Life After Florida

[AndyC]

Having spent 14 months in the planning, arranging everything ourselves for the very first time and not having to rely on tour operators for the normal 'Packaged Experience' I feel as tho I've suffered enough at their mercy and thought..hey do-it-yourself I couldn't do any worse than some.

So between us (group of nine) we started making arrangements, looking for a villa..First Nightmare... there are just so many fabulous villas that I would be proud of to call my own home but we wittled it all down to a few then pondered for a few more weeks before finally deciding on hampton lakes, then there was the flights and insurance and vehicle and tickets the list seems endless, and the stress levels rising, but surprisingly enough, never once were we frustrated it was just fun and a gave us a good sense of satisfaction after completing each hurdle.

Then there was the lapse of about 3/4 months without doing anything and the thought that we should be so list upon list was bounced between our group like a chain letter being passed to everyone, Royal Mail must have being doing their nut. (not all have email access).

The excitement was rekindled when we pre-booked our seats back in January and we have all been on a high ever since, and with only 7 weeks and a bit to go the anticipation and exhiliaration have reached levels never before experienced.

I think I had better make a point from all this .......but to be subjected to these highs for about 14 months how deos one recover from the depression and lows of returning to the UK.

One thought would be to START ALL OVER AGAIN..........

[chrisj]

Plan the next holiday when you return, be it Florida or elsewhere. I would also suggest you
continue booking yourself and cut out the middle people. We have been doing that for years
and it does save you money

From memory last year, we had only been back in the UK for a day when I got started on this
years holiday, were already planning next years

[Kissyme]

Definatley agree with Chrisj, We start thinking about the next one as soon as we get back. In between times we watch all the florida programmes (I want that house and such) always keep an eye on what the dollar is doing, and checking the savings to make sure we have got enough to go again. Enjoy your holiday (I know you will)

[Calamity Jane]

One thing I will say Andy..is book your villa first and book it early as villas for prime time get booked up very quickly.

You will always get a fight but you may not get the villa of your choice.

[AndyC]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Calamity Jane
One thing I will say Andy..is book your villa first and book it early as villas for prime time get booked up very quickly.

You will always get a <span style="color:red">fight</span id="red"> but you may not get the villa of your choice.
[/quote]

Hi Karen

I hope you mean flight cos I'm not really the aggresive type

[chrisj]

[steph_goodrum]

"One thought would be to START ALL OVER AGAIN.........."

Believe it or not you may just find, as most of us do, that you will come back with an even bigger list of things that you dont have time for this trip that you will want to see next time. You'll find a roadside advert catches your eye or browsing through the leaflets available in the shops etc you'll find a whole world that never even gets as far as our tv screens in the UK.

[andrewmckay5]

Andy,
don't overdo it this time with ALL the parks etc. They will still be there for your next visit and tickets should be valid if you don't use them this time.
I've seen several families going round a park with almost a check list to tick just so everything is packed in; "stop and smell the roses" i think is the phrase.
Have a great trip.
andrew

[blott]

Life after Florida? Surely that should read Florida for Life?

I'm with the others here, you can't see and do everything available in Florida in just one trip so take your time and, like the rest of us, when you come home you'll be planning your next visit... In fact, we usually plan our next visit on the plane coming home so, by the time we land, we're not quite so depressed as we have the next time to look forward to!

Enjoy every minute (as I'm sure you will) and then come back to the UK ready to start getting excited all over again!

[boo-yeh]

Florida certainly does have 'it'. I'm getting in trouble with 'er in doors at the moment because although we leave on 9th July for this year's holiday, I am already looking ahead to next year, this time going it alone with arrangements and taking the villa option.

The trouble I have found with Florida is that it does somewhat spoil you for other destinations (nothing really comes up to scratch) - I'm sure I'm not alone in this!
[msncool]