What do you do the night before a vacation

[laurajetter]

DH and I are last-minute packers, it's truly the only way that forces us to think everything through to make sure nothing is forgotten. We might have a few items placed in the suitcase ahead of time, but for the most part, we do all of our packing the night before. This means we are up until around 2 or 3am.

We usually get a super-early start, so that means only a couple hours of sleep. Although we are excited, we are tired from all the packing and running around and straightening of the house (I HATE coming home to a messy home!) and do fall asleep.

We usually set about 3 different alarms to make sure we wake up on time... at least one is battery powered in case the power goes out.

When the alarms go off, we shoot out of bed and are instantly bright-eyed and bushy tailed. This is not usually the case for any other day of the week, we are not morning people!

Wow, I'm getting butterflies in my stomach thinking about it, now I want to go on vacation! I can hear those middle-of-the-night zippings of our bags, just before crawling into bed!!

 

[Sonya]

I *try* to sleep, but I just can't. My mind goes around and around like the Teacups ride, thinking of a million little vacation details.

Yeah, this is me too. I might have to take something this time!

 

[jennyl772003]

Well, I always work a full day the day before a trip, so I spend the whole evening doing my list minute packing. Then, we go to bed around midnight. I usually crash right away. I'm a good sleeper. My DH will toss and turn all night, and then around 4 am he drags me and DS (also a good sleeper) out of bed.

 

[Mickey76]

If it's a Disney vacation I'm going on, I'll usually watch something Disney related, like a movie or the vacation DVD that shows all the hotels and parks. As far as sleep, I don't get much. I usually go to bed late and get up early, because I usually have an early flight to Orlando from NY.

 

[Bunchkin]

The kids usually are excited and take a little longer to get to sleep, but not that much. DH sleeps like a log no matter what is going on. And I, hardly get any sleep before leaving for any vacation. I'm the kind who goes overthings in my head while lying in bed. Did I pack everything, did I stop the mail, did I do all the laundry, did I clean the house, did I set the timers on the lights, did I remember the guide book and our schedules for the parks....etc....etc....

 

[MinnieM21]

I go shopping. (clothes, magazines, etc.)

Then I try to pack. I never finish packing the night before since I get distracted easily. I usually wait until the very last minute and pack about an hour before I leave my house.

 

[phisigprincess]

Avoid my mom!!! She turns into the exorcist. It's best to stay out of the way. Have your packing done and leave the house!!!

 

[ktglads]

Lately I have been planning my trips to leave at night after work. I will work a half day and then go out to lunch, final runs to the store, etc and then go to the airport. I figure if you are busy enough you will sleep due to exhaustion or just because I have to go to work in the AM and I start at 7:30 so sleep isn't too hard

 

[malibuconlee]

The night before vacation we usually order pizza so there are no extra dishes to wash. Depending on how long we'll be gone we clean out the fridge a little. Don't want to come home to moldy anything.

I pack and do whatever laundry may need done. Everything should be packed except the stuf I need in the morning.

I do usually sleep OK.

 

[GoofyDad869]

For WDW vacations, KAMommy has planning down to an art form. About a week before, we'll get out the luggage and start going through the check list. As we do laundry that week, what we need for the trip is packed up. By the morning we leave, all that's left to pack are the toiletries we use everyday (deodorant, toothbrushes, hair stuff). By the day before we leave, we usually know which outfits we're wearing on any given day for the entire vacation. Planning to THAT extent would drive me nuts if I were responsible for it, but KAMommy likes doing it so she's welcome to it. We rarely have left-behind stuff and it's nice to not have to go through hassles every morning with the kids' outfits. We're DVC members with in-suite washer & dryer, so we usually only pack 3 or 4 different outfits - saves on the luggage space required.

We do the half-day work thing too. We try to arrange it on a Thursday, but Friday works OK too (depends on the kids' school schedule). Leave work about 1:00 or 2:00, get the kids from school or wherever, get home, go through the check list ONE LAST TIME (for the 37th time), load up the car, and hit the road. We drive halfway (or so) that night, usually ending up in Macon or Valdosta GA (really depends on what traffic in Atlanta is doing). That first night of sleep in hotels is rarely good for any of us - we roll in late, the kids are stoked, strange bed, strange noises, etc. We're usually on the road again by 6:00 or 6:30 the next morning. We're to Orlando mid-morning, get checked in and hit the parks (always Magic Kingdom on our first day) by lunchtime.

For laundry, we'll put a load of whatever needs it in the washer at night, and a load in the dryer (if needed). In the morning, unload what's in the dryer, put what's in the washer into the dryer, and set the dryer to run during the morning routine. Repeat that procedure each night and laundry's not a big hassle (for us anyway - but I know people who hate to do ANY laundry on vacation). The kids stay awake MUCH later on vacations (their normal bedtime is 9:00, on vacation they're up as late as we are), but our vacation bedtime is roughly the same as our usual routine (we're in bed by 10:30 or 11:00 normally - we stretch it to 11:00 or 12:00 on vacation). I like to catnap at night for 2-3 hours - so I sometimes get up and read, watch a DVD, or play a computer game. We're all usually up and moving by 6:30 or 7:00 most vacation mornings (normal wakeup time is 5:30 for us all).

