1. Travel with a group
If there’s anyone who likes to travel alone it’s me but let’s be real, there’s nothing like traveling with friends and loved ones. Travelling in a group is a budget-friendly way to maximize your experiences and minimize your expenses.

2. Utilize your friends’ skill-sets
An additional benefit to traveling in a group is that each person has something unique to bring the table. Harness the skills of the individuals in your group to personalize your vacation experience. Fire up your photographer friends to capture the special moments, your finance friends to handle the budget, and those with the penchant for planning to be in charge of the daily itinerary. I even got to show off my chef skills and prepared one of my favorite recipes for the group.

3. Ditch the resort
Out are the days of traveling abroad and booking the all-inclusive resort. I’m not usually the person to dissuade you from unlimited meals and drinks but I promise you there’s more out there if you just do a little more homework.

Recently, my friends and I spent a week in Saint Martin and opted for a private villa. We rented jeeps, stocked our own bar, and traveled the island searching out all of the best local cuisine.

4. Get your ducks in a row
More than likely you won’t be able to rely on your normal workday routine, and why should you? You are on vacation. Before you take off, reach out to your current and prospective clients to let them know the best way to contact you as your normal modes of communications will most likely be limited. You can do that via email blast, a social media post, or reaching out to them directly.

5. Have a plan
Okay, I know most people don’t want every moment of their vacation planned out and set on a strict schedule but having a plan will keep you productive while allowing you to enjoy all your excursions. Having a good idea of what your day will look like, provides some structure so that you can set away some time to respond to emails, schedule calls with clients, and actually knock out some work.

6. Follow the Wi-Fi
Sounds simple, I know, but make sure that the place that you are staying at has Wi-Fi included. Most likely this is where you’ll be doing the most work and you’ll need access to a strong internet connection. If you want to be able to read and reply to emails while you’re out and about or keep your social media buzzing, try to find restaurants or beaches that have free Wi-Fi access.

7. Beach time is thinking time
Laying out on the beach, soaking up the sun, and getting your tan on is the perfect opportunity to reflect on your business and start thinking about what you want to accomplish once your vacation is over. You can even take it a step further and utilize the notes app on your smartphone or tablet device to type up some of your thoughts for good measure. I actually started the outline for this blog post while laying out on the beach.

8. Have a great time
This is the most important part, right? Eat great food, have lots of drinks, see the sights, enjoy the views, hit as many beaches as possible, take a boat ride, and just enjoy yourself. After all it is vacation.