I Don’t Plan Trips to Get Away… I Plan Them So Life Feels Better When I Come Back
It Didn’t Start the Way I Thought It Would
I used to think travel was about getting away.
From the stress.
From the noise.
From everything waiting for me at home.
But the truth is…
the best trips I’ve ever taken didn’t help me escape my life.
They helped me come back to it differently.
This Trip Was Different
We just got back from a two-week cruise with friends and family.
And if I’m being honest… I needed it more than I realized.
Life at home had been stacking up.
Work felt heavy.
The house felt loud.
My brain felt full.
So instead of planning something packed and busy,
we did the opposite.
We chose a longer cruise.
More time.
More space.
More room to breathe.
And yes… maybe a few too many port days (lesson learned),
but in between those, there was something I hadn’t had in a while.
Time to just be.
Time to sit with Jamie without rushing off to the next thing.
Time to talk, laugh, wander, or do absolutely nothing.
Time to think without immediately needing to solve anything.
And somewhere in all of that…
I reset.
Just enough to feel like myself again.
How I Plan Now
When I plan trips now, I think about them differently.
Not:
“How much can we fit in?”
But:
“How do I want to feel while I’m there… and when I come back?”
That changes everything.
It means:
Leaving space in the schedule
Choosing walkable, easy locations
Not overloading every single day
Building in time to sit, reflect, and connect
Because the goal isn’t to come home exhausted with great pictures.
It’s to come home lighter.
Finding Our Spot
This might sound simple… but it matters.
We always find “our spot.”
On this cruise, it was a quiet area where we could sit with a drink,
watch the ocean, and just exist for a minute.
No pressure to be doing something.
No agenda.
Just a place where we knew we could land.
Those little anchor spots become part of the reset.
Things I’ve Learned Along the Way
A few things I’ve learned the hard way:
Not every port needs to be an excursion
You don’t have to say yes to everything
Rest is part of the plan, not a break from it
The best conversations don’t happen when you’re rushing
Sometimes the best part of the trip is the part you didn’t plan.
We’re actually planning our Reds weekends the same way now — less packed, more intentional.
What I’d Go Back For
Not just places… but feelings.
I’d go back for:
Slow mornings with nowhere to be
Laughing at dinner without checking the time
That feeling when your shoulders finally drop
Real conversations that don’t get cut short
That’s the part I want again.
What Travel Really Does for Me
I don’t plan trips to get away from my life anymore.
I plan them so I can come back to it better.
More patient.
More present.
Less overwhelmed.
Because travel, for me, isn’t an escape hatch.
It’s a reset button.
And honestly…
It’s become one of the best ways I’ve found
to take care of the life I’ve already built. 💛
If you’ve been feeling that pull too…
I’ve started putting together a few trips (some simple, some a little bigger)
and you can join the interest list here:👉 Join the Reset and Roam Trip List
No pressure, just a way to see what we’re planning.
How We’re Choosing Our Next Reds Road Trip (And What We’re Doing Differently This Time)
There’s something about planning a trip that starts long before anything is booked.
It usually begins with a feeling.
For us right now…
it’s simple:
We need something to look forward to.
Not a big, complicated vacation.
Not something that takes weeks to recover from.
Just a trip that feels easy…
fun…
and a little like us again.
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We haven’t planned everything yet.
We haven’t mapped every stop or booked every detail.
But we have decided something more important:
how we want the trip to feel.
Walkable.
Simple.
Walkable. Simple. Room to wander.
Time to sit somewhere with a drink and just take it all in.
A game in the middle of it all…
not the only thing.
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That’s the shift for us.
We used to plan around the game.
Now we’re planning around the experience…
and letting the game be part of it.
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We’re starting with the basics.
Looking at schedules.
Picking a city that makes sense.
Finding a place we can stay where we don’t have to drive everywhere.
Because we’ve learned…
how a trip flows matters more than how much you fit into it.
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There’s something else we’re doing differently too.
We’re not trying to get it perfect before we go.
We’re letting some of it stay open.
Because some of our favorite moments on past trips…
weren’t planned at all.
They were the in-between moments.
The walk to nowhere in particular.
The random conversation.
The place we almost didn’t stop.
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So this trip?
It’s still coming together.
We’ll choose the game.
We’ll lock in the stay.
We’ll sketch out a loose plan.
But we’re leaving space.
For fun.
For connection.
For whatever the trip turns into once we’re actually there.
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And honestly… that’s part of what I love most about this.
The planning isn’t just logistics.
It’s a reminder that we get to choose how we spend our time.
That we can build something to look forward to…
even in the middle of regular life.
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If you’re thinking about taking a trip this year…
especially something simple like a weekend away…
you don’t have to have it all figured out.
Start with how you want it to feel.
Then build from there.
💛
What We’re Prioritizing This Time
Walkable location
One anchor event (the game)
Open time built in
Simple plans over packed schedules
How I Plan Trips Without Overplanning Them ✈️
Travel planning used to feel like a performance. I thought being “prepared” meant having every hour accounted for, every option researched, every moment optimized. And honestly, it stole a lot of joy. I was so focused on doing it right that I forgot to let myself actually look forward to the trip.
These days, planning looks different. Softer. More human.
This week was a perfect example. Jamie and I spent a few evenings tossing around ideas — maybe a quick night away somewhere close, maybe a cozy couples hot‑tub room, maybe a weekend trip a little farther out. Nothing urgent. Nothing forced. Just exploring possibilities the way you’d wander through a store without needing to buy anything 🛍️.
And the next day we’ll sit down and book our excursions and flights for our April cruise. Even that feels lighter than it used to. Instead of treating it like a task to check off, it feels like a small moment of anticipation ✨. A reminder that something good is coming.
Where Overplanning Used to Steal Joy 😣
For years, I believed the only way to avoid stress was to plan everything. But the truth was the opposite. The more I tried to control every detail, the more pressure I put on myself — and the less present I was once the trip actually started.
I’d get so wrapped up in the schedule that I’d miss the moment right in front of me.
The Boundary I Build Into Every Trip Now 🚧
Now, I give myself one simple boundary:
If a plan starts feeling like a rule, I loosen it.
That’s it.
If something feels heavy, I step back.
If something feels rushed, I slow down.
If something feels like an obligation, I let it go.
It’s the gentlest boundary I’ve ever set, and somehow the most effective.
Leaving Space for Things to Unfold 🌙
One of my favorite parts of travel now is the space I leave open on purpose. Not empty time — open time.
Like the night Jamie and I wandered into a tiny café on a whim because the lights looked warm and the music sounded good. That moment wasn’t on any itinerary. It wasn’t researched or bookmarked or saved on a list. It just happened because we weren’t rushing to the next thing.
That’s the kind of magic I want more of.
Planning Without Turning It Into a Job 🧘♀️
Planning can support joy without suffocating it. It can give you a sense of direction without boxing you in. It can help you feel prepared without demanding perfection.
And sometimes the lightest planning moments are the sweetest — like scrolling through hotel rooms and laughing together at the ones with hilariously dramatic décor. (Why do so many places have neon lights behind the bed now? Who decided that was the vibe 😂)
Travel doesn’t have to be serious to be meaningful.
It just has to feel like you.
You’re allowed to leave room for magic. ✨
💛 If you enjoy thoughtful travel and connection-first trips, join the newsletter here.