The holidays are just around the corner, so it’s vacation season! Everyone wants to have perfect memories of a trip abroad, but the truth is, a lot of the things people do while planning make this dream impossible. To help you out, here are five tips to remember while your vacation. 

1.  The Most Popular Attractions Are Not Always Worth it

I know, I know, it seems really tempting to go to the place that everyone recognizes. But trust me, there’s millions of other people just like you, trying to get a picture at that special place and getting disappointed when they realize it’s too crowded to enjoy anything. Instead, look for things that you know you will enjoy for sure, even if they aren’t as famous. 

2. Whatever the Public Transportation is, Use it

The best way to immerse yourself in a new city or country is to travel like everyone else is. You’ll get to see so much more of the place and the people that inhabit it, and you can learn so much about a country’s culture by observing the people who live there.

3. Don’t Overcrowd What You Want to do in a Day

Imagine the top three places you want to visit are all close to each other. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you can see them all in a day. Don’t do it! It’s more important to take your time wherever you go than to see a million things. Having a tight schedule of moving from attraction to attraction will just make you tired, stressed, and disappointed if you don’t get through everything. 

4. Block Out a Day for Shopping

Shopping is vacation kryptonite. You start out in one store in the morning, just browsing, and all of a sudden it’s 7 p.m. and you don’t know where the day went. To avoid this, make one day of your vacation a designated shopping day. That way, you don’t have to worry about shopping while you’re sightseeing and you can still have a good amount of time to figure out exactly what you want to buy.

5. Don’t Make a Daily Schedule

Perfectionists will hate this, and I know that because my own sister makes vacation itineraries, but daily schedules are 99% of the time doomed to fail. Instead, stick with a list of places you’d like to see during your vacation from most-excited-to-see to least, and figure out the dates and times for those places. That way, spending a little more or less time in one place or another won’t ruin your plans for the day.

With all that planning done, there’s only one thing left to do: go on your vacation! Have fun!