The Blue Nun

My friends were telling me about their rituals that, no matter what, they must do when going on a vacation. <BR>It made me wonder if many people have "things" that they always do before a trip !

??

Are we talking about compulsions or necessary rituals such as stopping newspaper delivery, etc.?

Maggie

Yes, we always take off from work the day before our trip and stay over night at an Embassy Suites near our airport; relax, unwind and talk about our wonderful trip!<BR>We've been doing this for at least 10 years.<BR>It's especially nice when we don't have to fly out early in the morning. We have a lovely breakfast and enjoy our life.

The Blue Nun

I was talking about things -like Maggie just said.

Eddie

My wife and I have all our kids over for a dinner the night before we leave .<BR>We talk about our trip and tell where our Wills are - things like that.Just kidding abou the Wills !

Holly

I now make sure that the kid who's going to be staying at my house comes over the weekend before to go over certain routines, such as picking up the dog poop once a week MEANS picking up the dog poop once a week. Along with showing him where the Will and other such papers are kept.

Bacon Boy

Me and the wife always go to church the day before and say a special prayer for<BR>a safe trip and in thanksgiving for a good life. And that's the one time during the year that I go to Church,<BR>I don't want to over do a good thing.<BR><BR>This sounds like somthing The Blue Nun<BR>who started this should be saying!!!

Antoinette

<BR>WOW !!! of the Blue Nun came up with a god one.<BR>we don't have any kissing or touching or anything else considered romantic. This lack of (foreplay) usually lasts for 3 or 4 months!<BR>UNTIL the morning of the flight. Then we<BR>take a loooong shower together to start our vacation properly! And I can tell you that we are not just washing each others back! We've been married for almost 51 years and I can tell you one<BR>thing that Viagra really works wonders -it shoud be bottle and sold!!!

Tiela

I love this question. We begin our ritual one week before we leave.<BR>Everyday, when we both get home from work He starts cooking supper and I mean a good supper.<BR>While I bath the children and take care of feeding the animals. He starts<BR>the wash and I put the kids to bed.<BR>Then he irons all the clothing (about 2 laundry baskets full) while I clean up the kitchen, fix lunches for tomorrow for the kids and my husband. Then I puy in another load of wash; which he irons and puts away. While I'm taking a quiet peaceful bath. Then I put out the childrens clothing for the next day and I lay out my husbands clothing also. He is taking a shower while I'm doing this stuff.<BR>This is the ONLY and I do mean ONLY time of the year that he will help at all!!! 17 year ago we had a disagreement over helping your wife. It was ugly. But,through discussion he finally agree that he would be glad to do more when we are going away!

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elaine

I clean up quite a bit, put away the unpacked toiletries, stow the unused suitcase, leave my home in good order. I hate coming home to an unmade bed or leftover pre-trip clutter. A little dust is one thing, but returning to a mess is sure to increase my post-trip let-down.

Lori

I'm definitely not the compulsive type, but before I go away I always do all the laundry, especially sheets and towels. Also, vacuum the entire house and run the dishwasher. I agree with Elaine, the last thing I want to come home to is a mess. About an hour or so before we leave, hubby and I always have a nice lunch out somewhere.

kate

Mostly commonplace things,my husband is usually working the day before or day of the trip-so I pack our bags, take the pup to the sitter,talk to the kids (grown) leave lots of "in case" notes and directions.Then I usually just have a serious case of nerves until the plane takes off and we are actually on the way

Catherine

EVERY time I work myself up into a tizzy trying to get the WHOLE house organised..and EVERY time I tell myself I won't do it the next time. <BR>As if something happens to us my family will be talking about what a mess my underwear drawer was!!!<BR>It's true though, coming home from a trip is a let down, it's nice to have a clean house. I always put fresh sheets on my bed. Lovely to wash off that airport grime and sink into clean sheets.

Eric

A hour or two before we leave I go through the house and unplug everything, turn off the water to the washer, check everything that plugs in or turns off. I do this about three or four times and then worry if I missed anything.

Wifey

I'll tell you my husbands ritual.<BR>He lets me pack,the house gets miraculously cleaned,the beds are changed and ready for tired bodies returning.<BR>He waits until we are at the airport or on the plane, then he starts asking me if I remembered things!<BR>Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Manic

I usually just run around the house for hours, yelling and tearing at my hair, trying to figure out where I put the passports and the money belt.

Linda Susuan

What a fun topic !<BR>Starting the week before our trip the house is cleaned from top to bottom by me.<BR>Also, starting 1 week before our trip with eat out every night because I am too tired to cook after cleaning all day.<BR>We leave all over the DR table (just in case) we don't come back or are delayed in returning.<BR>We also go to a hotel 1 night before our flight out and try to relax. We are ususally sooooo excited that it is difficult to accomplish.<BR><BR>Blue Nun thanks for such a pleasant topic .<BR><BR>

Mr. Go

Apart from the usual, functional things (booking the pet sitter, packing, recharging batteries, etc.), we only have a few rituals. When we get on the plane, I ask my daughter (9 y.o.) "Are you a good tourist?" and she replies, "No Daddy, I'm a traveller." Then, as soon as the plane's wheels leave the ground, I set my watch to destination time and announce to my wife, "Vacation has begun!"

Mary Ann

Being an only child with elderly parents and having an only child out of state, when we do independent travel we have to leave more detailed data. There were literally no relatives in the area. This is not meant to be a downer but for those out there in similar situations it allowed us to leave town with some measure of sanity for 3 week trips. My parents were in late 80s living in assisted living. So in addition to the normal house cleaning we did the following:<BR>1. Leave a detailed itinerary with every stop and phone/email/fax with the assisted living facility<BR>2. Leave a list of emergency contact numbers, doctors, and funeral home.<BR>3. Stock up their apartment with their favoritie goodies and toilet paper (something about the age).<BR>4. Notify the funeral parlor we would be leaving town.<BR>5. Take them for doctors visits before we left town.<BR>6. Arrange for a companion to be their most days or have friends stop by.<BR>7. Did preprinted post card labels to mail them a card from each city we visited.<BR><BR>Each time we left my dad said he would be gone before we got back!!! <BR>Thankfully nothing every happened on the 3 trips over 4 years where we left town for 3 weeks at a time.