When does it sink in. Or “it is crunch time”

It depends on the trip, when it happens, how much you have to do. And for me, it comes and goes. Last year when I was planning for Scotland, I did a lot of pre-trip planning in the last half of 2021, then the holidays came and a trip to Florida in late January. When i came back, I did the math and realized the trip was come up in several months and I needed to get back to organizing.

One thing that helps me is to make a timeline of everything I need to do in Google docs, like book hotels, purchase train tickets; make reservations for restaurants, book museum times, download apps you need, and so on. I check that periodically to make sure I don't miss a deadline. It really helps to keep me on track.

For me the "crunch" time is two weeks, though it will probably be top of mind for a month before. Research and planning and ticket buying may have been going on for a while, but the intense time is the last couple weeks before. Whether it is a flying domestic trip or international trip, or even a local backpacking trip. My daily schedule and thoughts get focused on what I need to do in the time before I leave. I often start packing--or at least laying stuff out--days ahead. Funny though, my husband has a much shorter timeline of readiness--he often won't even think about a trip--as far as "readying" himself--until just one or two days before. While I am talking about the trip, asking questions about the trip, getting on line to find out last minute details of where we are going, and putting things out to take, he is not even psyched up until just before we go.

• 9-12 months ahead (usually during Fall) - a rough itinerary & refundable lodging reserved.
• Winter months are focused travel research and fine-tuning the itinerary.
• Spring months are finding any last festivals, etc. that weren’t posted on the internet previously.

The trip becomes “almost real” the moment I purchase my first activity reservation, and it’s definitely suddenly feeling real the moment I start buying train tickets on-line. I buy train tickets a month ahead.

I'm sitting at the airport and I think it's starting to sink in!

For me, it's about 2 weeks ahead when I have to knock out errands/to dos and buy things before I start packing.

38 days and counting for me!💃

Three weeks. Which happens to be today! My sweetie says "What's the problem? Isn't everything booked?" Um, yes, but there are still at least 2 lists of "things to do," not to mention things to double check on.

My task today, once I get all my other non-travel chores done, is to reconfirm our non-tour hotels. We're doing two RSE tours, with almost one week free time before the start, one week free time between them, and two weeks on our own afterward. Our free time for those nearly four weeks will include visits to 5 different cities, not counting the tour cities where we're arriving a few days before the tours, and staying on a few days afterward. That's a lot of hotels!

All transportation linking these places must be verified; bookings at museums and food tours must be checked. Tickets must be printed out and/or downloaded. Times must be double checked.

And there are all the things that will need to be taken care of here at home for the seven weeks we'll be gone: mail, newspapers, lawn and garden; not to mention the local group (political, not travel) that we pretty much run.

Packing? That part is simple, and troubles me the least, even though I've had to replace many of my favorite travel items the last two years. It's all the other things that have me sitting bolt upright in the middle of the night.

Three weeks. From today. Yay?

When my iPad calendar pings my check-in time.

My trip begins early October and I have butterflies in my stomach already. This probably began about a month ago.

I have been planning this trip for over a year and it was fine over a year ago and in months to come but beginning about a month ago, I started to feel nervous and even sad.. I get like this when it is time to travel. I am excited about going somewhere but I also get sad and frightened at leaving home like I might never come back again.

My trip is about fully booked. I have bought a new backpack and a sling bag. I need a new rolling bag. I wanted to go to thrift stores but the heat has been so bad that it is difficult to go anywhere. I might have to buy it from Amazon or just take my old one.

As we get closer, I am going to have to remember to report travel to the U S mail, the credit cards, my credit union, apartment management etc etc. That is not a lot but I do not want to do it until. a week before. Still I can do it all sitting at home. I do not have to go anywhere.

I will confirm my hotel a night before I leave if I do not hear from them. Hate to admit this but I usually call my credit cards cards and credit union a second time just to confirm that the information went through ok.

I do a complete houseclean of my small apartment in case management needs to come in while I am away and I like to come home to a clean place.

I got really "crazy" about a week or so before leaving. I feel like I can not get everything done in time but truth be known there is not that much left to do and when it is all said and done, I do get it all done.

I go to the airport the night before I travel because I am so excited about traveling but also so nervous that I will miss my plane. I will have my R S London guidebook with me and my iPad so I can do plenty the night before.

The week before I will pack my technology and place it in my suitcase. I am going to put my passport in my suitcase as soon as I finish typing this.

And of course, the meds go in. And of course, I have to begin printing our my paperwork. I am getting stressed thinking about all of this.

and how could I forget the small notebook with passwords and some addresses and notes to myself.

