Months to go: let the place start arriving
With a long wait ahead, choose things that take time and grow: a playlist, a novel, a dish you will cook more than once.
-
Start a trip playlist
Add three songs from or about where you're going, then one more every few days. By departure it will be the soundtrack of the waiting.
-
Read a novel set at your destination
Choose a book by a local author if you can. Save the last chapters for the journey or your first evening there.
-
Cook one dish from where you're going
Find a recipe locals actually make at home, not the tourist version. Shop for it, cook it slowly and eat it with music from the place.
-
Learn five phrases in the local language
Hello, please, thank you, excuse me and "this is delicious" cover a surprising amount. Say each one out loud until it stops feeling strange.
-
Watch a documentary about the region
Nature, food or history, pick whatever pulls you. Afterwards, share one fact you did not know with someone.
-
Spread out a map and dream together
Print or open a big map, pour something nice and trace where you will be. Take turns pointing at places that sound intriguing.
-
Be a tourist in your own city
Walk your own streets as if you had just landed: look up, read the plaques, step into a place you always pass. Notice how travel eyes feel.
-
Write down why this trip, why now
Spend ten minutes on what drew you to this place and what you need from the time away. It is lovely to read again in a few years.
-
Set a phone wallpaper of the place
Pick a photo of a street or view you will actually see. Every time you unlock your phone, you get a small reminder of what is coming.
Weeks to go: get specific
A month or two out, the trip becomes real. Zoom in on the streets, the food and the habits of the place.
-
Choose the one thing you must eat
Read up on the local food and settle on a single dish you will not leave without trying. Write it down so it becomes a promise.
-
Map three wildcard spots
Find three places no guidebook top ten mentions: a bakery, a viewpoint, a tiny museum. Pin them and see if you get to any of them.
-
Learn three local customs
Find out how people greet each other, how tipping works and one thing visitors often get wrong. Small courtesies open a lot of doors.
-
Learn the currency in your head
Work out a simple rule for converting prices, like "divide by ten and add a bit". Test yourself on a coffee, a meal and a taxi.
-
Take a virtual walk down a street
Use an online street view to walk the road your accommodation is on. Find the nearest cafe and the way to the closest green space.
-
Host a snack night from the region
Gather a few snacks, cheeses, sweets or drinks from where you are going and share them with friends. Tell them what you are most excited about.
-
Make a tiny travel journal
Fold and staple a few sheets, or pick a small notebook. Add the dates, a sketch of the map and one empty page per day.
-
Choose who gets a postcard
Write a short list of people who would love a card from far away, with their addresses. Writing them on the trip becomes a quiet ritual.
-
Build up your walking legs
Trips are mostly walking. Take a longer walk than usual this week, ideally in the shoes you plan to bring.
-
Agree on a day with no plans
Promise each other one day with nothing booked and no list. Wander, nap, follow a smell or a sound and see where the day goes.
The last two weeks: small rituals
Packing and planning take over now. Keep the nice part small, so it fits around everything else.
-
Write three hopes for the trip
Not plans, hopes: how you want to feel, something you want to notice, someone you want to be there. Keep the note and reread it on the way home.
-
Plan your first-hour ritual on arrival
Decide what you will do in the first hour: a coffee on a corner, a walk to the water, a toast. A small ritual turns arriving into a moment.
-
Write a list of photos you want to take
Not landmarks, moments: a breakfast table, a shop sign, a stranger's dog, the view from your window. A list helps you look closely.
-
Pick your first meal
Decide what and roughly where you will eat first after arriving. Having it settled means the first hunger becomes a treat, not a search.
-
Pack one small luxury
A good tea, a silk eye mask, a favourite pen, a tiny bottle of perfume. Choose one thing that makes a hotel room or long journey feel like yours.
-
Download music for the journey
Save the trip playlist and a long album you love for offline listening. The journey there deserves a proper soundtrack.
The last evening
-
Have a send-off dinner
Cook or order something you love on the last evening at home and toast the days ahead. Say out loud the thing you look forward to most.
-
Give yourself a slow last evening
Bags done, phone down. Take a bath or a long shower, read a few pages about where you are going and go to bed early.
-
Write the first page of your journal
Before you leave, write how you feel right now: nervous, giddy, tired, all of it. The first page is the one you will treasure later.
-
Leave a welcome-home note for yourself
Write a short note to the person who comes back, and put it where you will find it. Add fresh sheets to the bed if you can.
How to make a countdown that lasts
- Pick a pace. One or two ideas a week is plenty. A countdown with a task every day turns into homework.
- Match the effort to the time left. Long reads and cooking projects early on, five-minute rituals near the end.
- Mix the kinds. Something to taste, something to hear, something to learn, something to do together.
- Keep one visible marker. Cross off a calendar, or move a pebble from one jar to another each evening.
- Share it. If you travel with someone, plan the countdown together and tick things off as you go.
Questions people ask
How far ahead should I start a vacation countdown?
Whenever the trip is booked. A long wait works well with a gentle pace, such as one idea a week. You can add more in the last two weeks, when the excitement builds anyway.
What can I do every day while counting down?
Keep daily things tiny: cross off a day, add one song to the trip playlist, or say a phrase in the local language. Save the bigger ideas, like cooking a dish or watching a film, for one or two evenings a week.
Is a vacation countdown only for children?
No. Research on holidays has found that people with a trip coming up report feeling happier than people without one. A countdown with grown-up ideas makes more of that time.
Can we count down together?
Yes. In Gladsoon you can share a countdown by link. Everyone sees the same plan and can tick ideas off, free and without an account.
More guides
- How to get excited for a trip, and enjoy the wait.The weeks before a trip can be the best part. What the research says, six ways to build excitement, and what to do when the wait feels long.
- Things to do before a trip: a calm checklist by week.A short checklist of things to do before a trip abroad, sorted by when to do them, with extra steps if you fly, drive or travel with children.
- Things to do before a trip to Japan: the useful and the lovely.Before a trip to Japan: Visit Japan Web, medicine rules, cash and IC cards, plus films, food and small rituals to enjoy while you count down.
- Things to look forward to, from this week to next year.Ideas for things to look forward to, small and big, plus simple ways to make any plan more fun to wait for. No spending required for most of them.