If you’re anything like me, or any other normal person, preparing and coming home from a vacation can be quite stressful. Sometimes I feel like I need 3 vacations at once: one to prepare, one for the actual vacation, and one to recover from said vacation. Sound like you too? Hopefully, I can help you fix that problem! I’ve put together a few tips of my top to do’s to prevent & relieve vacation stress. These are just a few simple things you can do before and after your vacation to keep the vacation high going.

Like I said these simple things to do before and after your vacation, yet they make all of the difference! I try to do all of these things when it comes to vacationing, but even just taking care of a couple helps tremendously.

Tips for Preventing Vacation Stress
Before Vacationing:
1) Laundry. Sounds simple enough right? Sometimes it’s not always feasible, but I try to get every stitch of laundry done, folded, and put away before departing for our vacation. Knowing I’ll come home to only the dirty clothes in my suit case takes away tons of stress ahead of time!
2) Bedding. What’s one of the best parts of vacationing? That comfy hotel bed if you ask me! And the best part of coming home? Sleeping in your own bed! Put on fresh sheets and a comforter before you head out. Knowing you’re coming home to a soft, clean bed will feel like vacation got an extension!
3) Kitchen. A no brainer right? But we often times forget about those left overs in the fridge or dishes in the dish washer. Throw out all the left overs and anything that can spoil ahead of time. While your at it, make sure your trash cans are emptied. Also empty your sink and put away those clean dishes in the dish washer. I once left clean dishes in the dish washer during a 10 day vacation, and came home to a molded wooden spoon. Yikes! I threw out all of our wooden utensils after that! But locking those dishes in with moisture that can’t escape is a sure fire disaster.
After Vacationing:
4) Luggage. Start emptying your luggage right away. Put away shoes, toiletries, and other extras immediately. Then sort your laundry to get it washed as soon as you get home. You’ll thank me later in the week when you don’t have mountains of sandy beach clothes overtaking your laundry room!
5) Relax. Take an extra day or two off of work when you return home. Devote half a day to laundry, then take the rest to relax and catch up on your favorite shows! My trick? For a week long trip, I like to fly out on Friday night after work or early Saturday morning, then return home the following Friday or Saturday, leaving me with a day or two until the Monday morning blues.

I know these sound too good to be true, but I can really tell the biggest difference when I don’t take care of these things before and after a trip. It takes a bit of work before leaving, but it is ALWAYS worth it when I return home. Besides, who wants to come home to mounds of housework after a week long stay at the beach? Not this girl!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these tips, and hope they will help you with that vacation stress. If you have more tips, I’d love to hear them! Thanks so much for checking in today. I’ll be back later this week with more from our Dallas weekend. See you then!