.
- 8:55Michelle Gauthier: So also listen to episode number 48, how your closet can shape your day to get the scoop on that.
- 9:01Michelle Gauthier: But I digress, I can't go down that rabbit hole right now.
- 9:04Michelle Gauthier: So back to packing.
- 9:06Michelle Gauthier: We've agreed that you're going to decide up front what to wear, right, great.
- 9:11Michelle Gauthier: So start by making a list.
- 9:13Michelle Gauthier: I highly recommend that you carry on, just for ease.
- 9:17Michelle Gauthier: I have learned this the hard way.
- 9:18Michelle Gauthier: There was the time we went to the Olympics in Italy and I brought a bag that was nearly the size of me, weighing in at about 49.75 pounds.
- 9:27Michelle Gauthier: The limit is 50.
- 9:28Michelle Gauthier: Lugging that on and off buses and down cobblestone streets was absurd.
- 9:33Michelle Gauthier: I looked ridiculous, I felt ridiculous.
- 9:35Michelle Gauthier: I did not need all of the stuff that was in there.
- 9:38Michelle Gauthier: Or there's another time where I checked baggage.
- 9:41Michelle Gauthier: All my kids and I checked our bags and it was Christmas time and we had gifts in there and everything, and our flight got canceled and I didn't get the bags back for like more than a week.
- 9:50Michelle Gauthier: And that was only because I went in there, went to the place where they had them stored and found my own bag.
- 9:54Michelle Gauthier: It just can cause so much stress on a trip.
- 9:58Michelle Gauthier: So you can do two weeks to Europe in a carry-on.
- 10:03Michelle Gauthier: You can do a week to Mexico in a carry-on.
- 10:05Michelle Gauthier: You really, really can Just try it and see how much time you save.
- 10:09Michelle Gauthier: All right, so so far you've agreed that you're gonna decide up front and that you're gonna just do a carry-on, and now we're gonna start with the list, the packing list.
- 10:20Michelle Gauthier: I would not suggest just starting with a blank piece of paper and brainstorming.
- 10:24Michelle Gauthier: I use an app called Packpoint that is free and you can save lists.
- 10:28Michelle Gauthier: So, for example I mentioned we go every summer to Minnesota.
- 10:31Michelle Gauthier: I have my packing list for Minnesota on that app as a trip, so I don't have to waste my time thinking about and coming up with the list every single time.
- 10:40Michelle Gauthier: And when I don't have a list I pack way more and I forget way more as well.
- 10:46Michelle Gauthier: So the list is essential.
- 10:48Michelle Gauthier: I'd never taken my kids to Europe before, so I just Googled packing list for teens to Europe and found a free download that I printed off.
- 10:55Michelle Gauthier: You can use chat GPT.
- 10:57Michelle Gauthier: Ask chat GPT to give you a packing list describing like when you're going to be places, and you can even have it look up the weather.
- 11:04Michelle Gauthier: So don't start from scratch on this.
- 11:06Michelle Gauthier: Just start with using some kind of help either an app or a list or chat GPT and then, if you're going with your kids, your spouse etc.
- 11:16Michelle Gauthier: Decide how involved you'd be with their packing process.
- 11:19Michelle Gauthier: So for the Minnesota trip, I'm really not involved in my kids' packing process.
- 11:24Michelle Gauthier: They're old enough and they've been there enough they can really do it.
- 11:27Michelle Gauthier: And also it's no big deal.
- 11:28Michelle Gauthier: If they forget something they can just easily run to the store and get, say, deodorant.
- 11:33Michelle Gauthier: But for Europe, I'm going to have them lay it all out.
- 11:40Michelle Gauthier: Lay everything out so I can check it before it goes in their suitcase.
- 11:41Michelle Gauthier: So again, just decide ahead of time how involved you'll be so you don't have to become that night before the trip crazy mom.
- 11:47Michelle Gauthier: I would know.
- 11:48Michelle Gauthier: I've been her where you're like what have you guys been doing?
- 11:51Michelle Gauthier: Why are you giving me dirty clothes to wash right now?
- 11:54Michelle Gauthier: You know what I'm saying.
