I consider myself an obsessively organized person, especially when it comes to traveling. Even though I can get overwhelmed when it comes to deciding WHERE to go (there’s just too many great places to see – how are you supposed to pick one??), I dive headlong into research and planning as soon as I know our destination. But even I am capable of forgetting things, and the best thing that helps me is making a million lists. In the next few posts, I’ll share the lists I’ve created over the last few years to help me get ready to go on vacation. First up is my pre-vacation checklist! Here’s what I’ve done before almost every trip Daniel and I have taken together.

1.  Print copies of all travel documents.

Plane tickets, hotel reservations, vacation package confirmation, maps of travel routes or places to visit – EVERYTHING. The last thing you want to do is get lost somewhere with no internet and no map, or stuck without proof that you’re supposed to be wherever you are.

2.  Update your work calendar.

Before you leave your workplace, set “away” messages for your email and phone, and make sure your trip shows up on any shared calendars. Try to finish up any projects you are working on and leave any relevant information for your coworkers, if they need it.

3.  Leave your house in good hands. 

Ask a neighbor, friend, or family member to keep an eye on your place while you’re gone. Have them feed your pets, water your plants, and bring any mail or packages inside.

4.  Check the weather one last time and finalize your packing list. 

And do the rest of your laundry a few days before, just to ensure that your favorite pieces are clean! Once you’re ready to start packing, lay everything out on your bed or the floor. Yes, everything. That way, you can see exactly how much you’re taking and narrow your choices down a little to save space in your suitcase.

5.  Make room for vacation pictures.

If you’re going somewhere pretty, you’re going to want that extra data space on your phone or memory on your camera. Don’t wait until you’re already on your trip to start frantically deleting things after getting the dreaded “Storage Full” message as the pod of dolphins swims right by you and out of your life forever.

6.  Let your bank and/or credit card company know that you’ll be traveling.

This is really important if you’re traveling internationally. If you don’t let them know ahead of time, there’s a chance that your cards could get shut down for “suspicious activity” in another country.

7.  Schedule your preparatory appointments.

Get a haircut, pedicure, spray tan – whatever you need to do to make yourself look acceptably attractive to people who will never see you again.

8.  Download stuff on Netflix.

Did you know that you can download TV shows and movies on Netflix to watch later without using the internet?? Best. news. ever. Long plane rides just got a little less boring.

9.  Clean your house.

You don’t have to deep-clean everything, but I usually wipe down the bathrooms and the kitchen, and I vacuum as many rooms as I can. It’s also good to get rid of perishable food in the fridge, run the dishwasher, take out all the trash, and put new clean sheets on your bed.

10.  Save some money.

Right before you leave the house, turn the thermostat up or down, depending on the season. Unplug appliances to conserve energy. Make a Walmart run and buy some snacks to keep yourself from spending $25 on soft pretzels at the airport (which I always end up doing anyway, because AUNTIE ANNE’S).

Any suggestions or tips that help you get organized before you travel? Share them in the comments!

If you missed my first vacation reveal, here’s a quick recap: Daniel and I are cruising to Alaska this year, and I’m freaking out about it a little SO MUCH. But we’re also visiting another new place with my family! Daniel and I haven’t taken a trip with my family since we met almost 8 years ago, and I’m over the moon about the chance to bring together two of my favorite things – traveling with my family and traveling with Daniel. When my siblings and I were kids, we used to go to Mississippi to see our grandparents twice a year, every year: once in the summer and once for Christmas. It became a much-loved tradition, and I have many fond memories of listening to Adventures in Odyssey, stopping at the same travel plazas to get snacks, reading an entire book series during the 12-hour drive, holding our breath over the Mississippi bridge, and (when we got older) watching movies on the laptop. My family hasn’t really traveled long-distance since my grandparents moved to Oklahoma, so a trip together has been long overdue!

I’m dying with happiness over the fact that we’re going to….

COLORADO.

(Just typing it makes me shiver with excitement.)

My parents have been several times, including for their honeymoon, but none of us kids have been before. I’ve been dreaming about seeing genuine, huge mountains for my whole life, and if just looking at pictures of them can make me feel things, I can’t even imagine what it will be like to actually stand in front of one. I’m preparing for my breath to be stolen again and again!

We’re going to spend almost a week in a timeshare cabin outside of Pagosa Springs. While we’re there, we’ll take a ride on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train, go whitewater rafting, and possibly even visit Mesa Verde National Park. And our home for the week looks awesome!

I’M. SO. READY.

I’ve never been to Colorado before, and I’m not sure what to pack! We’ll be there during the summer. Any suggestions?

Y’ALL. Shortest blog post ever, but I had to share this with you!

Did you know that there’s a new business startup that will plan your vacation for you, but won’t reveal your destination until you’re physically leaving for your trip?? *channel your inner Monica from Friends*………..I KNOW!! This actually exists!! It’s called Pack Up + Go, and I’m kicking myself for not thinking of it first. (By the way – this is not a sponsored post; I’m just that excited about it.)

I discovered Pack Up + Go a couple weeks ago via this Business Insider article while I was researching something for our Alaska trip, and I was hooked from the title alone. From what I can tell, the company can’t be more than a few years old, but their premise is simple:

“Want to get away for a weekend but have no time to plan? What if you don’t know where you want to go? What if you want to be surprised? Pack Up + Go plans 3-day weekend trips around the United States. All you have to do is tell us your budget and fill out a quick survey.  We’ll take care of your travel + accommodation arrangements – all while keeping your destination a surprise” (via Pack Up + Go website).

