The Secret to A Happier Life!

According to the U.S. Travel Association, Americans leave some 768 million unused vacation days.  You can read articles about how vacations will help productivity, sleep, focus, energy, etc. 
But most still don't listen and continue to put work first and let those vacation days waste away. 
Days off are essential to overall health and well-being, helping to re-energize, re-focus, get rested, and ultimately be happier. 

Hogwarts Castle

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Even a non-profit organization called Project Time Off is dedicated to educating the benefits of time off, educating employers on encouraging employees to use their time, and even designing a national day to block your time off for you. 

The last Tuesday of January is National Plan for Vacation Day each year; I use this day to map out my annual calendar. 

I also use it to schedule other vital things like get-togethers with the girls and date nights. Let me tell you when it is on the calendar; it is way more likely to happen. 

If you want to prioritize travel, block it off on your calendar now, and request the time off now. Even if you don't know where you will go, get it on the calendar.  Don't forget to include girlfriend getaways, Muti-Get vacays and milestone trips!

If you have kids in school, set down with their school calendar, and look through the dates they have off, look at important dates you have to schedule around.

This will be our first year that we don't have a kid in school, but somehow we are still using the school calendar!  My son and husband are involved with Special Olympics Softball.  They have the state Special Olympics in South Georgia every year that coincides with the beginning our our county's Fall Break.  So, this year, since we were half way to Disney we figured we 'might as well' go on to Disney.  

We also try to do at least one Multiple-Gen trip a year to include a couple of grand children!  So, we still need to include school breaks in the planning as well.

We are lucky in that my husband is retired from his regular job and now works for himself.  As such, he can take off pretty much anytime I tell him we have a trip!  His motto has always been "Just tell me where to be and when!" ​

 I don't like to put unconfirmed travel dates into my Google or family calendar until I have mapped out, moved things around, and gotten it booked. It is essential to visualize the year as a whole, so you don't stretch yourself too thin.  After I have it finalized, I wait for the dates I want to go to have their rates released and then I book where I want.  (Because by now you should know THAT is when the rates and the selection is best!)

We've already talked about the best time to book is NOW, so after you take a look at your calendar, click on my calendal link and schedule a call to get that trip booked!