It begins on Thursday. The rubber hits the road for my family’s 2024 camping trip after eighteen months of gathering ideas, evaluating options, and creating travel plans.
Since this likely will be my last multi-week camping trip with my daughter, I asked her in January of 2023 what parts of our country she would like to revisit from past camping trips. This was a tough question for her.
She kept narrowing down her priorities and eventually arrived at Redwoods National and State Parks in northern California and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. With those destinations in mind, I began planning this summer’s camping trip in March of 2023.
For high-demand parks like Yellowstone, reservations are required and can be made up to one year in advance. Thus, the “skeleton” of our trip needed to be built a full year ahead of time, and I had to make reservations for this year’s trip while we were on last year’s trip.
The first step in my trip planning is to pace out how many days it will take to get to our furthest destination and get back home. That gives me an idea of how much time we have for ancillary adventures along the way. Once those are set, throw in some half-days for laundry and grocery shopping, find locations for requested activities (zip lining and horseback riding), and then make reservations as needed for campsites along the way.
I find the trip planning to be a microcosm of our advisors’ roles in our clients’ lives. We ask our clients to select their destination, we evaluate the resources available to reach those goals, and then help them plan their ancillary adventures.
The challenge is that nothing ever goes exactly as planned. No matter how much time and effort I put into planning our trip, I still cannot control the future. There will be traffic jams, weather challenges, and potentially some snow. I pray for safe travels, no injuries, and minimal storms. But I know we will need to adapt along the way when something does not go as planned.
The same is true for our clients. Unexpected family emergencies, job disruptions, and health challenges all create involuntary detours on their journey. But we are always here for them.
Adaptability is a requirement for every successful trip and financial plan. While our caring advisors cannot help you with planning vacations, we would be honored to be your family’s guide toward your desired destination.
Quote of the week:Benjamin Graham: “The best way to measure your investing success is not by whether you’re beating the market but by whether you’ve put in place a financial plan and a behavioral discipline that are likely to get you where you want to go.”
Graphic Credit: iStock #91595985 | Credit: laclower
