Travel can be glorious, life-changing, intruiging, fun, insightful, but also oh so stressful. For not only are you dealing with a different environment, but also transportation, finding food in a new place when you're hungry (a stressful time for me, at least!), and possibly a different language. 

All of the stress is worth it, we know this - but there has to be some trick to prepping for travel, so that it's more happy! Why happy? Well, when you're happy, the challenges of life are much easier to deal with - and you'll enjoy yourself more, especially while traveling. And the less stress we have, the better we interact with each other - and the world.

Luckily, I was able to chat with Deborah Heisz, Editorial Director of Live Happy - and ask her a few questions. Deborah has a B.A. in English from Texas Tech University and an MBA from the University of Dallas. What brings her the most happiness in the world is spending time in the great outdoors with her family and dogs. Her greatest source of joy and wonder is watching her three children learn, experience life and ask questions without filter. 

We asked her: What can travelers do to prepare for happy travels?

1. Spend time planning your travels. Research shows us that looking forward to an experience you enjoy provides as much benefit to your well-being as the experience itself. Many of us look forward to traveling, and the time we spend researching our future trips provides an overall boost to our happiness.

2. BUT -- Don’t over plan your travels. When traveling to a new place, it might be tempting to try to do everything. Creating a detailed itinerary with everything mapped out to the minute may seem like a good idea until you realize that you simply want to watch the sunset over the mountains from a café, rather than hustling to that sunset kayak trip. Pick out the big things you want to do but leave time to rest, recover, enjoy and be spontaneous. Returning to work exhausted and overwhelmed will negate any lingering benefits of the vacation. 

3. Be sure to set yourself up at work appropriately so co-workers, clients, etc. know you’re taking time off so you can really “unplug” and set time aside for family and fun. Turn on your out of office on your email inbox and let people know you are out on vacation and when you can will get back to them. Include someone they can contact if it is urgent. Make sure that everyone who needs to know at the office, knows that you will be on vacation and when you will be back. Also make sure one person knows how to reach you and under what circumstances you want to be contacted. These steps will make it easier for you not to worry about work while you are out.

4. Read blogs, articles, and online reviews from previous travelers to your destination. They can paint a picture of what to expect and help you select activities you might enjoy.

Check back in the next week for more tips from Heisz, including:
10 ways to create a happy atmosphere for flying
An Expert Shares How to Create Happy Family Travel

How do you prepare for happy travel?