There are few things more exciting than a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. You want to do everything all at once. And if you don’t plan out your time very well, you will end up missing out on a lot of what you went to see and do. The last day of vacation can be a hectic crunch of activity because you realize how much you still have to do and how little time there is left to do it. This is when costly mistakes are made.
The penultimate day of your vacation is the time to get a lot of those last-minute things done. That is when you should start packing everything except that which you will need for the trip home. That is also when you take one last visit to the gift shop to be sure you get all the memorabilia you promised yourself.
That last little bit of shopping can be a real burden once you discover you don’t have enough room in your luggage to carry it all. By doing it the day before, you can arrange to ship a few things ahead of your departure. After all, no carry-on bag will accommodate that handmade, life-size chess set. Your next to last day will be pretty busy. Here is what your last day should look like:
A Good Night’s Sleep
Your last day of high-energy activity should be followed by the last night of restful sleep. That is why it is so important that you bring along the CBD sleep products you depend on during the work week. It makes sense that expensive items like cameras and laptops are so often left behind. It is not that vacationers don’t value these items. It is just that they slept so poorly that they were far from at their best when rushing to check out before being hit with a late checkout fee.
Remember, there are two last days of a vacation. There is the last full day and the next day when you check out and head for home. That is the day when bad things happen to good laptops and other expensive items. You can easily spend over $130 for a good USB-C cable and high-wattage power supply for your MacBook Pro. Failure to get a good night’s sleep on your last full day can cost you a lot more than you think.
A Great Breakfast
It is perfectly okay to save that unforgettable breakfast experience for the day you leave. You are going to want something amazing like that breakfast in France you can’t stop talking about. You will want to go back to France just to experience it again. It is important that you save at least one spectacular thing for your last day so that you don’t leave for home exhausted and deflated, but exhilarated and hungry for more.
Of course, the other reason to get a good breakfast on your last day of vacation is purely practical. You are going to need your energy. You likely have a long trip ahead of you. Depending on how you will travel, opportunities for healthy snacks might not be plentiful. A long trip home can be made to feel a lot longer if people get hungry and irritable. That is most likely going to happen when you didn’t top things off with a good night’s sleep and a good morning meal.
Take Pictures
If you try to be the vacation photographer on your once-in-a-lifetime vacation, you will miss a lot of the vacation. Every moment you are gazing through the lens is a moment you are not in the moment at all. Learn to take amazing vacation photos on your last day. The reason is you have already been to all the places and done all the things. Get up early and revisit some of the more stunning sights so you can properly photograph them and not feel like you had to miss the initial enjoyment of being there. You will also find that fewer people milling about will make for better photos.
Don’t let a perfect vacation be ruined by a lack of last-day planning. Be sure to get a good night's sleep. Have a good breakfast, and return to your favorite spots so you can photograph them properly.
