You don’t always need a long holiday to refresh yourself; even a short two-three day trip can revitalize you and make you more productive at work. Long weekends are something you should always take advantage of to plan a short getaway. Here are a few tips to help you plan great weekend breaks.

Don’t spend too much time traveling
When you plan a weekend getaway, pick places you can drive to in a few hours or take a direct flight to. Avoid flights that involve switching flights or that take a long shopping route to your destination. This will only eat into your limited holiday time. Also, avoid places that you need to take multiple modes of transport to reach for example; an island where you must first fly to a nearby place and then take a ferry.

Take a few friends along
When it comes to short holidays, the more the merrier. Unless you’re planning this to be a romantic getaway for you and your partner, bring along a few friends. Not only will you have more fun when you’re with friends, this can also reduce your costs. For example, if you are 4 or 5 people, you could consider renting an apartment instead of staying at a hotel.

Switch off
There will always be time to reply to emails and post social media updates when you’re back home. To fully enjoy a holiday, put your phone and laptop on airplane mode and forget about them. Instead, share your hotel landline with family members and close friends in case they need to contact you. This gives you time to soak up nature around you and allows you to be more present in the moment and spend quality time with your co-travelers.

Pack light but smart
Ideally, when you’re taking a 2-3 day trip, you should not have more than a single overnight bag. Avoid checking this in on your flight and try packing a bag that you can carry with you. This can save you a lot of time at the airport. Packing light also allows you to be more flexible with your plans and less stressed about valuable things you may have to leave behind at your hotel room. But packing light is no excuse to not have something dressy to wear if needed. Plan your clothes such that you can layer a casual dress with a blazer or scarf to make it a bit formal if need be.

Plan a relaxed schedule
When you take a short holiday, you need to have a broad plan in place but not micromanage your time. Thus, plan the essentials like where to stay and few good places to eat at, but leave your daily schedule open. This allows you to make the most of your holiday and keeps you from rushing from one place to another. After all, a holiday is meant to be an opportunity for you to relax.