You’ve booked your tickets.
You’ve started a lame Facebook countdown.
Just a lazy weekend in Finland
Fear not! You don’t have to wait around, you can do stuff – awesome stuff – while you’re, uh, waiting around.
- Blog about it
If you’re about to bugger off to a more exciting destination, why not write about it? If you don’t already have a blog, for heaven’s sake, start one! Write about what your plans are, where you’re thinking of heading, and what you’d like to do while you’re there. Blog about the things you’re looking forward to, get people’s opinons on destinations/activites you’re not sure of, and see what other people are writing about. You never know, you just might, no, WILL pick up some useful tips that you’d never have thought up on your own, and you’ll make some awesome travel blogging friends in the process. Let’s face it, it’s a crapbucket easier than sending out mass emails and having to reply to them all, and you could potentially make some money off it!Which brings me to my next point:
- Save your pennies
Sounds obvious, no? For some people, it’s not. They get so caught up in buying crap they don’t need, and spending even more time justifying these fricken useless purchases to anyone who’ll listen. “No, seriously, I really DO need this 4kg monkey shaped travel clock – it’s PERFECT for my desired image as a savvy traveller with style.”Er, no. STOP buying useless shit, unless you love arguing with airport check-in attendants about overweight baggage.
- Plan
It gets you excited. Even if you’re the ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ style traveller (and kudos if you are), still plan a bit – even if it’s just in your head. You don’t have to rigidly set out every step of your itinerary, but (and this is especially important if you’re travelling with a partner or in a group), it’s good to have at least a basic guide. Also, think contingency planning. What are you going to do if you have a massive, seemingly unresolvable fight with your travel partner? Or get utterly gazeboed (thanks Michael McIntyre for that one) at Oktoberfest and wake up without your passport? Or arrive at your hostel in Madrid, only to discover that it has closed down?In short – now is the best time to Get. Shit. Sorted. You won’t have time once you’ve hit the proverbial road.
- Make travel goals
Like a bucket list, but for your trip. Even if you’re only going for a week – it’s still fun to challenge yourself to step outside of your comfort zone and try something you’d never normally do. Here are a few things to get you started:
Run naked in the snow
Sing karaoke in a bar where nobody speaks English
Learn how to cook a meal in the local cuisine
Make 5 new friends
Challenge a local to a drinking contest – and win - Sell your stuff
When was the last time you cleaned out your wardrobe? Or took inventory of all those old books, dvds, games you don’t use any more? Get rid of them. Sell stuff on Ebay, Craigslist – whatever you need to do. Trust me, you won’t miss your old possessions, and you’ll be glad for the extra cash. - Downsize your life
Have you ever taken a good look around your flat and thought ‘look at aaaaallll the crap I’ve accumulated over the years’? I have. And now the only possessions I own are the ones that I carried in my backpack. Everything else is either in storage, because it was too precious to throw away, or has been chucked. For realsies. I’ll be honest – I’ve bought clothes since I’ve been here – but I’ve lost weight, so none of my old clothes fit. Plus, I’m a girl. Do I really need any more reasons? ;) - Party it up
Throw yourself an awesome farewell party, and make everyone jealous. They all want to travel, you’re actually doing it. Who’s a clever cookie, then?
Some of the clowns at my farewell party
If you finish this list and still have ages to go, repeat steps 1-6 (and 7, if you’re so inclined) until it’s time to leave.
Wait, what are you still doing reading this?
Don’t you have a plane to catch?
Numbers 3 and 4 are my favorite! Okay, I also like throwing farewell parties, but not nearly as much as planning for our next trip. It gets me more excited than anything else, lol. :)
Thanks Christy! I’m with you on the planning – I’m a big organiser, lol. I’d love to be more spontaneous, but it’s really not in my nature to not plan for ANYTHING, hehe.