You are getting ready for your next vacation.  You have chosen your destination and have decided whether you are driving or flying.  You may have even chosen the hotel you want to stay at.  Is there anything else you can do to ensure that your next vacation is a happy and stress-free one?  My advice to you is to plan everything out as best you can and save your money, so that you can pay cash for your next vacation.  If you have never had a fully funded vacation where you don’t use a credit card, so you don’t have to “pay later” for your enjoyment, are you really getting enjoyment out of your vacation? So what’s next?  How can you plan for a fully funded vacation?

You need to ask yourself the following questions.  Is there anything else needed for your trip?  Do you know how much extra you will need for food or spending money?  What kind of activities are there where you are going and how much will they cost?  Do you know the distance between your hotel and attractions or places to eat?  Are you wanting to walk everywhere or drive?  These are all questions that should be asked during the planning stages of your trip, and really even before you choose where you are going to stay. If you want everything to be within walking distance and you know what you are wanting to do, you don’t want to choose a hotel that is miles away from that area.  You need to make sure that everything is truly within walking distance or that there is public transportation for the things that aren’t.  If you are planning on driving or renting a vehicle, you need to know where public parking is and how much it will cost you.  This means that you need to do your research before departing for your trip.

Luckily, all this is much easier today than it was even 10 years ago, with easily accessible internet access and cell phones.  There are many apps and websites out there that can give you ideas on what is in the area you are travelling to, however, they won’t always tell you the distance from one place to another.  That means that you might need a map program to determine if it is accessible to you, especially if you are planning on walking everywhere.  You need to figure out where the attractions are that you want to see and then choose a hotel within walking distance of those attractions.  You also wouldn’t want to choose attractions on opposite ends of town if you are limited to only one area, unless there is good public transportation in the area you are travelling.  This means that it’s also a good idea to research public transportation in the area you are travelling to.  Rather than downloading and depending on a bunch of different apps to take care of all this, find one app, like Roadtrippers, where you can find all this information all in one place. I was recently introduced to Roadtrippers and have started playing around with it and using it to plan our next vacation.  It has features like trip guides and a way to look up what’s around you.  Are you looking for a quick snack or meal? Need to stop to get fuel? Perhaps you want to know what attractions are in a specific area?  Road trippers has quick links to all this and more.

Once you have decided what you are wanting to do during your trip, you need to determine how much money you will need.  A fully funded vacation is one where you can pay cash for everything and therefore, don’t owe anything at the end.  This actually reduces the stress of a trip immensely and means that you can fully enjoy a trip without having to worry non-stop about money issues.  Knowing that everything is already planned and paid for means that it’s not going to cause financial issues later on.  If you are someone who depends on your credit card for everything, this may be a strange idea to you, but you really should try it.  It’s a huge relief that once your vacation is over and you can enjoy the memories without having to “pay for it” later.

So now we know what we are going to do, where we are going to stay and how much it will cost.  The next step is planning for meals.  You need to also make sure that you have enough money to be able to eat.  Again, try to do this without the use of credit cards.  It’s a good idea to research the restaurants in the area, I usually try to focus on local cuisine on vacation when I can.  It’s nice to eat new things that you usually wouldn’t find at home.  Looking at menus ahead of time really helps.  This way you know what the cost is likely to be and that there is food that everyone in your family will eat.  It’s frustrating for us when we walk into a restaurant and sit down, only to find out that there’s nothing that our kids will eat.  This adds unnecessary stress to what would otherwise be stress free family time.  When we plan for meals, our goal is to eat out no more than twice a day.  Most hotels will provide breakfast for free, then you just have lunch and dinner to think about.  If you can, plan one meal that you can do sandwiches, fruits and things that you can bring from home.  Many hotels also provide a microwave, mini fridge and coffee pot.  Electric tea kettles are also easy to transport from home so you can heat up water if necessary.  If you eat out, you can bring any leftovers back to the hotel for later meals as well.  In our family there are lots of leftovers when we eat out, so that makes for easier meals later.  This is another way to save money as well.  You will find, by doing this, before long, you have enough that you can heat up that you only have to eat out once a day.

Finally, you need to plan ahead for the trip home.  If you are driving, decide how much cash you need for fuel for the trip home.  Put that amount into an envelope and put it aside in a safe place.  It’s also a good idea to have some extra cash put aside in case you have a flat tire or your vehicle breaks down.  I keep an extra $500 cash just for unexpected vehicle related expenses while on a trip.  If at the end of the trip I don’t use that $500, it automatically goes into my next vacation fund.  If you are flying, it’s also a good idea to plan to have a little extra cash on you for an emergency.  If a flight is delayed or cancelled, you need to make sure you have enough for an extended stay at the airport, while you wait for your next flight.  This is especially important if you are traveling on holidays or when bad weather is expected.  You don’t want to find yourself out of money and stuck in an airport overnight.  Sometimes, if you are lucky, the airline will provide a hotel room for the night, but usually not food.  Sometimes, you will be stuck in the airport all night.  Either way, you want to make sure you have enough money for unexpected expenses on your trip home.

If you can save and pay cash for your vacation, it can make the difference between being able to fully enjoy your trip and being concerned about how you are going to pay for your trip later.  Don’t make the mistake of going into a trip and run into unexpected expenses that will prevent you from having a good time.  It is possible to have a stress free, fully funded vacation.  All it takes is a little work and planning and a lot of patience.