I work in a place where people take the most amazing vacations: not only do they go all over the world--New Zeland and Australia, Scotland and India, Turkey and the American Badlands immediately come to mind--they find incredible deals and ways to pay for them. One man basically gets his vacations free by leading scuba diving groups; another's week-long fishing vacation in remote waters cost all of a couple hundred bucks, including the gas to get there. I shamelessly plead for all details: itineraries and routes, names, numbers, and addresses of outfitters and guides, restaurants and hotels. Seeing pictures just whets my appetite; what I really want to know is what they did and what they regret, what they loved and what they wish they'd done.
Here's a few commonalities I've noticed over the years among experienced vacationistas:
They Research Their Options
Knowing what is available, where, and for how much allows them to comparison shop and be able to recognize value for the money.
They Know Their Budget and Keep To It
Because they've done their research, they know how much to expect to shill out for any given component of the vacation. This brings us to perhaps the most important skill the successful vacationista develops:
They Prioritize Their Resources
Knowing what you can afford is not a constraint, but helps ensure you get the biggest value out of the money you spend.
For me, the most important thing is the accommodations. I know, there are people who think this is a total waste. "Why spend the money on where you stay, when all you do is sleep there?" is the reasoning they employ; suffice to say I'm not one of them. The truth is, I'm not particularly interested in testing my skills or endurance, meeting people, or discovering a fragment from a lost civilization. I could care less about adventure, exploration, sports, excitement, partying, or romance. When I go on a vacation, it's about playing house.
The "house" can be a tent in a National Forest where we don't see another soul for days, or it can be a four-star hotel, a country cottage, or sweet little bungalow, but I'm not good with make-do in-betweens. I will gladly put on a pack and hike a couple miles to be away from people, for instance, but I don't do campgrounds--that's just me. Likewise, I am perfectly fine with skipping vacations for several years running or preparing all or most of the meals when renting a cabin to offset costs, but, gosh darn it, if I'm going to pay the money to rent a cabin, it had better be cute.
Some people will gladly accept middle seats on an itinerary with 5 connections in order to splurge on a transatlantic trip they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. Others prefer more frequent get-aways or days filled with sports or cultural activities that carry their own expenses. By directing your funds to reflect what's most important to you and your family, you set the foundation for satisfying experience.
They Budget Their Time and Energy as Well as Their Money
On my recent trip to Seattle, the hardest thing was being in the vicinity of several good friends I desperately wanted to see but knowing I didn't have the time to do so. With three full days jam-packed with family activities--including last-minute shopping, a family brunch, two surprise parties, a district track meet to see one niece compete and a local Irish dancing exhibition to see another niece perform--it was all I could do to make it back to the hotel room without falling asleep in the elevator on the way up. This, of course, again gives rise to the question of "why spend the money on where you stay when all you do is sleep there?" But waking the next day in a pretty room with a view was still worth it.
My two favorite kinds of vacations: city-center like this past weekend, above, and completely isolated, below.