Hello, weekend.
I’m going to make the assumption that most of us live in a reality of the 9-5 job. You report to a boss. You wear a blazer. You take an hour lunch break. You drive a Dodge Stratus. And you do the same thing tomorrow. And the day after that.
I hope that at least some of you get to love or at least like your day job. I’m fortunate to work in the digital advertising industry full of young, smart, and driven people. I tend to enjoy showing up (almost) every day.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t LIVE for the weekends like everyone else. Here are some tips to take full advantage of a proper long weekend. (I plan to elaborate on each of these topics in future posts. Comment and let me know of any others you’d be interested in reading about!)
Know Your Long Weekends – Be strategic! Plan trips around the following key days: Presidents, MLK, Memorial, Independence, and Labor. And some of you lucky ducks get to plan around Columbus Day and Veterans Day too. Let’s be honest – if you have a Monday off, the office is typically slower on Friday. So you’re free to gallivant around the world from Thursday night to Monday night… or that super early Tuesday flight where you head straight into the office. The 4am wakeup call is miserable, but worth it for that extra bite of sushi in Tokyo or another hour of sun in Tulum.
Take Advantage Of How The Calendar Year Falls – For example, don’t you love when the 4th of July falls on a Wednesday? You’re pretty much guaranteed to get Thursday and Friday off and now you’ve got yourself a nice little five night vaca.
Sleeping Pills Are Your Friends – If you’re flying overnight, pop a sleeping pill so you get a decent night sleep. You’ll beat jetlag and be free to shop in Paris or eat pasta for breakfast in Rome.
Use Airline Miles – I find that it’s easier to justify jet setting for a weekend when it’s free. Take advantage of airline miles, but use them smartly. Most airlines announce mile savers six months in advance. So that business class ticket to London could go from 110,000 miles to 57,500 miles. And you can fly economy for under 30,000 miles. That’s what I call winning.
Plan Ahead – I tend to map out all the things I want to do, see, and eat when I’m in a city for a short period of time. Don’t get upset when you can’t fit it all in – I’ve learned over time to go with the flow as best you can – but if you’re organized you can at least attempt to do it all.
Choose Direct Flights – Depending on where you live, this isn’t always easy. But a direct flight is definitely an advantage when making the most of a long weekend. Google Flights is a great tool to see where your city flies direct.
