That being said, there is something to be said for planning. I’m pretty sure this is the key, no matter what your style may be. We are going to the Outer Banks and sharing a house with another family, that we are all good friends with. As a family, we’ve had this type of beach house vacation more than any other type. When the children were little, it was quite a task to plan out, but now, I have it all figured out (not really, but I have certainly improved).
I have a binder (in FlyLady style) with a vacation checklist in a protector. I have a basic list and an add on for house rental vacations. I can check things off as I go and then erase it with a wet rag and reuse it the next time. I had a list in my app on my iPad, but this just works better for me. Something about physically crossing things off with the marker. I have a list for things to do before packing (like stopping mail, figuring out Mr. Fuzzles’ care) and a list for what needs to be done before we leave (like change thermostat to vacation settings and empty garbage) I start working on the”things to do before packing” list at about the three week out. One thing a day- that’s it.
My friend and I planned our dinners about 5 weeks ago. The first night we are getting takeout Barbeque (as we will be tired from driving). We are each going to take care of two nights meals. One night, we are going out to eat at a brewpub!! And the last night the hubbies will grill us a meal.
We also divided up the things we would need to bring ( for example, I’m bringing garbage bag and she’s bringing all purpose cleaner) That way, I could collect those things over several weeks. I have a large basket under a desk for those items. I have to put warnings on things, of course. If you have teenage boys…you’ll understand. About 2 weeks before , I made one of my dinners and froze it in a baking dish in my freezer. I had to make two casseroles to feed the teenagers! They are wrapped and frozen, ready to travel. When it’s my day to cook, I just have to put it into the dish, the oven and make a veggie. No time wasted at the beach. The other is a slow cooker, super easy recipe that I can put together in the morning.
And then, we made up a list of items that our families would typically want in a week . Most of those will be bought down there, but certain items that we can’t live without and might be difficult to find (like our favorite coffee creamer: Creamora or her daughters’s lactose intolerant needs) we are bringing. I found that it is much less hassle to just make a list and buy meats, dairy and produce at the destination, even if it is a little more expensive. You never know how long you might have to wait to get in and it saves cargo space. We made a basic grocery list for the first day. This was accomplished while driving to a brew fest, so it really didn’t seem like work!
Next up: packing.