I find there’s nothing like travel to test your mettle and flexibility. Trips and holidays can be wonderfully relaxing but the getting there and back can undo all their benefits with a single word: delayed, cancelled, full, lost, sorry … We can get so wrapped up in our pity party about how things “were ruined” by what went wrong that it can overshadow, even cancel out, the recounting of the sights and marvels and wonderful times spent — or prevent us from enjoying them in the first place.

With the long Cup Match weekend coming up, many folks are making plans, whether travelling off-island or just up country. While I wish for you all a pleasant journey that goes perfectly without a hitch, just in case I thought I’d share some tips and reminders to help prevent the travel Grinch from stealing your holiday joy:

• Rigid expectations lead to disappointment.

We all want to have a nice time but if we have too fixed an idea of exactly what that has to look like or how it has to happen, we are setting ourselves up for misery. When we loosen our criteria for having a fun holiday to core components — time spent together, doing something different, a change from the workday — we can feel satisfied even if the rest doesn’t go as hoped.

• Recognising what is out of our control preserves energy and sanity. We can sit there railing against the traffic jam/the lost suitcase/the missed bus/the long queue, etc infusing everyone around us with negative energy and tension as we stew in frustration, blame and feeling hard done by or we can accept that there’s actually nothing we can do about it, except maybe learn for the future. Calmness in a crisis helps us make better decisions so we can make provisions for whatever consequences may arise and ask for help when needed. It also allows us to focus on what and who is truly important in that moment.

• It’s all part of the adventure; a matter of perspective. Having our plane diverted and being shuttled at 4am to a “booger motel” which only had crusty, thin bunk beds, was not how I expected to start my holiday. I snapped a shot of my partner’s face when he saw the place, knowing that our five-star booking was going to waste. Not what we planned. Nothing we could do about it. Was there any point getting mad (for long anyway)? We knew we would laugh about it one day, so why not now. We were safe, we were together, we were almost there.

It’s the holiday photo that makes me smile most!

• Plan for the best, prepare for the worst and be willing to go with the flow. Always pack a snack, water, a hat, an opaque plastic bag (with no holes), hand-sanitiser, tissues, a calm attitude, a sense of humour and a willingness to see the adventure in it all. Wishing everyone a safe and happy Cup Match!

• Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner. For details contact Julia on 705-7488, www.juliapittcoaching.com.