Anonymous wrote:Thanks, everyone! I’m actually feeling better about the trip now and looking forward a little more to having no plan. You’ve done a good job of reassuring me i’m not missing out on anything.

YAY! Enjoy your trip!

I get antsy after 1 relaxing beach day. DH is the same. Just not our think. We usually don't plan these types of trips, but if we do we try to find locations with plenty of other options.

As far as ensuring some relaxation time on vacation, depending on the location , I like booking an activity in the morning, and leaving the afternoon open. I find a few potential afternoon options that check different boxes- pool, vs exploring a park, vs museum, etc. But anything I "have" to do is done during the morning time and booked ahead. I make reservations for dinner half the nights and wing it the other nights. Basically, it is a balance. And totally depends on location.

Thanks, everyone! I’m actually feeling better about the trip now and looking forward a little more to having no plan. You’ve done a good job of reassuring me i’m not missing out on anything.

For a beach trip it's easy to just relax and basically do nothing except sit on the beach.

I only feel the need to make the most of a trip if I'm going somewhere new, faraway, or that has lots of natural or historic sites.

The "things to do" can be as simple as "go read on the beach" or "find a new restaurant for dinner".

You sound like you often give yourself a hard time for NOT being busy, even in your downtime. Like a weekend spent at home, with family, is somehow "wasted" because you didn't go on a scenic hike or visit the street festival. It's not wasted, those are the weekends that often create family strong family bonds and offer rest to everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop being so hard on yourself. What are you comparing the "waste" to? Expectations from insta? This sounds like a Soc Media FOMO issue rather than you feeling how you feel and owning it.

Well, I don’t even use social media, so it can’t be that. I guess I just worry that we wont have made meaningful memories that sustain me when I’m having a crappy week? But now that I’m posting that, it sounds ridiculous because most of my best memories are the mundane.

For me, the meaningful memories would be relaxing with my husband and enjoying our time together. I can do that sitting at the beach or doing an activity, so do whatever you want. Forcing yourself into activities because you think you'll have regrets otherwise doesn't sound like a fun vacation.

You don't have to completely plan anything, but you should think about things you want to do.
DH and I recently went on a similar trip after we both got done with an incredibly stressful period at work and DS was going away with a friend for 5 days so DH and I jumped at the chance for a getaway together.

Mostly, we just wanted to relax and get a chance to unwind and read books and get a massage. That's what we wanted out of vacation. We also knew we wanted to scuba dive so planned that in.

Don't be busy just to be busy. Research the location and see if anything interests you and then do that. But if you just want to relax, there is nothing wrong with that. Don't put so much pressure on yourself or you won't enjoy vacation

We like to leave a lot of time to wing it, but how that gets done depends on the destination. For a sightseeing/touristy kind of vacation, I will usually plan for one goal for each day---a specific museum, event, activity---and get tickets, make reservations, or whatever ahead of time. I will also think ahead and make restaurant reservations for some nights.

Beach vacations? I don't really plan daytime activities ahead of time. However, I will usually make dinner reservations well in advance of the trip. We have learned the hard way that restaurants in resort destinations during peak travel times book up fast.

Make a list of some possible activities in the area and then decide when you get up each day. Or decide to do one preplanned activity every day and then go from there. It can even be a good happy hour or an early/late beach walk. Or checking out a different beach nearby.

Beach trips don’t require any plans imho.

I think there are two types of vacation people. Some people like to relax while others like to experience a lot. I am not in the leisure category, so I understand where you are coming from. I think you might feel more comfortable with either a loose plan or at least a list of options or ideas on hand.

Anonymous wrote:Stop being so hard on yourself. What are you comparing the "waste" to? Expectations from insta? This sounds like a Soc Media FOMO issue rather than you feeling how you feel and owning it.

Well, I don’t even use social media, so it can’t be that. I guess I just worry that we wont have made meaningful memories that sustain me when I’m having a crappy week? But now that I’m posting that, it sounds ridiculous because most of my best memories are the mundane.

Stop being so hard on yourself. What are you comparing the "waste" to? Expectations from insta? This sounds like a Soc Media FOMO issue rather than you feeling how you feel and owning it.

DH and I have had a whirlwind of a year but found five days that align for a trip together. We are heading to the beach, but we have no real plans. The “plan” is to play it by ear every day. Like Forest Gump, if we feel like going for a walk, we will go for a walk. If we feel like sipping daiquiris by the pool and people watching, we will do that.

I wouldn’t say I’m a “planner” and I do like to be spontaneous, but I also worry that by having no plans, the week will have felt like a waste by the time it’s over. I keep thinking of long weekends at home where we have no plans, and by Monday morning it feels like we really should have done something.

So how do you balance this sort of lazy spontaneity with feeling like you’ve made good use of your time and resources?