It’s been a longstanding tradition for me to go somewhere out of the country for New Year’s. The tradition started way back in 2001 when I went to Cancun then the expedition meekly shifted to our great neighbor to the north, Canada.
In 2002, we went to the legendary club Guvernment in Toronto (finally closing after 20 years). To be fair, I was only twenty at the time. After losing my best friends shortly after the NYE countdown, I spent the rest of the night wandering around this monstrosity of a nightclub.
The year after, my best friend Mikey and I went to Montreal for New Years. It was absolutely freezing. Our days consisted of sleep and our nights consisted of drink.
All in all it was a miserably cold, great time. I had the chance to visit Montreal in the summer. I highly recommend deferring till then.
So why do I love Montreal in the winter? The answer can be summarized in one word: guilt. Actually, it is lack of guilt.
The problem with traveling is the guilt that consumes you if you spend all day in bed after staying out all night long. Even with the blackout curtains, you know there is a city to explore, a beach to wade in, and a pool party to…party in?
Prepositional faux pas aside, there must be a strategy for going on vacation, seeing the sites, and partying all night.
Luckily for you, my dear blog readers, I have come up with said strategy. It is called Take Control of Your Vacation and is a philosophy that not only applies to trips but also applies to life. See Part II of my book Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong.
Here are some tips on how to go on a trip, live it up, and avoid that feeling of guilt from not seeing everything you can whether it be the attractions in the day or the atmosphere at night.
Strategy 1: Stay in One City for 3 Nights at the Most.
The original strategy called for staying in a city for only 2 nights. It was geared at partygoers who wanted to travel to many cities in a trip but became fatigued from hopping from city to city. The rationale behind staying two nights is as follows:
Night 1: I just got to this new city, it’s my first night here, I have to go out!
Night 2: It’s my last night in this city, I have to go out!
I have expanded it to 3 nights because there is more to traveling than partying. By applying the 2 night strategy, you can, at the least, go out 2 nights, while saving 1.5 days for seeing the sites. The same rationale applies to tourist attractions. “Oh, I’ll climb the volcano in Bali later on, we have 11 nights here.”
Result: One more FGD drink at Bounty Bar.
Strategy 2: The Big Jambox
Tired, beaten, worn down? Maybe you’ll just hit the snooze and skip out on the day. Maybe you glance over your phone and convince yourself that partly cloudy really means rain so you can give yourself a snow day.
With the same amount of energy that allowed you to check the weather on your phone, turn on Spotify, and play that overplayed vacation theme.
That will immediately get you out of bed, day or night and get you back to doing what you are supposed to be doing- exploring.
Strategy 3: Espresso, Patrón, Sugar Free Redbull, Shots
Jambox not doing it for you? Immediately roll that Jambox tune into a drink. If you’re staying at a finer points hotel, they surely will have a Nespresso machine that has instant delicious espresso. If you’re in a hostel, then skip the java for some Jack, better yet Patrón. That instant buzz will get you on your feet and on your way.
Take Control of Your Vacation my friends or visit Montreal or Mongolia in the winter.
Though not again! Appreciate you posting like you would do, I genuinely appreciate seeing a person who actually provides a viewpoint and isn?t really just bringing back up crap like many other writers today. Keep on!
Much appreciated.