I usually am so excited two or three days before traveling that I sleep very little and will crash not just in the airport but on the plane. I tend to sleep a lot on the plane which is good.

I know that I am going to be terribly stressed the week before but once I get to the airport, I tend to relax. I am here. it is out of my hands fr better or worse. What will be will be.

Like I said, I already have the "almost crunch time" butterflies in my stomach. Give it one more month and I will have "It is Crunch Time".

And I just put my passport in my old rolling bag which will get transferred to my new rolling bag if and when I get it,

*

As soon as we clear security and head to the lounge!

Once I get off the plane.

bostonphil, you keep your passport in your luggage ,ot on your person?

Fascinating answers & all different! I would have to say when the doors of the airplane close for the first leg overseas. My idea of nirvana is sitting in a plane with an actual guide book, usually to an old destination but with the twist of it being a new visit, preferably a paper map & list of things to do & places to eat for which I write endless sticky notes to attach.

Jill: "38 days and counting for me!"

Oddly enough, that's the exact same number of days until my trip!

S**t gets real about 30 days out for me, so roughly the middle of next week will start the serious work of the trip.

Enjoy your trip, Jill!

-- Mike Beebe

Hi Suki

I will put it in my new sling bag when I am ready to go but for now I moved it from the folder where I keep important papers to my rolling bag. I can not forget it that way. At least that is my system.

bostonphil, this is so true:

"I know that I am going to be terribly stressed the week before but once I get to the airport, I tend to relax. I am here. it is out of my hands fr better or worse. What will be will be."

We are 7 weeks out. I've been tossing various travel items into a box for the past month.

I'd like to amend my previous answer to "when I get the tour roster and hotel list," because I just got mine!! 🙌

Hope you enjoy your trip too, Mike!

Today! I've officially pulled my bag out of my spare room closet and started the laying out and making piles, so it must be almost time! 😁

We're leaving the first week of September and will be gone 5 weeks. It hasn't sunk in because all the planning was completed a while ago. I think when we fill out the post office form, give the key to the neighbor to water plants, and stop buying groceries-that will be the time it sinks in.
It's exciting and anxiety riddled at the same time. I avoid the anxiety part (mostly) by adding a "to do" tab at the bottom of our travel/trip spreadsheet. Then put those "to do" dates on the calendar. In fact, today is the time I've put aside to double-check the first aid kit and other things like that. Next week is pre-packing.
But, nothing beats the night before excitement!!

Usually a week before I leave.

One month from today I am off to Edinburgh, coming home from London--already purchased flights, hotels, train from Edinburgh, ticket for a day tour of the Highlands, and tickets for a tour of the Speaker's Apartments of Parliament and the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London--very excited about that!! I have a basic outline of things to do each day, but no other tickets need advance purchasing. This was planned with a 2 month lead, so not much time for lengthy anticipation.

I don't need to buy anything for this trip, so within a couple of weeks I will start making piles of things to take. At the one week mark the suitcase and tote come out and I will enter info in my itinerary notebook. I leave on a Thursday, so the weekend prior is when actual packing occurs.

Crunch time hit me last night when I realized my first post-pandemic international trip was 2 weeks away and I'll be flying 2 airlines on which I have never flown - Condor and Lufthansa. Meanwhile, I've been 3,000 miles from my home for the last 5 weeks for family reasons and will return home tomorrow. Two weeks to unpack, sort mail, see if the dog still recognizes me, weed the garden, pay more bills, and oh ..... pack for a wedding and a hiking trip in an 8kg carry on. Hmmmmmm.

I am under 30 days to my departure date.
I have a couple reservations still to be made because some places won’t let you make them until 30 days.

I just got one of my reservations for a cathedral changed as they decided to host a religious ceremony durring the time I was supposed to visit. So that is a bit of a minor issue, And of course Delta keeps changing my flight ever so slightly so I get constant notifications that my flight has changed.
I also need to pick up a few odds and ends (some new pants, and such like that)
I have to print out copies of everything I need
And of course work has to pick this time to get busy! And I will be out of town for 4 or 5 days for work between now and departure.
So it is definitely Crunch time on my end.

But I would say this trip is getting more and more real.
Still it is typically when I get in my seat that it trully hits me. But this trip is a bit different, as I have a layover in JFK on the way overseas. Plus side it has plenty of time in JFK, down side.. it has plenty of time in JFK thus the trip is going to take longer then I am used to.

Well glad to see that many of the folks on this board and 6 million of their closest friends and relatives are all getting ready to go to Europe to keep me company! 😄