At What Point Do You Switch Into "Vacation Mode?"

[LowesChevy]

I suffer fron varying degrees of vacation mode. I am always planning. About two weeks before I really get itching. A week before, I begin to stress about work and getting my coworkers to be on the same page at the same time being kinda flighty ...from a week in it is all about the trip. Day before, I am so ready.

 

[budafam]

I would say about a week before we leave. Nothing can ruin my mood... I just keep thinking "I'm going to Disney & you're not! haha"

 

[John Paul]

Mentally about a month out...Start listening to Dis Radio,return daily to Dis Boards, shopping etc. Physically the last scheduled day at work I am useless!

 

[wendyt_ca]

I have different levels lol. I have vacation planning mode which is as soon as I book. Right now I am less then 2 months from my next disney trip and I am getting anxious and want to be there now lol. When the time comes it doesn't set in until I am in Orlando so I guess that would be official "vacation mode". And as soon as I see the castle that's the final step! lol

 

[RobinHoodGirl]

As soon as I leave work the day before leaving...

It never fails that if I'm gone for a week I end up staying late the last day there but as soon as I leave I toon work out and start to count the hours till I leave.

I start doing a count down though about a month out - This year I'm doing count down via weddings. I'm in a wedding 13 days before I leave and then have another one 5 days before I leave...

 

[Sydnerella]

Sadly for my employer I am already there and have a month to go!

 

[disneydiva1313]

I switch into vacation mode when I board the plane, find my seat, and hunker down for a two hour flight to Orlando.

 

[TinkBride]

My "vacation mode" normally starts when I clock out from my last day of work before vacation.........so TODAY!

Except that the next couple of days are going to be spent in the hospital with my mom after a pretty serious surgery she is having tomorrow.......so this trip is all out of whack for me.....and I can't really get in vacation mode until I know she makes it through the surgery and is on the road to recovery.

But the normal order of things is my last day of work before vacation, I stop at the liquor store on my way home and pick up some champagne and when DH gets home we pop the bottle open and finish packing.

 

[eatrnbowspupbttrflys]

Vacation mode normally kicks in for me the night before we leave. After a full day of whirlwind packing and organizing, I crash in bed thinking I am going to sleep like a baby, only to find that I can't sleep a wink....that is when it starts.

For us, that should have been last night, but a business emergency popped up (we have a family business), so we were forced to reschedule. I am a little disappointed, especially right now, because we would be arriving about this time, but I know we are still going and now I have a couple of months more of planning!

So, in 66 days, vacation mode will start all over again!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We usually fly so I enter vacation mode when I sit down in the airport terminal once we have gotten thru security. Before then I'm busy packing, planning and running around trying to make sure we get to the airport on time.

Very much how I feel. Once I have driven us to the airport and we are through security, we find our gate and I go get a cup of Starbucks. Yep, that's when vacation starts.

When we used to drive I always felt that way whenever we left the driveway.

 

[henry72]

We usually fly so I enter vacation mode when I sit down in the airport terminal once we have gotten thru security. Before then I'm busy packing, planning and running around trying to make sure we get to the airport on time.

This!

 

[princessSunshine]

I go into vacation mode in two phases: first phase is the serious phases (packing, checking lists, making sure paperwork is okay, medicines okay, etc.) : second phase is true vacation mode - after we've made it through security and are waiting to board the plane, just relax, smile and enjoy the time off

 

[appleorchard]

I wish I got in vacation mode earlier. My first day is usually pretty much a mess; I'm still stressed from traveling and not quite "settled". Everything hits me as a crisis until our first dinner at the World. A glass of wine and vacation mode can finally "sink in." I would love to change this pattern, I hate being stressed during check-in, getting to the room, etc.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

I wish I got in vacation mode earlier. My first day is usually pretty much a mess; I'm still stressed from traveling and not quite "settled". Everything hits me as a crisis until our first dinner at the World. A glass of wine and vacation mode can finally "sink in." I would love to change this pattern, I hate being stressed during check-in, getting to the room, etc.

That used to be us when we first went to WDW. WDW was our first real vacation as a complete family and I didn't know how everything was going to turn out. That not knowing made me worry to the point of anger.

But when things went well that first day, we have a family vacation motto: "YOU make the vacation fun!" Therefore, the fun begins when we turn the car on and drive out of the driveway. We pray for the security and safety of the house and I cut my Blackberry off. That's it! No discussions of anything but what fun stuff we want to do first.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I usually kick into mode on the day we leave. That's the time we are finishing up the packing, getting and packing snacks for the trip, and loading up the truck.

 

[Sleepyhollowstudios]

I get into vacation mode the day before we are scheduled to leave. My wife and I are light packers, so it takes very little time for us to pack our clothes, toiletries, and our first aid kit (you never know).

What takes the most time, however, is the amount of time I spend on my car. I always wash and vacuum my car the day before we are scheduled to leave. That has sort of become my pre-vacation activity that really lets me know it's time to relax. I also change the oil, add coolant and windshield wiper fluid, and gas her up the day before we leave. Growing up I always helped my dad go through the same procedures before a long road trip, and one day before my first vacation with my girlfriend (now my wife) I found myself doing the exact same thing!

-Andy

 

[wcw57]

we are leaving for wdw 8/22 i am currently in vacation mode......

the friday before we leave, i switch to "useless" mode and concentrate all my energy on wednesday's departure......

 

[dougsmom98]

I have to do all the packing for my family and doing that, cleaning the house, making sure we have everything is really stressful. The past few years we have had to fly out of an airport 3 hours from our home. We generally drive down the day before and stay at a hotel that has a stay, park, and fly option. I don't feel like I am on vacation until we arrive at that hotel and I sit in the hot tub.

 

[gpeters93]

Not until I'm there, and not until I stop wondering what time it is.

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Vacation *planning* mode: always.

Actual Vacation mode: The moment our plane lands in Orlando and the flight attendant welcomes us to "Where Mickey lives"...and so begins the first of MANY vacation cries