March 2018 Newsletter from Lovejoy Travel Agency
Five-Year Travel Plans
Do you have a young family that you envision traveling with someday? Do you have older children that reminds you how fast time flies? Are you empty nesters that now have the freedom to cross off locations on your bucket list? At any stage in your life, making a travel plan helps travelers maximize their travel time and their money. Check out these steps to help you transform your vision to reality. 

Step 1: Write a Family Travel Mission Statement
Are you looking to hit the stables like Disney World and the sandy beaches or is your family more educational focused, wanting to check out Washington DC and the National Parks, or are you looking to use your passports and experience different cultures? Find out what each member of your family is looking for when it comes to vacationing.

Step 2: Work up a Travel Budget
Work up a Travel Budget. How many trips do you want to take within the next five years? What ever the number is, start saving for those trips. That can mean putting some cash away each pay check, but it can also mean racking up your points to help with airfare. Traveling isn’t free but if you plan ahead, you can enjoy your relaxing vacation that much more

Step 3: Identify Time Constraints
School calendars, Work schedules, Sports commitments. My family schedule dictates my day and it dictates my life. Consider the priorities in your life and make your vacation work around it (or determine what you can sacrifice).

Step 4 – Analyze Age/Interest
Make sure your Five-Year Plan considers the age of your family. Your daughter might be huge into princesses now, but will she still love them in 5 years? At the same time, your kiddos might not care about world history now, but could grow interest as time goes on. Not only that, you may be physically able for adventures now, but our bodies can fail us as we age and prevent us from fulfilling those dreams. Be flexible with your options and be conscience of how quickly things can change.

Step 5 – Write it all down
As with any goal, it is more likely to happen if you write it down. Many people say they have always dreamed of going to Hawaii, but if you don’t make a plan, a budget, and document your progress, you most likely will talk a lot of talk but never actually walk the walk.

Step 6 – Revise the Five-Year Plan
Revise your plan annually!
Are you making progress on your goals or did you forget about it as life takes over? If traveling is important to you, then make it a point to meet your budget goals and check in with your family’s interest. And then make it happen!!