1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: tip is about how to structure a vacation so you 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: know you'll do fun things, but also have room for 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: serendipitous adventures when it comes to time. I think that 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: making plans and being spontaneous are often presented as either 7 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: or things. You're either the soulless sort who must plan 8 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,160 Speaker 1: every minute, or else you are free spirited and open 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: to all manner of possibility. I tend to resent this 10 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: presented dichotomy because I do all sorts of adventurous and 11 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: random things on my vacations. I also plan like crazy. 12 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: As a practical matter, These things are not in opposition 13 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: at all. First, the reality is that in our world 14 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: of seven billion people, if you want to do some 15 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: cool things, you absolutely have to plan ahead. For my 16 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: family to stay at the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone 17 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,759 Speaker 1: National Park last summer, I had to make a reservation 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: on May first, twenty seventeen. When we went to Hawaii 19 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: a few years ago, we knew we wanted to visit 20 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: Pearl Harbor and take the boat trip out to the 21 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: USS Arizona Memorial tickets are strictly limited. For this, I 22 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: had to know we wanted to go do this and 23 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: get on the system at exactly seven am the day before. 24 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: Tickets were gone by seven oh five. But once you 25 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,759 Speaker 1: have certain structures in place, vacation days are often vast. 26 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: The day we went to the USS Arizona, for instance, 27 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: we got up to go for our time tickets and 28 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: pay our respects at the memorial. But once we did that, 29 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: we let the rest of the day go as we wanted. 30 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: Maybe we felt like going to our hotel's water park, 31 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: or maybe we wanted to read, maybe we wanted to snarkle. 32 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: I don't know. There was plenty of time to do 33 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: other things. Likewise, on a different day of that vacation, 34 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: we planned to drive around the island with an audio guide. 35 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: So that was not the day we were going to 36 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: go see the USS Arizona, of course, But within day 37 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: of driving around we did all kinds of random, spontaneous things, 38 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: even stuff we might not normally try, like going to 39 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: the Dual Plantation, where the kids had fun running through 40 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: a pineapple maze and eating pineapple ice cream. As I 41 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: look back on my life, the vacations that have been 42 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: the most stressful have been those when we've had big 43 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: groups of people and every morning we had to debate 44 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: the entire day because no one was empowered to make plans, 45 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: not an every minute plan, even just one thing, you 46 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:32,639 Speaker 1: wind up getting a late start and then not being 47 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: able to manage your energy. So my advice for combining 48 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: the best of having plans for cool things while keeping 49 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: space for relaxing a random adventures is to plan one 50 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: anchor event per vacation day. As you plan your vacation, 51 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: think of one thing that would make each day memorable. 52 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: Maybe it's a dinner reservation at a place you'd love 53 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: to try. Maybe it's tickets for a show, or time 54 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: tickets to the Royal meuse at Buckingham Palace. If the 55 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,959 Speaker 1: event is weather dependent, you might need to be somewhat flexible. 56 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: Choose a first choice day and then choose a second 57 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: choice day if the first doesn't work out. But this 58 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: way you know you're doing one thing each day that 59 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: will make the vacation awesome, and then the rest of 60 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: the time, whatever happens happens. Try things you usually don't 61 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: walk down an alley that looks intriguing linger at an 62 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,079 Speaker 1: art gallery that turns out to be really cool. Plans 63 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: and spontaneity can go hand in hand. Indeed, a lot 64 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: of contradictions aren't really contradictions. We just need a broader 65 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: vantage point where we can take in the whole view. 66 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 67 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 68 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 69 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Connect with me 70 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's 71 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: b E the number four then Breakfast pod. You can 72 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at 73 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with 74 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,480 Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I look forward 75 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. 76 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 77 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.