I like a mix of hotels and airbnb, usually a hotel at 1st destination and then airbnb when I am tired of restaurants for every meal. I do laundry sometimes, or even better, drop it off at a wash and fold service and pick up the next day.

I bring a bluetooth speaker. We like to listen to music in our room or balcony.

I get cleaners to come while I'm gone.

When traveling with our children we always get adjoining rooms and never do the four in a room thing.

Leaving the kids home with grandparents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who do laundry on vacation. Vacation is NOT having to do laundry.

We get suites whenever possible and always ask the nanny to do the kids laundry the night before we fly back home. Easier to unpack the kids, and just put stacks of their clean clothes away.

Do you send the nanny to a laundromat? most nice hotels don't have laundry rooms. Unless you have her use the hotel service and pay $$$ per item?

Have rooms tidy and beds made before you leave.

Download the Google Maps of where you’re going in case you lose connectivity for whatever reason.

Do some basic research and prep for the weather.

Leave some room in your suitcase for shopping.

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who do laundry on vacation. Vacation is NOT having to do laundry.

It’s easy with most vacation clothes, shorts, t-shirts, underwear. Just throw the laundry for the whole family every other day or so and each picks up their few stuff.

This way for any length of trip, we don’t need to carry more than 3 days worth of clothes, and don’t return home with bags full of dirty laundry.

Like pps, I find it much easier especially if the washer /dryer combo is inside the unit.

Anonymous wrote:Getty a day room at an airport-adjacent hotel in the arrival city after an overnight flight. Being able to shower and change clothes is the only way I can face the day feeling ok. This works better for me than trying to reserve my actual room for the night before so the room is available that morning.

We are doing this for the first time over spring break!

Coffee delivered to the room in the morning. Especially when the room is distant from reception. Not a fan of the in-room coffee maker in most cases. Also I have a separate grab-and-go electronics zip case with all my chargers, earbuds, etc. No one in the family is allowed to borrow from it, ever—so I’m never running around looking for all the cords I need beforehand or setting them up again afterwards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know people who try to travel only with wifi, without purchasing any data. They have literally called me (when they were travelling and I was at home) to get me to look up directions for them and tell them over the phone when they got lost somewhere and couldn’t get wifi. This is absurd to me. I pay for data.

Who doesn't have unlimited data

International use costs extra on most plans. I pay $10 a day ATT. My SO pays $20/day Verizon because they have a scam going where they end up charging you double. T-Mobile is free but who has T-Mobile?

Verizon is $10 per everyday that you use data internationally.

With a super low data limit, and then they charge you $20/day. We will be quitting them because of this.

Anonymous wrote:I bring my dogs

Me, too, if I can. Sometimes I bring my horse. I almost always bring my pillow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What little things do you make sure to include so that you enjoy your vacation more?

if it was when the kids were growing up, I made sure to set my expectations to zero or near zero. That helped the best.

Haha, I totally agree. Having low expectations is the best.

Often I like to leave a day free at the end of the trip, for anything we didn't get to do that we had wanted to do, or only learned about during the trip, or even souvenir shopping, etc.

I don't really do this anymore, but I used to like to order grocery delivery (before we left) to be delivered at the time we return home.

I love doing this after a long trip.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you populate your calendar with your prescheduled items, you don't need to spend as much time looking up how to get there. Apple Maps even has the public metro options built in so all easy.

I'm a frequent traveler who didn't figure this out until last year, and it was life-changing.

Wait, do you mean just scheduling a tour or museum like you would a work meeting? I've never thought of doing this but I think it could be a game changer (I made an itinerary in word which i know is not the best way to approach this). Any other tips that make the calendaring helpful or easy?

Anonymous wrote:guys i'm not sure that only staying at the ritz, getting hotel rooms for extra days, and flying first class count as "little things" - that's basically just saying you are rich, and that it's nice to travel when you have unlimited funds. no kidding! that's not the world's most hidden insight.

Haha - true! Oh well, we can let everyone share their advice, and ignore what doesn't help us.

We come home on a Saturday so everyone has Sunday to unpack and decompress before starting the week.

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who do laundry on vacation. Vacation is NOT having to do laundry.

LOL. Folks are different.

(1) Of all the chores in life, laundry is one that I mind the least.
(2) I love traveling with just a small carry-on and a small day bag, which means that for a trip longer than a handful of days, at some point I'll have to do laundry. To me the joy of traveling light far outweighs any downside such as laundry, which, per (1), I really don't mind much to begin with. (On rare occasion I've paid to have laundry done while traveling.)