Not a Typical Getaway Part 2… The Logistics of Planning a Quarterly Review

My husband and I went on another Getaway this past weekend. We accomplish these Getaways quarterly- getting away four days every three months (with no children!). I already created a post – 8 Things We Accomplish on Our Getaways – explaining in detail what we mainly get done in one Quarterly Review Getaway. This post here is all about the logistics in planning a Getaway.

The main question we receive is,

“How do you do it?”

First off, it’s only possible because we make it happen. Most times you can make anything happen if you REALLY want it. My husband and I make this a priority because we both have seen the benefits in our marriage, finances, and family from him and I being super intentional during these Getaways. This is how we do it…

Where

We have many connections with family and friends who have rental places (i.e. a cabin in the woods, a beach house, cottages, etc.). We rotate out those places. Sometimes we go to the same one twice a year.

One time we went to a hotel in the same area where we lived. We didn’t feel like traveling a few hours for our Getaway. However, I don’t think we will pursue that avenue again because of the lack of space to organize paper work, type, write, and so forth. One time we even stayed back at our house and sent the children to the sitter’s house. Other times we travel up to three hours for our Getaway place.

Babysitters

If we can make these Getaways happen with having five young children (aged six and under), then anyone can accomplish these! One thing that does make it easy for us to get away, is our amazing babysitters. We have a family that watches our children often, they have been an incredible blessing to us. They do an amazing job managing our children while forming a deep relationship with them. We also have awesome moms who are available almost anytime we ask them.

Since we recently moved away from our home town, away from our family and friends, this past Getaway, we had the babysitting family come up and stay at our house with the four children (we took our 2 month old along with us). They stayed there with the children all four days.

In the past we sometimes would have one mom take all the children for two days and then pass them off to the other mom for another two days.

If you don’t have family nearby, maybe you could swap babysitting with some friends- working out a deal with each other.

If you really want this to happen… YOU WILL FIND A WAY!

A side note with newborns, we always take our baby with us if she is three months or younger. The baby stays back with the siblings and sitter if she is older than that (as long as she is able to take a bottle).

Budget for it

Since we are budgeters, we do budget for the Getaway destination and for the babysitters. Now, if you’re swapping babysitting with some friends or have your moms babysit, then you obviously wouldn’t need to budget that area!

For the destination- if you have friends or family that have a place and let you stay there for free or for a very low cost- GREAT! Seek out those kinds of destinations. Or you could just stay at your house to accomplish the Getaway. My preference- if you can afford it- budget for it, and get away from the home.

Plan Ahead

The Getaway we do at the beginning of the year, we go over our calendars and plan for that WHOLE year! We both are planners and like to think ahead, so this benefits us both. In the previous post about our Getaways, I explain our calendar planning more in detail there.

So, on these calendars, we plan where and when we will attend our upcoming Getaways (which are subject to change due to availability of cabin/house and babysitters). After a Getaway, we immediately plan the next. I check to see if our next destination is available as we planned. Then about a month in advance I will contact the sitters to see who would be available.

Create Checklists

One thing that is extremely helpful when going away, are my checklists. I have a checklist for almost every vacation destination we go to. So for the different cabins we go to, I always know what I specifically need to take along for that cabin (since each one requires different items at that location).

I also have a checklist for when I send the children off to the babysitters. So then every single time we go away, I don’t have to create a list for the children and try to remember everything that needs sent along.

Then there is the Getaway checklist. This involves everything we bring along that we want to accomplish during the Getaway. This is a very large list because of all that we try to accomplish. Some examples are:

paperwork for budgeting; computer; children’s prayer journal; calendars; business paperwork that needs done; Bible, journal, book(s) I’m reading; hard drive;

I even include every little thing such as: pens, paper, highlighters, markers, paperclips, envelopes, etc.

One thing I don’t like is forgetting something and not being able to complete the task while at the Getaway because I didn’t bring it along. I’m always editing these lists to make them better for next time.

These checklists helps relieve the stress of packing everything for a family of seven.

So there you have it. The five logistical issues for planning your next Getaway. I hope this list helps! If you have any other questions about a Quarterly Review Getaway or any other advice for us all from your experiences, please comment below!

 

 

 

 

Here are a few random pictures from our previous Getaway-