• You may find that you’re on your phone way more than you would like to be.. Or you may not seem to be able to keep to your budget. You may even be going out to drink more than you should. These are all signs that you need to relax and take care of yourself for a while.
• You are telling yourself that you can make it through until the next long weekend or whatever. I know I’m doing exactly that. Taking that little break around Easter did not seem to do me any good. I don’t know what to do there.

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• Are you just feeling too tired to do anything? You may be bringing home takeout more than you’d like to be. You may groan whenever your child asks for help with anything. You may not want to do anything on the weekends. All you want to do is to relax. And forget work.
• You know you love your job. But you want to do only what is necessary and then get out of there. You do not want to take on any new projects… You may not even want to be around your work friends.
• Are you sleeping too little, worrying about everything you do not want to do. Or are we sleeping more than you should? All of these are signs that you need a vacation.

I am going to take sometime off around Memorial Day weekend. We are going to have this big family gathering. And I’m starting feeling the need for some complete downtime. Let’s talk about some signs that you need to take a vacation.

You are just worn out. You try to get good sleep at night, but it just doesn’t seem to help. Yeah, I’m kind of feeling that way.. This is a sign that you need to take a break.

Are you cranky? Does any little thing upset you? It could be at work, it could be at home, or it might be both. I must say that I think I hold most of that to myself. I do not think that is a good thing. Anyway, this is another sign that you need to take a vacation.

• Vacations are times where most people want to relax and have fun. Sometimes the emphasis is on the one and other times on the other one. When all you want to do is to relax, you will want to keep in mind that most cruise ships are going to have the same bedding in all of the rooms, whether you are in the most extravagant suite or an inside cabin.
• Most cruises are going to have good options for free eating. Sometimes even the specialty restaurants are going to have free lunches.. Check on the main dining room. You may find free lobster sometimes.
• Go on a tour of the spa on the first day. You are going to be able to get free and discounted stuff if you do.

• Your feet are going to take you a lot of places. Be nice to them. Wear the good shoes. And I do not mean the cute shoes. I’m talking about the shoes you can walk in all day comfortably without fear of blisters. Traveling always means that you’ll be doing lots of walking.
• If you plan to do a lot of traveling, get a credit card that is going to give you airline miles. You may be surprised at what you may get when you sign for one of these.
• In a lot of places the price you see on any item is more what the seller wants to start the bargaining at. Learn the art of negotiating. It’s actually a lot of fun.

• You will want to take an empty water bottle through security, and then refill once you are on the other side. And if you are unsure about how safe the water is where you are going, buy a water bottle that has a filter built into it.
• You do want to take the walking tours. They will help you to get to know the city. Ask questions of the guide. You may even want to get to know the other people who are on the tour.
• Look around the internet for city passes for the places you are going, if you are planning to go to museums and other attractions. This could save you some good money. Emergencies happen. Make sure you have some cash around just in case.

• Most everyone knows that hotels and hostels are not your only choices when it comes to places to stay. There is also airbnb, and in many foreign countries, people will let you rent a room. Not only is this probably going to be less expensive, but you are also going to learn a lot about the people by staying with them.
• Most people are going to be friendly. Most people like showing off their country. Be friendly and say hi. Ask for help if you need it.
• However, be wise. Don’t give out personal information.. Especially don’t give out bank numbers or anything like that…
• Try foods that you are not sure what it is. Being picky means that you might miss out on something delicious. I must say that I’m not at all good about trying new foods.
• Taxis are usually pretty expensive. Never take them unless you must.

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• Just like that towel, you are going to want to bring a flashlight. You never know when you might need it. Finding things in the dark is never fun.
• It is also never fun to hurt yourself, or get sick, and not have what you need to take care of it. Take band-aids, antibacterial cream, ointments, and your favorite pain reliever. Again you never know when you might need something like this.
• Hotels have a lot of flexibility when it comes to giving upgrades. Often they are going to be able to give you upgrades, and all you have to do is to ask. This is practically unheard of in the US, but some hotels will charge you to get online. A lot of coffee shops, cafes, and places like that will have free wifi that you can use.
• Staying in hostels is not a bad idea. They are inexpensive. You are probably going to meet all kinds of interesting people. And you never know what fun you might have.

More tips

• You are on vacation. You do not have eat when everyone else does. Eat early or late, it really doesn’t matter which one you choose. The time when most other people will be eating is a great time to take in some of the more famous sites. At the very least, you are going to avoid some of those tour buses.
• And you do not want to eat anywhere near the touristy places. They are going to charge more for everything. You will want to walk for at least five blocks before looking for a place to eat. You also don’t want to eat where their menu is in a lot of different languages.
• Most the locals do not eat out at a restaurant every night. Go to the grocery stores and see what they have to offer. You can learn a lot about a people by going to their grocery stores.
• Do you want to try some of the nicer restaurants? Try going at lunchtime. You’ll get the same food for less money.

Things got busy this past weekend, and I didn’t take the time away from all of the fun in order to work. Sorry about that. Anyway, we are going to look at some more travel tips.

Sometimes when you travel, you need something familiar. You may want to go into Starbucks or McDonald’s. There is nothing wrong with that.. These are places that you should be sure to get internet time. This that I’m reading says the food is pretty unhealthy. But everything I hear says that these restaurants do not have the same foods.

You are going to want to look into your flights. Sometimes it is less expensive to fly into places that are close to your destination and then take a bus or train to the actual place. Sometimes it isn’t. You just need to figure it out.

You want to try to get behind business travelers when you fly. They will know what they are doing. Getting behind them is going to speed everything up for you. The exact opposite is true of families they are going to have several people to get through which will take a while to get through.