BeCause

The Last Escape

October 03, 2018
We love the holiday season at Mitch-Stuart: families gathering, dinners cooking, laughter ringing out. It’s why we always love it when one of our non-profit fundraising auction travel packages is used for travel during the season, like to villas in Italy or Bali.

But we also acknowledge a big truth about the holidays: They can be stressful. Hustling to finish gift lists, prettying up the home for visitors, and dealing with family dynamics adds to that rushed, out-of-breath feel that so often sets in on January 2nd.

The good news is that we’ve got more than a month now before Thanksgiving. That’s plenty of time to fit in a pre-holiday trip, one that is stress-free and will help “set the table,” so to speak, for the stressful gauntlet of November and December holidays to come. If your donors could you some relaxation before figuring out how to cook that turkey, here are some traits for which to look in a great pre-celebration voyage.

No Worries

Vacations can be stressful, too, so it’s important to find a trip that won’t pile on to the upcoming holiday pressure. The type of coordination that it takes to bring a family to Europe, for instance, might add as much anxiety as it relieves. Think instead of offering your donors the opportunity to go to an all-inclusive resort, where all the details are taken care of in advance. If the most difficult choice of the day is at which of the property’s delicious on-site restaurants to dine, that’s a day that has certainly released, rather than created, stress.

“Adult” Fun

For families of two, or friends looking to hit the road, two great cities for pre-holiday holidays are Las Vegas and New Orleans. Each have their own version of “adult playgrounds” (the Strip for the former, the French Quarter for the latter), but they also have world class dining, top-notch entertainment and a tourist-welcoming vibe that makes sure your donors will feel as at home as one can among, say, replicas of the Eiffel Tower, Manhattan and the great pyramids.

Sun!

Thanksgiving and the December holidays take place during some rather chilly months – there’s a reason that Christmas, for instance, is all about sleigh bells and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” That makes finding a beach a good priority for your supporters – and both Southern California and Florida have all the sand a donor could desire. One last gasp of beach attire before going back to that parka might be all the stress relief needed before entering the holiday season.