Sometimes your adventure vacation goes wrong all by itself - your flight is delayed or cancelled, you get sick just before you were supposed to leave, there is a flood or fire in the area you were supposed to visit, etc. These are all things you can't control that you just have to accept. But if you want to make sure that your adventure vacation doesn't live up to your hopes and expectations, here are five methods you can use to guarantee that you won't come back as refreshed and rejuvenated as you hoped.
- Wait until the day before you leave to pack. This works particularly well if you have an early morning flight, or if you are doing something that is quite different from what you usually do so you may need new clothing or equipment. There is nothing quite like starting off your trip already stressed and tired!
- Bring an electronic device that lets you check email (SmartPhone, IPad, Ipod etc) and then be sure to check it at least once a day, if not two or three times. This method works particularly well if there is some difficult issue at home or work that you can do absolutely nothing about while you're away.
- Pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV in your hotel room and watch the news. This works particularly well if you are someone who follows current events closely and frequently finds yourself upset by what is going on in the world.
- Look at your packing list and then take twice as much as it suggests. After all, if 2 t-shirts are good, 4 are even better. Or better yet, don't even look at the packing list and just bring everything you could possibly need. This method works particularly well if you are frequently changing lodging and/or are taking public transportation from the airport.
- Bring a book you really need to read for work. For example, if you are a computer programmer, what better time could there possibly be to learn a new programming language? The only rule here is to make sure that it isn't a book you would read if you had a different career or job.
Of course you may do all these things and still have a great time. But next time- just try doing any or all of these things differently and see what a difference it makes.
