Travel Plans and Over Organization

I've been told that I'm a bit of an over organizer. I'm not sure that's an official term, but it does describe me perfectly. I tend to "over organize" when there's a perceived need from me that I have to remember everything and I KNOW I won't remember everything. 

Some people can think through a process/event/whatever and remember everything they need to. That is not me. Writing it down. Organizing it and then thinking through it is how my brain works. It's why I'm such a good project manager. 

This years trip is coming up fast and I am feeling the tickle to start the over thinking process. Each trip I've taken in the last 5-9 years I've done this exercise. For me, it gets me excited about the trip, and even more excited that all the details are in one place and organized. 

I've been teased about this and for the one's who've teased me, why is it you're the first to ask ME something about the trip? Hmmm...me thinks you should be organized. 

So here's what I have. It's a OneNote Notebook that contains the following pages in it. Over the years I've modified and adjusted these slightly. After each trip I do a post mortem, yes I do it, and I reflect on what may have made the trip better, or what made it great. 

Side note: When Janet and I travel, each night we ask what your favorite thing about today was and what your least favorite thing was. It's nice to take a moment and think about what you had just experienced.

OneNote Travel Package

Itinerary: Just like it sounds. It's the day by day itinerary. Where are we going to be. It's not complicated just al list of the days and the name of where we are. Sometimes I add notes, but not too often. 

Air Details: We all get the emails. We all put them in a folder or track them some way. I do that too. But by putting the details here, I only need to go to this one spot to check my details, should I need to. 

Hotel Details: This becomes important when you're going to be in multiple hotels. It allows for all the details, again, to be in one place. I often link to the hotel's home page and put their phone number too just so I don't have to look it up. 

Packing Checklist: This is the page that gets adjusted the most. After each trip I find something that I need to add to "consider" for the next trip. It's also the page that gets items taken off based on where I'm going. This is a "full" list. It has everything I might need. I add/remove depending on the trip. I've shared this with so many friends. No idea if they use it, but they've asked for it. 

Activity Planner: This is where the meat of the trip lives. All the things we're going to do and see. All the details of the fun. I usually copy the descriptions form the cruise site or adventure site and put them here. Those descriptions is what I use to start my research. They aren't overly detailed, but it gives enough of an idea to start the research. Each event gets a section. 

Scavenger Hunt: I started this "game" 4 or 5 years ago. I ask my friends to give me a list of things to photograph throughout the trip. Janet and I have found it tremendously enjoyable. What it does is it gets my head OUT of tourist mode and has me really looking at things. Most of the suggestions are things I'd be photographing normally, but sometimes friends get creative. 

Daily highlights: I use this to write my blog normally. And I use this for when I scrap the trip later. It's amazing how much you forget or the things you think you'll remember. Each night I take the time to type in the details. Though for this years trip, I got a hard copy book that has some of these notes in it. I will most likely use that instead. Just for something different. 

The last part of my travel kit are pages I add for things like, restaurants to visit, specific things I want to look for, research, photo ideas, pronunciations etc. 

So that's what I put together for each trip. I get ridiculously excited about filling it out. And while doing it, my excitement of the trip takes over. It feels good to be organized and prepared. I have yet to regret it. So tease me if you will, but do not come crying to me when you don't remember the name of the hotel, or what we're seeing in a day. 

Ciao!

Sunday Dinner Project

Everyone who knows me knows that I have a monthly Sunday Dinner. It started in 2010 and has gone continuously since. September will be 15 years of Sunday dinners. 

Each Sunday dinner, with the exception to the first one, we take a group photo. It started as a "normal" photo where we're all sitting and smiling like normal people. Then we take a "goofy" photo where everyone makes a funny face. I love this so much. 

I decided that I wanted to document the Sunday dinners and their photos. So, I made the decision to scrap all the Sunday dinner photos. 

My original thought was to use up a bunch of kits I have from the Hip Kit Club. I get monthly kits from them and as you can imagine, they start to pile up. So I grabbed 4 of the most basic kits and decided I would use those up. Along the way, I used other of their kits that had more themes to them, like October and Summer themes. 

Well my friends, today I finished this project! I'm all caught up with Sunday dinners, with the exception to July's of this year. But since that just happened I feel like that's ok. 

Stats:

• 3 months effort; my best guess is over 40 hours of work
• 122 pages

This project was a ton of fun. To go back and look through all the photos, I found myself smiling from ear to ear.

The first years of Sunday dinner I was WAY more into it. I wouldn't let anyone bring anything to dinner. I did it all, from appetizer to dessert. And I was way more energetic about the meals. Making them masterpieces in a way.

I also had a lot more people attending. The biggest Sunday dinner was 18 people. The house I was in was bigger so it could contain 18 hungry souls. The house I'm in now, 10 max really. 

It was interesting to see the people who have come and gone over the years too. Some we've lost. Some moved. Some just stopped coming (or being invited). Some are still here. I have now what I consider my core tribe. Each month a combination of the same 10 people. 

We have some annual themes we do for Sunday dinner too. It started as Pumpkin carving being the first "annual" theme. Then I added the December theme of "Cookie Exchange". Now we have two more fun ones to go along with those: Low Country Boil month and Paella month. 

We've celebrated birthdays along the way and had several with themes beyond the ones above. 

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since the first Sunday dinner. So much has happened in those 15 years and I'm thrilled we're still going strong. Will we go another  15? Hard to say. But I'll keep doing these until I can no longer do them.