What do you think are the makings of a perfect holiday? Or are you of the view, that no such thing as a perfect holiday exists? What’s the last thing you’d expect to find on a Top 10 list of things that make the perfect holiday? Long delays at the airport? Rubbish weather? Going over budget and running out of money? Let us then delve deep into the nitty-gritty of the dynamics of a perfect holiday.

Makings of A Perfect Holiday

Well, according to one such list published in The Telegraph, we shouldn’t be so hung up on a perfect holiday. In fact, this particular piece claims that one of the secrets to the ultimate holiday experience is learning how to not let negative experiences bog you down.

Perfect Ingredients For A Perfect Holiday

It’s certainly a thought-provoking idea. There’s no room for the likes of travelling with our favourite people (it actually advocates holidaying alone!) or ticking things off our bucket list of life experiences. Such trifles are trumped by the simple, but wise advice: “Don’t worry if it all goes wrong.” There, the key to the perfect holiday is sorted.

What’s more, the article claims that this little nugget is backed up by science. Or at least by a scientist – namely, psychologist Clay Routledge.

According to Routledge, if we can view problems as ‘learning opportunities,” we will get that much more out of our experiences. “Stressful vacations during which nothing goes according to plan can create opportunities for people to push themselves outside of their comfort zone and learn something about their character,” he says.

But don’t most if not all of us look forward to holidays precisely because they are a chance to wallow in our comfort zone, with as many material comforts and luxurious pampering as possible?

Anatomy Of A Perfect Holiday

Ok, so it sounds like a pretty wacky idea. No one, surely, would seriously buy into the idea that negative travel experiences are an integral part of a great holiday. But that’s probably stretching the point.

If you think about it, there is a kind of logic there. Let’s be honest – when does anything ever go exactly to plan when you go on holiday? And travelling itself can be an inherently stressful experience. Wouldn’t we do better to just roll with things going wrong and getting on top of ourselves, rather than trying to fight it?

You could also argue that even just deciding to go on holiday is choosing to take a risk, so why be surprised if it backfires occasionally? Just by deciding to get moving and heading out somewhere new for a week or two, you are taking yourself out of your comfort zone. Because as safe and familiar as they are, comfort zones are also a bit boring.

Part of the reason we crave going on holiday is for a change of scenery, new experiences, and a sense of adventure. And a certain amount of risk comes with the territory.

Planning For Things Not Going As Planned

The idea of embracing the more challenging aspects of travel and trying to let the stress and hassle of it all wash over us has never had more resonance than in the past couple of years.

Travel has been tough, firstly owing to the pandemic and the web of regulations travellers had to follow, and then because of the impact, the pandemic has had on the travel industry. Even since the restrictions of the pandemic were lifted, going anywhere has meant running the gauntlet of flight cancellations, massive delays at airports and luggage going missing.

Perhaps to be able to truly enjoy travel with so much potential for things to go wrong, we do have to lean into the uncertainty and learn to just shrug our shoulders if the worst happens.

It helps if we prepare ourselves for things not always going to plan. This links to one of the other points that ‘science’ apparently identifies as being key to a successful holiday experience. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone to learn that studies have linked poor planning to elevated levels of stress and dissatisfaction on holidays, while people who plan thoroughly report higher levels of happiness.

It might sound like an oxymoron to talk about ‘planning for things not going to plan.’ But that’s part and parcel of being well-prepared. Even by anticipating things that might go wrong, you at least won’t be caught unawares by them. As they say, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. If you can anticipate potential problems, you can also come up with a plan B.

By far the most important means of planning for things going wrong with your holiday is buying travel insurance. A lot of people claim to not see the value in buying travel insurance because they’ve never needed to make a claim.

But that’s the point – it only takes one missed flight or one bout of illness that ends with you having to fork out for a hospital stay, and your nightmare holiday experience adds up to a lot more than frustration and inconvenience. Medical care abroad routinely costs thousands if you are not insured. And there goes your perfect holiday!

So maybe it is stretching it a bit too far, to claim that negative experiences on holiday contribute to the perfect travel experience by ‘teaching us more about, ” ourselves,” or even “helping us appreciate the good times more,” We can all do without the trouble of things going awry, on our perfect holiday and though everything may not be our control, we need to plan as much as humanly possible.

But by acknowledging that there is the potential for things to not go as we would like, we can at least cover ourselves for the worst and make sure we head off with a little extra peace of mind.

So what are your views on a perfect holiday? Do you think that negative experiences actually add spice and substance to holidays? Do let us know your thoughts through our comments section. And do not forget to subscribe to our blog for more interesting content. Connect with us on our social media channels too.

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