When you are planning your next family vacation, how do you plan? Do you pour over guidebooks, scour the Internet and ask your pals for advice? Do you pack as many activities into your trip as possible or do you plan some downtime?

This question was posed to a group that I belong to recently and as I was thinking about my own travel planning style, I realized that I am not really a planner. Ok…I knew that. I am that person who wouldn’t show up for my dentist appointment if it weren’t for the courtesy phone call that they give the night before the appointment. Half the time I have to reschedule something because I double booked. I have a stack of agendas of all kinds, colors, shapes and sizes and I usually use them for about a week before I give up.

My husband (who is also a non-planner!) and I have finally figured out what works best for our family vacations. Do you want to know our secret?

We make a list. I may not plan, but I can make a mean list!

We go through the travel guides, travel blogs, and advice from our friends and make a list. We put the list in order of importance. The things that we absolutely want to see or do down to the things that will be okay if we miss them. On the list, we add notes about the location such as days closed and cost so we don’t miss out due to poor planning! We also make notes if we made plans to attend something at a specific time. When we are on our trip each night, we decide what we want to do the next day. There is no stress. If the plan doesn’t work out, nobody panics.

How do you plan your vacations?

Photo courtesy of Rosmary via Flickr.