I'm going on vacation and I'm taking ... a lot of stress and a huge headache! Eight tips to avoid pre-holiday stress and enjoy it from day one.  

The work is done, the suitcase is packed, the groceries also are done; going on holiday sometimes brings so much stress, that you almost need a mini-vacation to recover from all preparations. Too bad, right? Especially since we go on holiday to relax, dear reader! Whoever is smart, also tries to start the journey as rested as possible. This results in a weird mood along the way and ensures that you can hit holiday mode immediately upon arrival. How do you do that? The best tips I have for you.

1. To do: at home

Half the battle is won when you decide to start and do something about your problem. Do not make a checklist in the last week. Maybe a good idea will be to already start a long time before you leave and tick off from the list on the go. What else do you have to buy? Where does the cat go? Who waters the plants? By starting on time with planning and packing, you protect yourself from last-minute stress. Also, make sure that you leave your house tidy. This way you will leave relaxed and your return home will be a bit nicer.

2. To do: at the office

The idea of ​​coming back to loads of work can cause a lot of stress before you leave. So, let your colleagues know well in advance when you are away and do not start new work in the last week. Provide a good and clear Out of Office mail so that people know who they can go to. Hand over any pending items to your colleagues with a good explanation, so there will no chance to get a call or an email during the time you are away. And in the office too: clear your workspace immediately post-holiday, that ensures some peace of minds and you start a lot better on your first day. 

3. Dreaming on vacation

Anticipating holidays and vacation experiences create a great level of happiness every day. If you have planned your vacation, anticipating, reading about what you are going to visit, talking to others about it, looking at photos with the places you go to, will help you relax well before you get on holiday mood.

4. Do not leave on day one immediately

How well you have prepared your departure in the past month (see points 1 and 2); the last week before your holiday often remains the busiest. Do not leave immediately after your last working day but take one or two days before the trip. This way, you are fully equipped, relaxed and 'disconnected' from the office and household before you start your journey. Of course, that might not always be possible, but let’s hope to have a flexible work environment, so just try to work your last day from home to be a bit closer to your luggage and in a sense, just to start relaxing before leaving.

5. Prep comfortable shoes and layers of clothing depending on the weather.

You will be doing a lot of walking, so the most important thing for having a relaxing time during your holidays will definitely be the good shoes. Forget about the flip-flops or high heels, comfortable is the word you are looking for. Clothing. In layers. So, we can anticipate any need, regardless of the changing weather.

6. Live the moment

Being used to analyzing, always evaluating different moments, issues, discussions, it is easy to let ourselves caught my thoughts, worries, regrets. Try to focus and live the moment, to be conscious of what you see, hear, feel. On vacation is a good place to do some mindfulness exercises. Try to put aside your expectations, to accept that it is impossible for everything to be perfect and to enjoy what you are doing. This will give you a relaxed mindset for when you will return.

7. Let it go

A tidy house on departure is nice, but the cutlery does not have to shine. It is not bad if you did not say to that one colleague goodbye or did not have time to get sunscreen. It is better to ensure that you arrive at your destination happy and relaxed than to leave everything perfectly in order. 

8. Finding a balance between your professional life and your personal life

You may be wondering what this has to do with your vacation, dear reader, when you are out of the office without work or stress. It seems that for those who have such a balance, the positive effects of a vacation are felt for a longer time, while for those who are overworked, the return in the office also means a return to the same level of stress before the vacation. Also, as an extra thing, usually the people who are not happy with their job or don’t like what they do get the least amount of satisfaction from their holiday as they cannot stop thinking about work and how it will be when they will return. Trust me, I know because I have the same issue but on the other hand people that can just switch off, I envy the most and this is what we should learn how to do. But, for those who think about work and how they don’t like doing what they do, everything that is negatively related to their job, everything they think to happen when they return to the office, will affect the effect of those holidays and once you return back home all those negative thoughts have the opposite effect on your brain and stress level.

Do things get lost on the way? Of course, they do! Don’t worry about it and laugh out. It is a vacation, there is a story there to tell, no matter how bad things look like, better to have something to say, they have a boring time with no story to tell.