1. Tackle Vacation Clothes
I like to begin dealing with our laundry situation either the day we arrive home or the following day. There is five of us, which means a lot of dirty laundry once we return home. On top of that we begin creating more once we’re home.
The easiest way for families to tackle laundry is to sort while you unpack. This makes getting things into the washing machine easier.
The other thing I do to make the process of faster is use the ‘quick wash feature’ on (my washing machine). The ‘quick wash’ cycle runs for 25 minutes versus the one minute and forty-second regular cycle. Even if you don’t wash everything right away, it will be better than letting things poe up for a few days and having to wash vacation clothes and clothes that have accumulated since your vacation.
2. Meal Plan
The first two days back home are generally a process of getting back into routine. While on vacation we either eat out the entire time or do a combination of eating out and cooking in our suite.
It’s a little easier to meal plan after returning home if I was already cooking while on vacation, but the times when I vacation and don’t do any cooking it’s harder.
The day we arrive home we usually plan to eat take out. It’s just easier on everyone, but after that, we like to get back to our routine.
When I arrive home I take a few minutes to create a meal plan and shopping list. I stick with meals that are easy to prepare and are easy to digest. After vacationing my digestive system seems like it needs time to adjust to home cooked meals and my style of cooking.
3. Get Some Sleep
There are some vacations that leave me feeling rested and refreshed and then there are those that leave me feeling drained. They are both wonderful, but after a vacation where we’re constantly on the go, I need time to rest. The day we return from vacation, we plan an early bedtime.
After grabbing dinner we let the family know it’s time to relax and decompress. This is so important especial when vacationing during the school year or over a four day weekend. If school or work resumes the day after we return, our goal is to make sure everyone is well rested for the next day.
4. Upload Pictures and Videos
We live in the digital age you guys and tackling pictures and video is a part of life. One thing I like to do, is transfer, sort and organize my vacation pictures and video. I transfer all pictures and video to my laptop and create folders for them. After transferring the pictures I delete them from my phone. I also take notes about our vacation so when I go back to tag my photos I’ll remember the details. Now when it’s time to print photos I’ll be organized.
5. Update My Budget
We typically use cash when on vacation, but I’m finding it harder and harder to do so. Many destination vacation spots are primarily accepting debit or credit cards only at the registers. While at Disney, you are asked while in line if you’re paying cash or credit. Your answer determines the register you’re sent to.
Before going on vacation, we set up a budget and an account to manage all vacation purchases made with our debit card.
While on vacation, we track our balance using our bank app. We can see how much we’ve spent at the end of each day, but we don’t update our budget sheet until we return home.
No more than two days after returning home, we sit down and record all of our vacation transactions and adjust our balance. It’s always fun to see if we stayed within budget. If there is any unused vacation money it’s transferred to our next vacation budget.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
These are just a few of the ways I handle vacation re-entry and make the transition from vacation back to everyday life go as smoothly as possible.
To learn how we plan and save for our debt free family vacation stick around a few more minutes and read How to Take a Debt Free Family Vacation and Find Money in Your Budget. You will find a complimentary vacation planning printable in that post.
