Holi-day! Cele-brate!

 
Everyone loves a good holiday. Even if it doesn't quite turn out to be the amazing dream you had in mind, it still beats looking at the same walls, being at work or doing household chores - right? When it comes to actually planning the holiday though, well that can go and get more stuffed than a Christmas turkey. I know some people love discussing, researching and mapping out their holiday to the finest detail, but for someone like me, it's a total nightmare.

My husband and I decided a few months ago we were going to have a holiday in November, but like the lazy procrastinating fools we are, we didn't actually start doing anything about it until last week. I think we were both waiting for the other one to just sort it out. Also because our last trip away was challenging to say the least (you can read all about that crazy adventure here), we were nervous about making the same mistakes as last time - a very likely scenario when you consider we're travelling with two children under three.

So we finally got off our backsides and began the holiday booking process. Shiza Minnelli. We immediately realised we needed to lock something in fast or we weren't going anywhere, because accommodation had already been snapped up at many places on our list and flights were getting expensive. Destination wise we started off keen on Noosa, then moved on to Fiji, the Gold Coast, Hawaii, South Coast NSW and then gave up. By this point we were stressed up to our eyeballs, completely over looking at Trip Advisor and wanted to throw in the towel.

The reason? Our boys are at that terribly awkward stage where they're too young to get into kids clubs yet old enough to need constant stimulation - and as we learnt last time, swimming all day every day is just not going to cut it. All the places we looked at were either not suitable, not available or too expensive; and in the end it made us think we should just hide away in the house and never go out until the kids are both at least five (or 18). We were spending so much time trying to organise the darn trip it was losing its spark. Isn't planning a holiday supposed to be fun? At one point I actually shed a few tears and then bitch slapped myself back into reality - what about all the people who can't go on a holiday? Or are living in poverty? Or war zones? Talk about first world white girl problems. Get a grip!

And then my husband dared to come up with an idea so deliciously crazy, it just might work. Bali - take two. Our aforementioned holiday last year was to Bali and we struggled big time - mostly in our minds - so why on earth would we attempt to do it again? I'll tell you.

1. Bali is beautiful, affordable, close to Australia, and has a wide variety of activities to keep our bruisers entertained (plus tons of stuff for us as well)

2. We know exactly where we went wrong last time, meaning we won't make the same mistakes again - like checking we're all set up for child-friendly amenities such as pool gates, high chair, porta-cot and children's menus

3. Our boys are a year older - so no breastfeeding twice in the night for starters (seriously, I don't know what we were thinking taking a four month-old)

4. We know what to expect - not just from the place and culture, but from the experience of holidaying with young children, and have therefore set our expectations at a more realistic level

And here's the big one...

6. My sister is coming with us - nothing like an extra pair of eyes and hands to ease the stress!

So what do you think, are we coco loco? Maybe, but I'll tell you one thing - I'm absolutely pumped (and I'm taking my cameras).

How do you find planning holidays - totes fun or major ball ache?

photo credit: sektordua via photopin cc