I recently enjoyed a relaxing trip to Walt Disney World with my husband Rick. While we occasionally bicker or occasionally succumb to the stress of travel, we managed a fight-free visit with Mickey. We accomplished this with some advanced planning and open communication.
Agree on Destination
Before planning our trip, we had a conversation about our destination. Rick wanted to visit Disney World and I wanted to travel to Ireland. We agreed to visit both locations eventually. Had we not discussed this fully, I might have felt a bit slighted or disappointed during our trip to Disney World, especially since we want to accomplish our travel goals before we have children.
Pack Your Own Clothes
Usually one of us embraces the duty of packing for time away from home. Since we were traveling by air this time, we each packed our own luggage (as most airline policies allow one large carry-on bag per person). It’s a frustrating experience when one of us packs the bags and the other finds that an important item is missing, and that can lead to a fight.
On our Disney trip, I realized that I had neglected to pack a specific outfit for dinner. Instead of expressing my anger towards Rick, I realized I had no one to blame except for myself.
Plan Budget and Itinerary Together
Once I realized I had forgotten my outfit, I was able to buy another one thanks to advanced budget planning. With a hurricane approaching, Rick and I budgeted carefully for travel emergencies in addition to purchasing travel insurance. The hurricane missed Orlando, so I used our travel budget to purchase an appropriate dinner outfit and avoid additional frustration, fight or breach of budget.
Planning our budget together also eliminated any arguments over money. We each had a set amount to spend on souvenirs and we set a combined food budget as well. This also helped us avoid stress over bank account balance.
Additionally, Rick and I planned our itinerary together. While I don’t care for Epcot (one of the parks in Walt Disney World), it’s among Rick’s favorite destinations. We spent an entire day there. As a result, Rick was agreeable when I wanted to wait in line to meet each Disney princess. By planning together, we were able to do things we both wanted along with accomplishing individual goals.
While we chose to generally stay together throughout the trip, we did separate a few times. When I wanted to shop and Rick wanted to experience thrill rides, we simply agreed on a rendezvous time and place to meet up when we were finished.
Beyond our itinerary, we left a fair amount of open room in our schedule. I’m glad we didn’t plan out the entire trip; when I got off the plane with an achy back, I was able to immediately schedule a massage at the resort thanks to our open schedule. This allowed us to detour at will and made the vacation much more enjoyable.