Coming back home - we stay in park until mid-afternoon on the last day (which is usually a Sunday and we're almost always in the Magic Kingdom again). The car is packed and parked at the resort checkout time. We'll take the bus back to the resort, get in the car and swing by Downtown Disney for an hour or two of shopping for last-minute "gotta-haves" (I MUST have a bag of peanut brittle & that cool LEGO set). We're out of Orlando by 5:00 or 6:00 and drive the whole way back home.

I prefer to drive long distances at night - for me it's a combination of kids travelling much easier when asleep, passing of time is less noticeable when it's dark outside (unless you stare at the clock), I'm jazzed from the vacation memories, and my own nice bed is at the tail end of the trip. We get home between 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. KAMommy always takes a full day off, and I usually re-arrange my schedule so I can at least sleep late that first morning back. KAMommy starts her scrapbooking when she rolls out of bed that morning. We usually don't have a whole lot of dirty laundry (thanks, DVC washer & dryer!) from vacation, so there's usually not a big need to set aside massive amounts of time once we're back home. All of our sleep cycles get back to normal by Wednesday or Thursday.

 

[agnes!]

I'll tell you tomorrow . One more sleep before we leave Thursday around 10am.

We are driving this trip. I've been really tired this week(time change plus worked overnight Friday) and fell waaaaaaaaaay behind in my packing. Have to go pick up DD at school this afternoon, am going to finish up laundry & packing my suitcase. Thank goodness that DD packs up all her own stuff plus she takes care of the electronics(camera, DVD player, chargers, etc.) I just can't seem to think of what I need to take, am feeling generally befuddled.

Getting stuck at the car dealership getting pre-trip car stuff done on Monday for the entire morning(was supposed to take *maybe* 1 1/2 hours ) & THEN having to go out and buy four new tires that afternoon didn't help. Another thank goodness...Costco prices!

agnes!
PS - Also have to go pick up DH at airport this afternoon/evening. He doesn't get to share the joy of packing up all our stuff...

 

[DisneyJen0504]

For us, the night before is usually last minute errands and packing. We try to sleep but usually its restless. Did we forget something? Do we have everything? And of course excitement!
For our vacations-we get the least amount of sleep the night before a Disney trip. WDW just has that something extra!

 

[phantom728]

I generally finalize the packing the night before our trip. I usually have everything in one spot the week before hand, but go through the packing list (yes, I keep a list) to be sure that we have everything and then get it organized in the suitcase.

As far as sleep, if we have an early flight (which we usually do and leaves at 6am, which is a 4am wake-up), then I get very little sleep because I'm worried about over sleeping and missing the flight (which would be very upsetting). If we have a later flight, then I usually sleep fine because I was running around all evening packing

I'm like the commercial up until the few days before leaving since I handle the packing, etc. My DH and DD (who stay out of my way while I'm packing) get excited the night before and have trouble sleeping.

 

[simba928]

I usually try to sleep after fishing packing the odds and ends. I only get a few hours, though. When I went on the band trip, though, I got a full night's sleep. I think the only reason was that I had to go to school that day before we left (we left about 8 PM) and we had a 20 hour bus ride. I slept about 2 hours total on the bus, though. That was fall asleep for 5 min., wake up for 10, fall asleep for 30, wake up for 20, etc. Needless to say, I was a little delirious by time we finally got to the hotel and then by time we got to go to sleep, it was 11 the next night.

 

[scoutsmom99]

Panic!!! I am usually packing up everything to go on the trip. I think I'm lucky if I can get to bed by 2:00am. I don't know why I save it all for the last minute, but every time I tell myself I will pack ahead of time it never happens

 

[Catzeyes]

I fly out on vacation tomorrow morning at 3:30 am. I am willing to bet I will not sleep a wink.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Thanks everyone. With me having to leave my place on Saturday between 3-330 am for my 6 am flight, this would mean I would need to be sleeping by 7 or 8 pm on Friday to get 7-8 hours of sleep which I know isn't going to happen.

 

[joshsmom]

Pace . . . pace some more

 

[laura001]

I usually try to take the day off before we leave, get the last minute housework done, errands and finish packing. I always make plans for us to go to my MIL's house for dinner, so we have a good dinner and I didn't have to cook.

Then after a nice visit and dinner we head home, DH usually opens up a bottle of wine, we have a glass while I finish things up and then I usually have a nice long bath and he heads to bed. I stay up and finish the bottle of wine then head to bed and try to sleep. I am alright as long as I don't wake up in the middle of the night, if I do, I can't sleep again.....the butterflies and the jitters start!

 

[believe]

Finish packing, clean the house and bake cookies and brownies. I am usually up till after midnight....good thing DH is the one driving