- 11:56Michelle Gauthier: So once you've got the list, know how involved you're going to be in the family packing.
- 12:00Michelle Gauthier: Start laying out the stuff even up to a week ahead of time.
- 12:04Michelle Gauthier: For the things I won't wear pre-trip, I like to set them out in the packing pile.
- 12:08Michelle Gauthier: Then the day before is easy.
- 12:10Michelle Gauthier: You just take the stuff, grab the things that aren't already in the pile, and the easiest part is the act of packing.
- 12:18Michelle Gauthier: Putting the stuff in the actual suitcase is really the easy part, and the feeling of walking out of the house for a trip with a well-planned trip and a well-packed bag is the best.
- 12:29Michelle Gauthier: You just don't have anything to worry about.
- 12:32Michelle Gauthier: Okay, and the third and final thing that you can do to pre-plan for a fun vacation is really think about your travel day.
- 12:40Michelle Gauthier: I know I've talked about it on the podcast before or maybe that was an email I sent out but I, not too long ago, majorly stressed myself out by leaving too late for the airport and getting there just in the nick of time I thought I was going to miss my flight.
- 12:54Michelle Gauthier: I got myself all stressed out for absolutely no reason.
- 12:57Michelle Gauthier: So, when you think about the planning for the actual travel day, what do you need?
- 13:03Michelle Gauthier: I always bring an empty water bottle to fill up at the airport.
- 13:06Michelle Gauthier: I always have snacks just in case we get delayed.
- 13:09Michelle Gauthier: I'll give credit to the handsome man friend on this.
- 13:11Michelle Gauthier: He likes to get to the airport early and it used to drive me crazy, and now I'm so grateful and I just ask him what time do we need to go to the airport?
- 13:18Michelle Gauthier: Because he always gets there at a reasonable time and I always cut it too close.
- 13:22Michelle Gauthier: So make the actual day of travel as easy as possible as well.
- 13:28Michelle Gauthier: Okay, so in summary, what you want to do if you want to pre-plan for a fun vacation is number one decide with your family how busy or not busy you're going to be on vacation.
- 13:38Michelle Gauthier: Number two pack in the most efficient, easy way, bringing the least amount of stuff that you need.
- 13:46Michelle Gauthier: And then, three, plan for the day of travel.
- 13:50Michelle Gauthier: Don't cut it too close, don't forget your water, don't forget your snacks.
- 13:54Michelle Gauthier: And if you do all three of those, combined with everything I talk about in episode 12 around lowering your expectations, you are going to have a great time.
- 14:02Michelle Gauthier: Okay, and now we're going to move on to Michelle's Do Less For More Success tip.
- 14:17Michelle Gauthier: This one actually has to do with travel.
- 14:19Michelle Gauthier: So something that I have used for years and years and years before it was even an app, it was just a website and it is called TripItcom, so T-R-I-P-I-Tcom, and what you can do is keep your whole itinerary there.
- 14:34Michelle Gauthier: So, for example, when you book a flight and you get the confirmation, you just forward that confirmation to TripItcom.
- 14:40Michelle Gauthier: You have to set that up first.
- 14:42Michelle Gauthier: It adds to your itinerary when you get the hotel confirmation.
- 14:45Michelle Gauthier: Same thing if you book an event, you know something that you're going to do.
- 14:48Michelle Gauthier: You just forward it and it emails you back and says we've added that to your itinerary.
- 14:53Michelle Gauthier: And then, when you go to leave.
- 14:54Michelle Gauthier: Everything is all in one place.
- 14:55Michelle Gauthier: You didn't have to copy and paste or look all over your email inbox for all the things that you had planned.
- 15:01Michelle Gauthier: All right, that's it for today.
- 15:02Michelle Gauthier: Thank you so much for joining.
- 15:04Michelle Gauthier: I would love to hear your thoughts around what podcast topics you'd like to hear.
- 15:10Michelle Gauthier: At the bottom of the show notes you will see a link where you can send me a text.
- 15:14Michelle Gauthier: I would love for you to text me and tell me what episodes that you would like to hear about.
- 15:19Michelle Gauthier: Have a great week.
- 15:20Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.
- 15:21Michelle Gauthier: Have a great week, see you next week.