Yay for summer! Time to take a trip, head for the beach or visit family. But if you’re a hardworking professional, you may find planning and taking the trip only adds to your stress. Here’s how to make it fun and relaxing from start to finish.
Narrow your search. If you spend your workday on screens, you may be suffering from “scroll fatigue” and can’t get excited about researching your next holiday. The key is to narrow your options before starting the research. Rather than Googling ten different cities, choose your destination first and then start looking into flights and Airbnbs
Get others in the act. One travel buddy can research the flights, another the food, or the musical festivals and fun events. With everyone involved and engaged, more options will turn up, and no one will feel the strain.
Have fun on a budget. It’s not just the free flights using points on your credit card—it’s thinking outside the box. Remember the foreign exchange student who stayed with you in high school? Now is the perfect time to visit her in China. Or better yet, exchange apartments or housesit.
Pack light. Save money by avoiding those extra bag fees. And with your luggage in hand, you can glide through any travel delay by jumping on the next flight.
Recharge with your portable meditation. Travel can be exhausting. The beauty of the TM technique is that you can do it anytime, wherever you are to recharge and refresh—on planes, trains or subways. Suddenly too tired to walk the streets of Paris after you’ve come so far? Just close your eyes for 20 minutes in a church, a public library, on a park bench—and catch a second wind.