1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to structure a vacation so 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: you know you'll do fun things, but also have room 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,120 Speaker 1: for serendipitous adventures when it comes to time. I think 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: that making plans and being spontaneous are often presented as 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: either or things. You're either the soulless sort who must 8 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: plan every minute, or else you are free spirited and 9 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: open to all manner of possibility. I tend to resent 10 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: this presented dichotomy because I do all sorts of adventurous 11 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: and random things on my vacations. I also plan like crazy. 12 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: As a practical matter, These things are not in opposition 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: at all. First, the reality is that in our world 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: of seven billion people, if you want to do some 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: cool things, you absolutely have to plan ahead. For my 16 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: family to stay at the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone 17 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: National Park last summer, I had to make a reservation 18 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: on May one. When we went to Hawaii a few 19 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: years ago, we knew we wanted to visit Pearl Harbor 20 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: and take the boat trip out to the USS Arizona Memorial. 21 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: Tickets are strictly limited. For this, I had to know 22 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: we wanted to go do this and get on the 23 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: system at exactly seven am the day before. Tickets were 24 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: gone by seven oh five. But once you have certain 25 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: structures in place, vacation days are often vast. The day 26 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: we went to the uss Arizona, for instance, we got 27 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: up to go for our time tickets and pay our 28 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: respects at the memorial. But once we did that, we 29 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: let the rest of the day go as we wanted. 30 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: Maybe we felt like going to our hotels, water park, 31 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: or maybe we wanted to read, maybe we wanted to snircle. 32 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: I don't know. There was plenty of time to do 33 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: other things. Likewise, on a different day of that vacation, 34 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: we planned to drive around the island with an audio guide. 35 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: So that was not the day we were going to 36 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: go see the uss Arizona, of course, But within day 37 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: of driving around we did all kinds of random, spontaneous things, 38 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: even stuff we might not normally try, like going to 39 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: the Dual plantation where the kids had fun running through 40 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: a pineapple maze and eating pineapple ice cream. As I 41 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: look back on my life, the vacations that have been 42 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: the most stressful have been those when we've had big 43 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,519 Speaker 1: groups of people and every morning we had to debate 44 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: the entire day because no one was empowered to make plans, 45 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 1: not in every minute, plan even just one thing, you 46 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: wind up getting a late start and then not being 47 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: able to manage your energy. So my advice for combining 48 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: the best of having plans for cool things while keeping 49 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: space for relaxing a random adventures is to plan one 50 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: anchor event per vacation day. As you plan your vacation, 51 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: think of one thing that would make each day memorable. 52 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: Maybe it's a dinner reservation at a place you'd love 53 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,519 Speaker 1: to try. Maybe it's tickets for a show, or time 54 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: tickets to the Royal muse at Buckingham Palace. If the 55 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: event is weather dependent, you might need to be somewhat flexible. 56 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: Choose a first choice day and then choose a second 57 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: choice day if the first doesn't work out. But this 58 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: way you know you're doing one thing each day that 59 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: will make the vacation awesome, and then the rest of 60 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: the time, whatever happens happens. Try things you usually don't. 61 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: Walk down an alley that looks intriguing, linger at an 62 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: art gallery that turns out to be really cool. Plans 63 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: and spontaneity can go hand in hand. Indeed, a lot 64 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: of contradictions aren't really contradictions. We just need a broader 65 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: vantage point where we can take in the whole view. 66 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 67 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 68 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 69 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 70 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod 71 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 72 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 73 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast 74 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, 75 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is 76 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from 77 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 78 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.