Stress-free on holiday - 10 useful tips

So, you are also looking forward to it: relaxing and doing nothing for a while. Gone and mind at zero. That should be the thought with the word 'holiday' and that large choice of holiday destinations ... But you know better right... Holidays can also be really stressful. In fact, before that it often causes stress anyway. But not with these handy tips. Are you reading along?

Stress-free holiday - 10 useful tips

1. Set a budget
2. Google your hotel
3. Make sure everything is in order well in advance
4. Create a vacation wish list
5. Don't schedule all your time
6. Travel as light as possible
7. Always bring a sarong
8. Leave valuables at home
9. Score a deck of playing cards
10. Park at the airport

Tip 1 - Set a budget

Not only for the journey itself, also for when you are there on location. Because money goes fast when you do nothing. That's very strange. Drinks by the pool, an excursion here, lunch there and that one nice dress that is three times more expensive than you would normally spend on it. Every fart costs money. So try to make a daily budget if you don't want to come home broke.

Tip 2 - Google your hotel

Skip all hotels where you can only see the inside when booking your holiday. There is a good chance that the outside cannot tolerate the daylight… A bit exaggerated of course, but mark my words . It also depends a bit on the type of trip you are going to make. A city trip places different demands on your hotel than an oasis of tranquility on the Canary Islands. But because you always have a certain expectation with your hotel, I advise you to Google it beforehand and let that yellow doll in maps scurry around it. Because it is possible and because then you are almost certain that you will not end up in a construction pit. True story.

Tip 3 - Make sure everything is in order well in advance

Is your passport still valid after years of Corona? Check! Are you going far? Then other things must also be in order, such as a visa and vaccinations other than your booster. Can you pin there with your card? Do you need cash? Does your telephone subscription have coverage there, and can you use data room for a little bit less? Nice to have in order before you go. Also mail important information to an email address that you can always access (such as home addresses, medical information, insurance information, handy emergency telephone numbers). That really saves a lot of stress.

Tip 4 - Create a holiday wish list

My love and I took a road trip from San Francisco to LA years ago. For three wonderful weeks we visited cities, visited friends and had tickets for great concerts. We had made a wish list with a must do and a nice to do list. Before that, a lot of research went into it, but we got that out of the way. A tip:

• see a big show in Las Vegas
• shopping on Rodeo drive
• to LA ink
• spend a night in Madonna Inn
• find a Zoltar
• eating fried pickles in an old fashioned diner
• buy fresh fortune cookies in china town
• bottomless margaritas at Hardrock Hotel

Tip 5 - Don't schedule all your time

Make a holiday wishlist, but make sure you have some air in the planning so that spontaneity can also take place. It is precisely those romantic little streets or an unexpected café that you happen to stumble across and where you make the most beautiful memories.

Tip 6 - Travel as light as possible 

Try making a travel capsule wardrobe. Don't bring too much of the same and think in layers of clothing. Keep a tube of hand sanitizer in your suitcase if you're worried about walking around in musty clothes. Nothing is more irritating than having to drag overweight luggage that you know you should have left two-thirds at home.

Tip 7 - Always bring a sarong

Invest in a good, timeless, sarong. Because a cotton sarong is the best multitasker ever. You can use it as a scarf when it's cold, as a towel, even as a pillow. It is an improvised evening dress, you can pack fragile items with it, even picnic on it and the sarong is of course at its best as a beach dress. The sarong is lightweight and easy to wash. Useful!

Tip 8 - Leave valuables at home

This tip sounds logical, but it is still worth mentioning if you want to go on holiday with not too much stress. You can lose everything you have with you. Luggage can get lost and unfortunately many large and small scammers are active in many tourist spots. So leave expensive things at home, also properly stored.

Tip 9 - Score a deck of playing cards

You really don't have to lug around a trunk of family games for hours of fun. A deck of cards is like a sarong: super multifunctional. You can joke or bully together with it and alone you can do countless games of patience if you have to wait. Did you know that you can also read tarot with an ordinary deck of cards?

Tip 10 - Park at the airport

If you fly you can be picked up and taken to the airport, if that is possible. But secretly it is really nice to have it in your own hands with your own transport. The good news is that no matter which airport you fly from, you can park your car easily and without stress, a few examples:

• Parking Schiphol airport
• Parking Brussels Airport
• Parking Düsseldorf Airport

Bonus tip - Accept that it won't turn out the way you plan

No matter how well you plan, no matter how much stress you try to avoid, nothing always goes exactly as you envision it. 'Scratch perfection, start living' - I write on page 98 in my Happlify your life happiness book and that's how it works with holidays. It is precisely the special discoveries, the strange dishes and the hilarious coincidences that make the most beautiful holiday memories.

The cookie shop we discovered in Prague while taking a walk.