At first, planning a stress-free Gatlinburg family vacation may seem impossible because it is hard to imagine yourself truly away from all of the worry and chaos of life back home. However, it is possible, and you deserve a chance to experience it. Allow yourself this opportunity by reading through our tips on how to prepare for a stress-free trip below.
1. Book a Relaxing Cabin Rental
The first step to preparing for a stress-free Gatlinburg family vacation is to find a place to stay that is both welcoming and peaceful. That is why we always suggest that you consider one of our spacious Gatlinburg cabin rentals for your family’s trip.
Not only do these spacious rentals give you and your loved ones plenty of room to stretch out during your stay, they also eliminate the possible problem of being distracted by noisy neighbors or the uncomfortable feeling of staying a cramped hotel room.
You can find all of relaxing Gatlinburg cabin rentals here.
2. Don’t Make Yourself Too Reachable
Remember, you’re on vacation. This means that it’s ok to put your phone on silent, let the calls go to voicemail and skip checking your email every 10 minutes.
The easiest way to stress yourself out during your Gatlinburg family vacation is to remain focused on all of the things that give you tension back home, like work.
If you have a really hard time disconnecting from your phone, we suggest you go somewhere that doesn’t always have the best cell phone service, like the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here, you and your family can enjoy a fun and exciting day together exploring hiking trails, driving routes and historic homesites and you don’t have to worry about your experience being interrupted by an unwanted phone call or email.
For more tips on ways to disconnect during your vacation, click here.
3. Pack Lightly
We get it. Between picking out what shoes go with what belt and which necklace to pair with your new dress, it’s hard not to overpack for your Gatlinburg family vacation. However, we still want to encourage you to avoid doing this if you can.
Packing lightly will help eliminate any pre-vacation stress because you don’t have to worry about making sure that you have every single thing that you will need when you are in your home away from home. Besides, there are plenty of places where you can pick up any necessities that you accidentally left behind.
Remember, all of our cabins come with their own washer and dryers, so you won’t have any issues cleaning a load or two of laundry during your vacation if there is a top or a pair of jeans you want to wear twice. Washing your clothes here will also cut down on the stress of unpacking once you return home.
Click here for more vacation packing tips.
4. Leave Room For Downtime
Sure, there are a ton of fun and exciting things to do in Gatlinburg and it’s hard to fit it all in one trip, but don’t forget to leave a little room for downtime when you are creating your vacation itinerary. This will this make sure that you have enough time to truly relax and unwind It will also give other members of your group a chance to catch up if they don’t have as much energy as you.
This is especially good for parents who are traveling with kids because it will help remind you to plan for nap times and activity breaks to keep your children happy and engaged. It’s hard to be stress-free if you have to worry about a tired toddler crying in the backseat of the car.
5. Let Go
It’s ok if things don’t go exactly as planned during your vacation. It’s ok if you overslept and missed the sunrise at Clingmans Dome, there will be another one tomorrow. It’s also ok if it rained on the day you planned a picnic at the park, you can still enjoy a delicious meal outside on your cabin’s covered back deck.
The point is that it’s ok if plans have to change at the last minute, as long as you allow yourself to be flexible and change with them. If you start to get worked up and worry about things then you are defeating the point of having a stress-free vacation.
6. Relax
Last, but not least, the best thing to do to prepare for a stress-free Gatlinburg family vacation is to relax. In order to have a stress-free trip, you have to be able to let go of any built up tension and just go with the flow.
If you get a head start on allowing yourself to release control and unwind, you will have an easier time relaxing once your vacation finally begins.
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