Go less… be happier
The thought process
At the end of 2015, one night Janeane and I sat in bed discussing what we want for 2016. Being the person I am, I gave her and I a small assignment; to write down 10 things we wanted in 2016.
This could be things we used to do, but lost touch with; could be things for the both of us or just ourselves; could be little things like cook more to big things like make a cool $1M.
A couple nights later we shared. Many things were little things we wanted to improve about ourselves, to reconnect with ourselves, to be better. A few were things we want to experience together.
A big one on both our lists was to travel a lot more. Cliché? Very. Do-able? Most definitely.
Pick and go!
Every morning, we’d get up and scour a few travel websites. Our favourite posted a deal we couldn’t pass up! Barbados! I take a look at the 2016 travel funds and see if it’s possible to budget this trip in. Easily.
For $250 round trip, this was too good to pass up!
Pick a date, a time, and forget about it.
Crap, we need to pack
The few days before the flight, we’re eager to head out of Chicago’s emo-weather, so we, separately, start making a list of things to pack.
Janeane goes to her favourite friend, Evernote. She writes everything in this little guy. To-dos, life thoughts, notes about her business. She even uses it as a daily calendar. To me, it’s magical how versatile she is with a simple note-taking app.
I, on the other hand, over-do it with a spreadsheet, with colour-coded packing status.
Packing light
With our packing lists done, it’s time to slim down. Pack and remove what you don’t need.
“It’s a one-week vacation. Let’s bring what we need.”
As you can see, it’s not too much, but it included wants rather than just needs.
Since this was a vacation, not a travel/explore trip, I decided that it was okay to allow myself to pack the laptop and kindle. Many years ago I decided that all travel trips would require me to disconnect and push myself to explore.
Let’s see how this goes!
