How to organize a Christmas Trip?

Yes, yes, a trip. We are living far away from our birth country. This year Christmas days are in the middle of the school holiday and we decided to travel home at the beginning of the holiday and spending Christmas with the bigger family.

1. Create a project page

As so often I was lazy to print out a "real" project planner insert, I just took a notepaper. To write things done.

2. Brainstorming, and decision making

The first step was before the decision, here you can see our brainstorming. We have family meetings every weekend, when we can discuss all family related stuff. We listed here every ideas, what we can do (like: we don't travel home, we celebrate Christmas here, then we travel, etc.), what is the positiv and negativ side of this, then we voted.

3. What we have to organize here?

- Who we want to meet?
- What we want to make?

- When where with/by whom?

- Christmas gifts

4. Than come the tasks

- Create a list about who you want to buy a gift

- Ideas about gifts

- Buy the gifts

- Create a list, what things we have to take with us to others? 

I started this already in summer, I have a notepaper by all month where I can make misc notes. When I was by my friend I promised here that I will give all of my homeopathic meds, because I don't use them, I wrote that to December.

- Find someone who cares about our rats. (done)

- Write everyone, when we come, and when they have time for us.

- Ask appointment to dentist.

- Create a timeline - when-where. For this I just drawn out the whole school holiday time. I don't think it would be worth to plan this in the "normal" monthly calendar. I will copy the outcome to there. Important note: leave time to pack in and out (and recover :D)! Driving a whole day and going to work next day is not a good choice. 

- Book hotel 

- Packing list - ok it is not so urgent, I can do this on the last week.

As you can see, I didn't written so much tasks here, I just know most of it. And I have the task in my planner: review "Christmas Project", when it is coming, I go to the project page, and find out what else I have to do, and write to the weekly page. 

Most of the gifts are bought, other has to, they are listed to my weekly todo list, and some are not found yet, they will be under thinking at the next review :D

This is, how I organize our trip in December. If you have any question or tip, what else I could do, write me a comment (or you know: write me a comment, only because I want to know, someone is reading! :D)