Make space and time for a dream holiday

Posted on by juliec

If you have been reading my blogs for a while you may have seen influences from two sources that make up the business name Space & Time:

    1. Space – I love to give tips on how to organise your space (including your stuff) at home with easy to follow and replicate steps (which could be called a system or process).
    2.  Time – I want to help my readers consciously choose how to use every minute of every day to create a life that  is fun, enjoyable and less stressful..

It’s the second influence I want to talk about over the next few weeks. I’m going to explore the notion that by making conscious choices about how you use your time, you can free up time to pursue whatever you want. Let’s see how with an example.

Visualisation

Close your eyes for a minute and let your mind wander to thoughts of your wildest dreams. If you could do whatever you want, go wherever you want, what would it be? Would you go on a holiday to Thialand, take up and art class, learn Japanese, join a choir, or simply book yourself in for a manicure for a few minutes peace from the kids? Whatever it is just sit there and imagine yourself being there. Imagine what you’re wearing, what your surroundings look like and most importantly how you feel. Relaxed, happy, excited, energised, refreshed?

Now that you have this vivid picture in your mind, how can you bring it to life? How can you make it happen? What conscious choices do you need to make every day to make this happen?

I spoke to Melanie Carter, Travel Manager at Travel Managers Australia about how we can make space and time for a dream holiday. Let’s start with a trip to Thailand.

travel vision boardFollow these steps to plan your dream holiday:
  1.  Start with a vision board – Collect pictures and clippings and brochures and start a vision board. Put it somewhere you can see it every day (here’s some ideas on how to put a vision board together, image courtesy justshortofcrazy.com).
  2.  How much is it going to cost – Have a chat to your trusted Travel Consultant about what you have in mind, and they can give you a budget to work towards. They can discuss best time to book or travel to secure savings, and offer all manner of advice on flights, airlines, accommodation, Travel Insurance needs, passport requirements, vaccinations you may require before you go, and spending money required. They are a fountain of knowledge and a “one stop shop” to help you put together your trip. Allowing them to use their knowledge, contacts and do the research for you, you will most definitely save time and money. 
  3.  Saving money for the trip – Now you have a good idea of where you’re going and what it is going to cost, where is the money going to come from? As mentioned above, your travel consultant can help you choose when you are going to travel to save money. Choosing a date also helps your budgeting so you know how much you need to save between now and then. Let’s say you need to save all of the money for the trip. Your next steps to making this dream holiday become  reality is researching some tools to set up a budget to allow for the savings you require. There are some great resources available on ASIC’s Money Smart website here. 
  4.  Keep your eye on the prize – Let’s now think of some other things to keep us focused as It may take 12 months or longer, and it just may seem too far way. What can you do each day to keep your eye on the prize? Start each day with visualisation similar to we did at the start of this blog. Immerse yourself in being on that beach in Thailand and feel the sun on your skin.
  5.  Put it in the diary – revisit the dream each week. Cook some Thai food, visit Pinterest for some more inspiring pictures, Diarise when payments will be due for your trip. You may also need to set reminders for any other items you may need to consider – obtaining or renewing passports, visas or incidentals like purchasing a new suitcase or camera.
  6. Go on your Holiday! Enjoy your wonderful trip and feel proud that you focused on your dream, put in the steps to make it happen! Whilst you are enjoying a Mai Tai by the pool, you can start dreaming up what other dreams might be possible – the sky is the limit!
Get planning

Thanks so much Melanie for your expert advice. I must admit I’ve never been overseas before so I’m personally glad to receive your tips for making a dream holiday a reality.

Thinking in broader terms, the above process can be used to achieve many different dreams. The process breaks the large dream into things to do daily to make the dream come in to fruition. What would you like to do if you had some spare time? Think about it now and get planning.

Need to go on a holiday? Contact Melanie Carter, Travel Manager at Travel Managers Australia (travelmanagers.com.au/MelanieCarter)

Need help with putting these steps into practice? You can book me here.