COOLEST. IDEA. EVER. I love to travel, but I love surprises even more, and this idea sounds like my kind of paradise. As soon as I was finished reading up on the company, I sent Daniel a one-sentence email that said “OMG WE ARE DOING THIS.” I hope we can someday!

What do you think – would you take one of these “surprise destination” trips?

If you had told me at the beginning of December that I’d be spending part of my Christmas ice skating and being introduced to Downton Abbey in Chicago, I would have thought you were nuts. But that’s exactly what happened, and the three days I got to spend with my sister and grandparents were such a blast!

The week before Christmas, Robyn and I spontaneously decided to book plane tickets for the following Monday. Meaning, we booked a flight that was less than a week away, and the day after Christmas, no less. Meaning, I had three days to do about ten loads of laundry in order to pack for three separate Christmases (Daniel’s parents, my parents, and one set of grandparents) AND pack a suitcase for plane travel. Oh and I was also still doped up on pain meds from getting my wisdom teeth out. Lol. First time for everything!

We flew out of OKC to Dallas, then from Dallas to Chicago. And let me tell you something – when we got on the plane in Dallas, it was THE NICEST plane I have ever been on!! I’m not exaggerating, this thing was superb. The aisles were wider, it had three sections of seats instead of two, the snacks were better, the seats were more comfortable, AND – best part – every seat had its own power outlet and TV screen in front of it with hundreds of TV shows and movies to choose from. I was thoroughly impressed.

The first day and half was spent relaxing, eating, hanging out with our grandparents (who I somehow never took a picture with, *thumbs down*), and trying to get Grandma’s cat Bethany to like us.

Robyn finally convinced her! She’s the cutest.

Wednesday, we conquered Chicago on our own! We took the train into the city, then a taxi to the Field Museum of Natural History. I had been before in 2006, but I enjoyed going back! One of the larger special exhibits, “China’s First Emperor and His Terracotta Warriors,” included real terracotta pieces brought over from China, some of which dated back as far as 221 BC.

Looking at clay statues that were carved by hand 200 years before Jesus was even born…it stole my breath.

We didn’t have an endless amount of time in the museum, but we sure had fun wandering around while we were there!

Arguably the happiest picture from the trip. :)

Since we were only a few city blocks from Millennium Park (our next destination), we just walked! The weather was gorgeous, and we got to enjoy the view more than we would from the back of a cab.

The highlight of our adventure was ice skating in Millennium Park! Although “ice skating” barely describes what we were actually doing. We both put one foot on the ice and realized we had made a huge mistake, but we managed to make it around the rink three times. It took us seventeen hours, but still. Three times!

We were better at people watching and throwing shade.

Nobody but Robyn will really ever understand why the photo on the left is so funny. Let’s just chalk it up to my terrible photography skills and leave it at that. :) The important part is that she is a great travel buddy, this trip was good for my soul, and now we can smugly tell people that we ice skated in Millennium Park at Christmastime (and conveniently leave out the part about the adorably tiny 3-year-old girl who literally skated circles around us while we clung to the railing).

Enjoy my travel posts? Buckle up, because I’ve got not one, but TWO 2017 vacation reveals coming soon!! Stay tuned :)

What up, friends?? Sorry for my sporadic posting. I’ve been lazy in a lot of ways this summer – meal planning, house cleaning, friendship maintaining, small business-ing – and unfortunately, blogging was one of the things I could put on the back burner without consequences. But I’ve been convicted about my lack of discipline (much like a year ago with my first DietBet!), and I’m going to be much more consistent with this. You can count on it!

In mid-July, I got to travel for work for the first time in months, and it was GLORIOUS. Every year, the Oklahoma Regents host a week-long counselor’s conference at Quartz Mountain Resort in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma, and I was invited to sit on a panel of college representatives for a session on the last day of the conference. Because the resort is 4 hours from Durant, I had originally planned to stay at a hotel in Altus. But through a straight-up blessing from the Lord, I was gifted a one-night stay at the lodge…for free.

I have one thing to say: being a college recruiter has its perks at times!

The resort was more rustic than luxury, but it was such a relaxing place! I drove in past lots of cabins and campsites, and when I took a walk around the resort and found people pushing off into the lake in kayaks, I wanted SO MUCH to jump in after them. I loved the combination of lake + mountains – very calming. I wish Daniel could have come with me!

I’m so ready for recruitment season to start – only a few more weeks and I’ll be on the road again!

P.S. Are these not the cutest bath samples you’ve ever seen?? Those shampoo bottles blew me away! If I wasn’t head over heels for MONAT, I would have taken them with me and put them in my guest bathroom. ;)

Hope you guys are having a good week! 

Back in May, we spent a super relaxing week on the beach in Jamaica with Daniel’s family, and it was WONDERFUL. It was one of the only vacations we’ve been on that didn’t include much of an agenda, which, to be honest, was exactly what all of us needed. This vacation was such a breath of fresh air, in more ways than one! (Minus the day that a few of us probably got food poisoning…but let’s not talk about that.)

Lots more photos to come! Hope you’re having a happy week!