The Latest from the FlipKey Blog

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 11:14 AM PDT

by Jenn & Hannah

Traditionally, April Fool’s Day has been a day to act out wildly, prank your friends, or play practical jokes on your classmates. Remember replacing the contents of a sugar bowl with salt as a small child, or jamming a dye tablet behind the faucet screen so the water ran red? One year I carefully crafted ice cream cones out of mashed potatoes, complete with chocolate syrup for an April Fool’s Day joke the kids have never forgotten.

In our family, April Fool’s Day has become synonymous with major change. We’ve sold one house and bought another, taken off on round the world trips, switched continents and made other major life changes on April first. Some would call these a “fool’s errand,” but to us, it’s a tradition that we hold dear and every year we consider what our “next big thing” could be as April 1 approaches. Even if you don’t take off on April 1, you could make a shocking announcement of big changes to come and the joke will be on your friends when they find that you’re not fooling at all! Here are a few ideas to set you dreaming:

1. Take Your Month’s Vacation in April

Summer is a horrible time to holiday. It’s hot. Everywhere is crowded. School’s out so prices are jacked up. April is the perfect time to take a vacation! The weather is pleasant in most places, it’s shoulder season so prices are lower and since the schools are still in session your favourite museum won’t be overrun! In some places, April is even iconic: Paris, for example! Or perhaps Washington D.C. for the cherry blossom festival? The best way to really see a place, and the easiest way to stretch your dollar so you can take a month instead of two weeks is by renting a house and living like a local for a while.

2. Learn Something New

But not something boring like how to do your job more efficiently. Disappear on April first to do something wildly outside your box: Go sky diving, take your first flight lesson, bungee jump, buy a set of poi balls and learn to light up the night, get SCUBA certified! Oooh… SCUBA Certified? Why not take a week off, starting April 1, and head to somewhere warm and take a week long SCUBA course? I can personally recommend SCUBA Mex, on the Mayan Riviera, and the dive shop on Tobacco Caye, Belize (there’s only one) as I was certified in Mexico and two of my kids in Belize. No joke, you’ll love the adventure.

3. Kidnap Someone

This is a bold move and requires some advance planning. Please, don’t commit a felony. Instead, make secret plans for someone you love, a spouse, a good friend, a child, your mom, perhaps? Plan one full day of escape, from dawn to bedtime. Focus on what that person would really love and make it happen. What an unexpected gift to give! Get foolish for love. Want to take it to the next level? Kidnap them for the whole weekend and take a three day cruise! Everyone will be expecting a funny prank, but no one will be expecting to be swept away for the day, or the week?

4. Make a Commitment

By April 1st New Year’s resolutions have started to slide and old patterns are reemerging. Use the day that honors fools to commit to something personal and something fun. It could be anything, really, but I have a specific suggestion: Instead of getting stuck in your rut running back and forth to work, mowing the lawn on the weekend why not commit to your dream of travel. I know, I know, you only have two weeks a year off and you have to spend one week of that with family. But you have the entire world right outside your front door. Why not commit yourself to a year of local travel? Spend one day a week exploring something new in your community. Spend one weekend a month on a short trip within driving distance of home. I guarantee that you’ll learn a lot and you’ll scratch that travel itch a bit in the process. Rent a house for the weekend that’s just three hours away. Visit the zoo you’ve been meaning to visit. Check out historic sites. Go gallery hopping and discover local artists. April 1: A year of local travel. You could do that.

5. Come Out Of The Closet

You’ve had a dream for a long time. Something BIG you’ve been dying to do but finding a million excuses not to. Perhaps you want to build the house of your dreams. Maybe you want to quit your job and take a round the world trip. Maybe you want to ride your bicycle across the country. Why not use April Fool’s Day to make the announcement everyone will think you’re crazy for and chase hard after that dream? Why not commit, this April 1st, to embark on your dream next April 1st? Give yourself a year to save, plan, organize and manifest your dream and then make following your heart in some wild (dare I say foolish?) way an annual event? Everyone will think you’re joking! It’s April 1st after all! But the last laugh will be yours when you prove them wrong a year from now! Don’t embrace mediocrity, live large, the life you know you want to.

A dynamic mother-daughter duo of travel writers, Jenn & Hannah are in their fourth year of an open ended world tour. Their partners in crime are Dad & 3 brothers and together they are http://www.edventureproject.com

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Friday, March 23, 2012