The 5 Stages of (Planning A) Trip

What Elisabeth Kübler-Ross would propose if she was going on holiday instead of griefing. Which is totally different and yet exactly the same. Anyway, I was inspired to blog this while planning for my 10-Day US of A trip and it is driving me to the brink of madness.

Let’s agree to disagree:

  

1. Denial

Am I really going on holiday? Do I have the time? Do I have the budget? I don’t believe I can really go…

This stage is short-term and temporary, and usually goes away as soon as you book the plane tickets.

  

2. Anger and Anxiety

What did I get myself into? Planning a 10-day self-drive trip is not easy. Why is so hard to find the info I want on the internet? Why is everything so expensive? Why does my TripAdvisor app keeps crashing? Grrr stupid ipad! Why is it all so hard? I have no time for this!

Sounds familiar? Yes, I assure you it is because you are losing your mind. You know because you suddenly get frequent dreams about missed flights and checking into dingy hotels. This stage lasts the longest so start grabbing at the final strands of sanity before you go mad.

  

3. Bargaining

Sometimes the stress of planning under a tight timeline and budget makes you crack and you start considering if you should just increase the budget by, “Oh about 200%.” and change the duration of the trip, or even the places to visit.

When this happens,  just stick to your guts and make the numbers work for you! You can do it!

  

4. Expectations vs Excitement

Managing expectations and excitement is like maintaining balance on a unicycle. You have to keep the momentum to keep moving and upright but get too excited and you’ll start leaning to one side, get your hopes up too high and you’ll start falling.

Always tell yourself that you have to expect the unexpected when it comes to planning your own trips and, although you can be better prepared, you’ll never be 100% ready so just go for it! Continue planning and balance is the key.  

  

5. Acceptance

Congrats! after nearly 4 months of planning,  you made it!

And…

Before you know it, the trip is over.