Break Your Journey into Chunks
Today, my tip is to break your journey into chunks.
Whenever you have something big in front of you, try to break it into chunks. Then, it doesn’t feel so overwhelming.
Also, reviewing how things are going between chunks, what went well, what could we do better for the next chunk, can really help you to process and then move forward with confidence into the next chunk “or section” of your trip or your life, journey, whatever it is that you’re focusing on.
With my 33 day trip, I broke it into five chunks of the actual trip, but really seven chunks when I include the preparation, and then readjusting back to home.
Preparation Chunk
Let me start with the preparation chunk. This for me included making very detailed lists of what needed to be done and consistently working on the list.
I also had the list broken out into chunks.
- do ASAP
- do in the future
- do during the trip
After chunk three, before I headed to Iceland, we had to switch some gear in our suitcases, so I had some like lists specifically for situations like that.
Having a detailed list really helped me to feel more prepared and to work through everything in my mind so I wasn’t perseverating about it all the time.
I also really enjoyed watching YouTube videos about packing and long term traveling and getting tips from people. It was distracting at times, but I also found some very helpful tools that I used.
Break Trip into Chunks!
Breaking the trip into chunks helped me assign different parts to different people. For instance, my mom and Bryson were in charge of the Iceland and England chunk. That helped me a lot.
It allowed me to focus on a chunk at a time.
For instance, Italy, with Bryson and I was my first chunk, and so I focused first on traveling there as well as our hotels for there and then focused on the France portion of our trip.
Emotionally preparing
I did a lot of preparing by being aware of my emotions. Allowing myself to feel them and processing them.
I got some life coaching and one on one sessions to help me process things and help with my thoughts and get into a really good space.
I also did some specific coaching for my diet. I love Macros 101. It’s… A whole system where I’ve learned how to count macros. And one of the things that I did specifically before this trip, was to lose 10 pounds so that I would have a buffer of weight to gain on the trip and still stay comfortable in my clothes.
I did get some specific coaching to help me develop a special food plan. And that was very helpful for thinking that through.
I also used my travel affirmations, which I have a podcast episode on that, with affirmations you can download for yourself!
Plan Time to Prepare AND Recover
Another thing I did in my preparation chunk was I cleared my schedule a week before I left so that I could focus on last minute preparations as well as clearing timeout for after my trip.
I pre-recorded and pre-scheduled a bunch of podcast episodes, so I wouldn’t have to think about it as well as clearing time out of my schedule for when I returned.
Chunks of our trip
I’ll briefly go through each chunk that I had of my trip and how breaking it into these chunks helped.
My first chunk was our Italy trip,
and that was just Bryson, my 17-year-old and I. That was the part I was most nervous about because I have not traveled internationally without my husband in a very long time.
Bryson was like, “Hey, it will be fine. I’m a grown up. I can help you!”
I felt like the weight of being the actual grown up and the only one and so I had a lot of thoughts and feelings about that specific chunk of the trip. It actually was probably the hardest part of the trip.
However, it all worked out and it was very short, only three days.
The next chunk was the France countryside portion
of our trip.
It actually two chunks in it because Bryson and I flew To Charles de Gaulle and met Carson and Bryn who were flying in from London and we rented a giant nine seater van and started our countryside tour.
Then Rob and Devon flew in from Iceland a day or two later, and then took a train to meet us.
So, there was a little bit of discombobulation in that chunk. However, it ended up working out well, there were a lot of nights in different hotels at first, which was a little disconcerting. However, once we got to the Loire Valley and we had one place to stay with a washer and dryer for three nights, that felt a lot better to me.
If I ever do big trips again like this, I would rather just have at least two nights in each city to be able to settle in and feel a little bit more situated.
Chunk three we had a whole week in Paris
at an Airbnb, and I had asked my son who served his mission there to be in charge of this part.
And that was a little tricky because he didn’t really plan things out. We didn’t realize we needed to have reservations for everything, specifically with Disneyland. That was a little tricky.
But I reminded myself of my big affirmation, staying flexible, calm, and present helps me enjoy the trip. And it all ended up working just fine.
Planning to go to Disneyland Paris???? You MUST read this!
Note to you, in case you’re going to Disneyland Paris. You cannot buy Disneyland Paris tickets the day of.
You have to buy them three days in advance. If you know for sure you want to go to Disneyland, just go ahead and buy the pre purchase tickets a long time in advance, and then you can reserve the day as you get closer.
Since we didn’t know that, we bought the tickets, but couldn’t reserve anything until 48 hours later. And so it was, it just kind of a little tricky. But it ended up working out just fine.
Our fourth chunk was a cruise around Iceland.
This was with Bryson and my mom. And it was really, really great being on a cruise ship, having scheduled and set trips, day trips.
And I really needed that kind of a more downtime. I mean, it wasn’t downtime when we were off the cruise ship, but on the cruise ship, it was downtime, which I really needed after kind of going nonstop for two and a half weeks.
Chunk five was England.
This was another very busy time and fun. We did a lot in our week in England. By the end, I was pretty tired, but I survived and actually for the most part, was able to keep up with my mom and Bryson.
Review Between Each Chunk
I tried to be really good at reviewing between each chunk: what had gone well and what I could do better.
We had a flight between almost every chunk, except between the French countryside and Paris. So, I would use the flight to review and it was helpful to have a mental review and plan ahead, how do I want this next chunk to go?
Readjusting Back Home!
Then my readjusting chunk, some of it was prepared ahead of time. Having no clients or appointments scheduled that first week I was home. Having my podcast scheduled out through the end of July so I didn’t have to think about it until I wanted to.
That was really great because… Then I didn’t have to start recording until I was ready, and I’m ready, and it’s fun.
I just allowed myself a lot of grace during that readjusting period. That first week, I pretty much just unpacked and did a ton of laundry.
And also Bryson left for a humanitarian trip four days after we got home, so that took a lot of energy and focus to help him get ready for that, but other than that, I rested and I loved having the space to do that. I slowly got back into the routine of working with my clients and now I’m back to doing my podcast.
I hope this idea of chunking down big projects or a big trip or even a small trip can help you find more joy in your journey.