Record Date: August 12, 2024

Guests: Julie and Erik

Episode Comic

About our Guests

Julie and Erik are intellectual property attorneys currently living in Minneapolis, Minnesota with their young son.

Main Takeaways from this Episode

Consider needs: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs says it’s hard to focus on things like fun when you’re feeling uncertainty about foundational needs like safety, shelter, and food. And sometimes you have to tend to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of your travel companions, especially when one of them is a kid. (On one of my own trips, I can point to a travel companion’s Maslow’s Hierarchy to understand why he lost his temper when we were goofing around while he was still feeling uncertain about where we were going to sleep.)

Engage support: The parents took turns, or divided-to-conquer, to prevent either one from getting exhausted. A broad chosen family of friends helped take the load off the parents. And one of the best ways to offer help is to show up with no agenda of your own, aside from having fun.

Embrace serendipity: if you keep in mind the core goals of the vacation (e.g. to make sure the kid has fun and forms terrific memories), not being too fixated on the specific outcome of any one plan allows you to adapt and still achieve those goals. E.g. there may be no barbecue pits available, or the park may have been taken over by a parade, but your friends and family can help you make the most of that time another way.

Take your time: You can keep some unplanned time at the end of the trip to repeat any activities you discovered everyone particularly enjoyed. Closing with “greatest hits” helps cement positive memories.

Best Practice Links

Contingency Planning is related to a project premortem; both are about considering what you would do if various things went wrong. Sometimes a single strategy (e.g. be ready to same-day order a missing object off of Amazon) may be able to address multiple potential situations.

The Checklist Manifesto talks about the benefits of building and using checklists in fields like flying airplanes and practicing medicine; the benefits extend to personal domains like travel planning as well. If you use a checklist and you forget to pack something, you can add it to the checklist to ensure you don’t forget next time.

Product Links

Dog Man: Julie and Erik’s son’s favorite books to read on the airplane.

Foldable Childs Toilet Seat

Sunscreen

San Diego Tourism Authority - Travel Resources for SD Region

Contact

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