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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to plan all of next year's vacations now.

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Speaker 1: Doing so will give you a lot to look forward to,

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Speaker 1: and we'll help you make more holistic choices to maximize happiness.

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Speaker 1: A few weeks ago, my husband and I sat down

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Speaker 1: to map out our vacations. Neither of us has to

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Speaker 1: officially put in for vacation days at work, we both

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Speaker 1: have a great deal of control over our schedules. Nonetheless,

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Speaker 1: we decided that planning the year in one shot would

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Speaker 1: provide some real upsides. First, we could match up with

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Speaker 1: and optimize the school schedule. We'll have four school aged

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Speaker 1: children next year, and since our district only allows for

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Speaker 1: a few vacation related absences, we're pretty much tied to

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Speaker 1: that calendar. But the school calendar has some interesting quirks.

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Speaker 1: For instance, classes start after Labor Day, and Labor Day

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Speaker 1: is late enough in that the kids will still be

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Speaker 1: off for the entire first week of September, so we'd

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Speaker 1: be able to do a summer vacation at a time

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Speaker 1: that a lot of places are priced for Shoulder season. Likewise,

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Speaker 1: this year, we get an entire calendar week off after Christmas.

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Speaker 1: This means we can do a weekly rental somewhere post

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Speaker 1: Christmas without having to figure out how to ship gifts

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Speaker 1: and alert Santa to our new location. Second, planning all

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Speaker 1: of our vacations at once minimize as conflict. When we

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Speaker 1: plan each vacation individually, we run into family members differing

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Speaker 1: opinions about what makes a good trip. Some people like beaches,

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Speaker 1: some people like skiing, some like national parks, some like

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Speaker 1: amusement parks, some like cities with culture and history. When

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Speaker 1: we plan the whole year, more people can be accommodated,

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Speaker 1: So if an island trip wins out for spring Break,

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Speaker 1: the skiers aren't unhappy if they know they'll get their

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Speaker 1: time in December. Third, planning the whole year's vacations at

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Speaker 1: once allows you to be honest about your time and budget.

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Speaker 1: People's tendencies can actually go both ways. I'm pretty cheap

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Speaker 1: and I find it kind of hard to spend money,

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Speaker 1: so knowing the approximate tally for the whole year helps

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Speaker 1: me feel better about maybe going up a notch on

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Speaker 1: hotels for one of the vacations. I can see we're

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Speaker 1: still under the target, whereas someone who's a bit more

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Speaker 1: spendy might see that, oh well, if we want to

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Speaker 1: hit Europe in late summer spring break might need to

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Speaker 1: be a bit more local. This goes for time as well.

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Speaker 1: If I see that my vacations are paced roughly once

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Speaker 1: every three months, I can plan my work and energy

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Speaker 1: to accommodate that. Finally, planning ahead has logistical and psychological benefits.

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Speaker 1: In my case, we have learned the hard way that

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Speaker 1: getting six or seven seats together on direct flights to

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Speaker 1: the places we want to go can be challenging last minute. Likewise,

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Speaker 1: while you can get a hotel room for two to

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Speaker 1: three people at any point, places that accommodate a big

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Speaker 1: brood are harder to come by. Best to book ahead

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Speaker 1: of time, and when we do well. Some interesting research

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Speaker 1: finds that the bulk of the happiness associated with vacations

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Speaker 1: actually comes ahead of time. Many a dreary January commute

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Speaker 1: has been warmed by the sun of an island where

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Speaker 1: a resort is booked for May. The earlier you plan,

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Speaker 1: the more time you can spend anticipating your fun. So today,

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Speaker 1: take a few minutes to look at the calendar for

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Speaker 1: the upcoming year and figure out when you might like

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Speaker 1: to take your vacations. Think about what you might like

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Speaker 1: to do, then set aside some time to talk with

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Speaker 1: the people you normally vacation with about what they'd like

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Speaker 1: to do, what they'd like to see happen in you'll

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Speaker 1: likely emerge with a plan that will have you very

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Speaker 1: excited about the new year. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four, then Breakfast

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Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com.

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Speaker 1: That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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Speaker 1: more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I heart

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