Planning a Stress-Free Vacation
A few years back, I remember telling someone that I LOVED traveling. Well, fast-forward a few years, add a dog and a child, and traveling has become quite the undertaking. Don’t get me wrong, taking family vacations provides many lasting memories, but it also provides an abundance of stressful situations. However, after a recent road trip, I realized that there are many ways to achieve a stress-free vacation. You want to know my secret? It’s all about the planning.
I received compensation in exchange for this post. All opinions are my own.聽
Planning a Stress-Free Vacation
Prepare your home: Make sure your home is taken care of while you’re gone. Ask a neighbor to check on things, turn on your porch light, pick up the paper, bring in the mail, etc. The less you have worry about at home, the more you will be able to relax while you’re gone. For extra home security, check out these 10 simple ways to protect your home.
Make checklists: I find myself making “to-do” lists on a daily basis. I’ve noticed that this comes in handy when preparing for a trip. Make sure you don’t forget to pack anything by making several checklists – a checklist for each bag, items to pack in the cooler, travel items for the kiddos, etc. Make sure to remember road trip essentials with these 2 informative checklists: Road Trip Camping Checklist and RV Road Trip Checklist.
Don’t over-plan: Make sure that while planning your trip, you leave time for free-time聽and exploration. Don’t plan every second; allow things to flow naturally.
Pack minimally: Only pack what you need. Want to learn how to pack all of your belongings in one bag? Learn How to Pack Only a Carry-On. Also, be sure to check out these 10 Unique Traveling Hacks.
Use DogVacay: Finding the perfect pet sitter for your beloved pup can add stress when preparing to travel. However, DogVacay provides pet owners peace of mind by connecting you to over 20,000 loving pet sitters across the nation – for half the price of local kennels.
Living far away from extended family, we are constantly on the road visiting loved ones. Although our chocolate lab, Gunner, is an important part of the family, he doesn’t exactly travel well. DogVacay is something that a loving pet parent, like me, can really appreciate. By simply logging onto DogVacay, I am able to enter my zip code and view the profiles of awesome pet sitters in my area. Scheduling a meet and greet, pet owners are able to meet their host of choice. With a daily photo update, you can assure your pet’s happiness while on the road. Nothing brings peace of mind while traveling than knowing that your furry friend is being taken care of.
As if DogVacay couldn’t get any better, if you’re looking to earn some extra cash, you can become a DogVacay Host! Whether you’re a professional dog sitter or a simple dog lover, DogVacay allows you to earn money by watching dogs in the comfort of your own home. Create a free profile, set your own rates, and make your own schedule.
Although traveling can provide many stressful situations, by preparing your home, making checklists, allowing free-time, packing minimally, and using DogVacay, you can enjoy a relaxing vacation. For more information concerning becoming a Host or finding the perfect pet sitter, be sure to visit DogVacay.
We don’t have a pet but we like to travel when we can. Some great tips we’ll try and use for our next trip.
We love to travel and these are some really helpful tips.
I agree about packing minimally. I like to pack for just the days we need and a couple extra outfits. If I am staying at family then I use their washer/dryer
This is so cool! What an awesome service!
Planning a vacation can be very stressful. We usually have family take care of our animal and that helps some of the stress. I love the idea of DogVacay if my family is not free.
What a great pet program! Now, I’ll feel better leaving my dog.
I’m a total over packer. I feel like if I haven’t packed something to cover every eventuality, I’m not prepared. I know. I know…
DogVacay sounds awesome! I love my vet, and I trust them. BUT if I could leave my guys in a cozy home instead of a kennel, that would be awesome.
I’m very big on check lists. I learned the hard way that you MUST have everything on a check list when your getting ready for a trip…
DogVacay sounds like a wonderful service. It’s so much nicer for a dog to have a nice cozy place to stay than a lonely kennel.
These are all great tips. I know I’m totally guilty of over planning. It seems like a good idea at the time to cram as much as you can into your trip, but it just ends up being a chore.
Great tips, I didn’t even think about a couple of those. I also love the idea of DogVacay – so much better than leaving your dog at a kennel.
If you plan it all out beforehand, you can enjoy the vacation a lot more. It’s so true!
A stress free trip is hard to come by. These tips are wonderful!
It’s always tough to leave a pet behind. Dog Vacay would be give peace of mind to any dog lover. Great idea!
Vacations SHOULD be stress free!!! That’s what vacation is all about!
Great tips! DogVacay looks like an awesome program.
I love DogVacay. That’s a much better scenario than leaving your dog at a kennel.
Wonderful tips! I especially like the Make checklists. Having “fibro fog”, you can’t forget some important things for a trip! LOL! So I also make sure I make a list. 馃檪
What great tips. We will be traveling this Spring Break and totally need to figure out what we will be doing with our pup. Thanks so much
Those all sound like great tips! I’m not sure I understand what “pack minimally” means, though, 馃槈
We usually travel with our dogs, the cats love their alone time at home! I love that this service is available, we started taking ours because we were so against kennels.
Stress-free vacation? What is that? Is there such a thing? I’ve only been on 3 vacations in my lifetime and although its supposed to be a time when you can relax and unwind, something always goes wrong and causes stress.
These are all really great tips. I always try to make a list and I double check it before I walk out the door.
I would definitely feel better on vacation knowing that my fur baby is being treated so well. I have never liked the thought of a kennel. I would love to have a stress free vacation.
I always seem to over pack all the time it makes my husband crazy!
These are great tips. Personally, having a checklist is really helpful to me. I often forget things and then worry, but writing stuff down goes a long way for me.
A stress free vacation is the ultimate goal! I do all of the above, but the dog sitter! I’m excited to test the service out though!
The importance of checklists cannot be overstated. You’ve got to stay on top of everything or everything stays on top of you!
I am so glad that I have a lady that I can count on to be my dog sitter when I need to go away on vacation. I have heard a lot of good things about Dog Vacay, but I am just SO nervous about leaving my pet with someone I don’t really know.
This is a great set of tips when planning a family trip. I know I have a stressful time attempting to plan even the smallest of events with my large family, but maybe this extra help will make it easier.
I make lists of lists I need to make. Luckily when my family goes away one of our relatives stays at our house with our dog. Takes the stress off a lot of worries.
I am a notorious over-packer, and we always bring our pup along, but finding pet friendly services can be a pain. There are some instances, such as our cruise, where we will not be able to bring her though, so this service would be great!
For me, lists are key. I start the list a few weeks out and add to it as I think of things I need to take with me.
These are all good tips! I get panicky just thinking about packing and forgetting things I want, and also, the flip side, getting it done and realizing we’d need to rent a MAC truck! But I can see that having a plan can take the anxiety out of it!!!
I like a Stress free vacation and this place called Dog Vacay to have my dog watched while I am on vacation. What a good idea to have dog sitters in my area to help me not worry while on vacation!!