Creating travel goals is the most important step to make when you are ready to plan amazing vacations for your family.  What are you wanting to accomplish in your travels in this season of your life?

I really don’t remember the first time Sweetums and I talked about visiting all 50 states with our children.  I can’t remember a time, since we’ve been married, that I didn’t think about it.

Maybe visiting all the states seems like a crazy goal to you…maybe it’s something you could care less about.  Maybe vacation to you is staying in one place for a week.  But…what do you care about when it comes to travel?  Could it be you want to…

• Spend time relaxing on as many different tropical beaches as possible
• Ski every slope in the lower 48
• Visit every National Park
• Visit every church your congregation supports
• Shop in as many quilt stores as you can find
• Visit every Harley Davidson dealership in the world
• Stay at every Disney Resort
• Participate in as many medical missions across the world as you can
• Visit every country from where your ancestors came
• Visit every state park in Texas
• Visit every major league ballpark
• Ride America’s top 20 roller coasters
• Shop at every outlet mall in the South
• Eat your way across America’s major cities
• Visit every Civil War/American Revolutionary War battleground

The list is endless.  But, you need to stop and think about what you would like to accomplish in your life in your travels.

Next, these goals will probably need to change over your lifetime.  When you stop to look at your life stage or “season” right now, where are you?

• College
• Single
• Married and DINKS (Double Income No Kids)
• Married with young children
• Married with older children
• Empty Nesters
• Retired
• Widow/Widower
• Single Again
• Tight financial resources
• Comfortable financially
• An abundance of resources

As you move in and out of each of these life stages, you can re-evaluate your travel goals.

Sometimes the movement from one life stage to another is gradual and expected, but sometimes it is abrupt.  Even when you are forced into a new season of life you didn’t ask for, you can make the most of it in your travels.

Take for example, my Aunt J.  Almost 4 years ago, my Uncle D passed away unexpectedly.  Aunt J never asked to be in this situation.  She did make and act on a new travel goal, though.  She went on a Medical Mission trip with her daughter to Kenya.  It was an incredible experience for her!

Don’t let life pass you by without a plan.  Be intentional!  Don’t wake up one day and wonder where your life went and why you never made meaningful memories with those you love and care about.

What are your travel goals?  It’s not too late to make some today!  🙂

One thing that drives me crazy on a trip is forgetting something.  I know, when you travel domestically, that there is a Target or Walmart almost everywhere where you can purchase forgotten items, but I don’t want to spend money on something I already have at home.

We have traveled many times but I just came up with this very simple, but extremely effective, chart system for our vacation we took this June.  I don’t know why it took me so long.

I wanted a way to remember everything I needed to pack for each of us, so I created this chart in my vacation notes….

As you can see from the list, I have a row for every category needed for each of us.  As I packed, I had everyone’s suitcase in my room.  When I was certain each item was packed in the suitcase, I would check it off.  After everything for a particular person was packed, I circled their name.  My older kids, who can pack their own suitcases, could compare what they packed with my master list.  I was confident when we left that we all had what we needed.  That is a great feeling!

Emily liked the concept so much that she made her own check list when she and JoeJack went to church camp….

I like her addition of a smiley face when the packing was complete!  🙂

I did make an excel spreadsheet that I will customize for future use.  Here is the file if you want to use it too.  Packing List  The first sheet is the packing list for clothing and shoes.  The second is for other items you don’t want to forget.  You could also include toiletries, and actually, I will add that next time too!  🙂

How do you make sure you remember everything you need for your trips?

By the way…..I would love to have you subscribe to my blog!  🙂