Wherever it is, I hope you have a great time. The key to a great holiday, I think, is planning. Not just the planning of what to take – passport, medication, insurance, tickets, clothes, addresses for postcards and a myriad of other considerations. These are undeniably important to get you to your destination in a calm frame of mind but I think it is important to plan for when you get there too. When I go to India I always plan to have a taxi pick me up from the airport so I can be unpacked and on the beach by midday. It is a wonderful feeling to be sitting in the shade of a shack on the beach, chatting to old friends with a cold drink so soon after landing, knowing that so many people on the same flight are still at the airport waiting for their coach to leave or are still on the journey to their hotel. It feels as if I get a whole extra day of holiday – bliss.

There are advantages to planning what to do and where to go while you are there. I like to have an idea of familiar places I would like to revisit, people I want to catch up with, new places I fancy exploring all listed and put into a very flexible schedule. This allows me the luxury of ensuring that I can fit in all the important visits (important to me, that is) and gives me the flexibility to take advantage of unexpected opportunities and invitations that may come my way because I know whether I can slot them into the schedule and I know which trips or visits I can move and reschedule to accommodate them.

Maybe you have already had your annual holiday for this year. Marvellous, I hope you had a great time. Where did you go? Did you manage to do everything you wanted to do, or are there still places you want to visit and sights you want to see? Are you planning to visit that destination again? What did you miss out on and why? How could you fit more into your next visit?

If you haven't already had a holiday this year and you haven't got one booked where would you like to go if you were able to take a holiday anywhere in the world?
Why would you choose this destination?
What would you do while you were there?
Where would you stay and how would you feel?
I want you to did deep and excavate the core essence of the holiday you would choose.
Would it be an activity holiday, a country holiday, a city break or a beach holiday?
Why would you choose an activity holiday?
What is the core reason?
What feeling would you get from it?
If you would choose a beach holiday ask why – what is it that you feel you would get from it?
What is it about a country holiday that you like?
What makes you choose a city break? The buzz, the theatres, the restaurants or something else?
Now, stop and think about how you could get that essence without leaving home, or without going away to stay.
How much better would life be if you could get a few hours or a day a week of that core holiday feeling by planning it into your week? How great would it be to know you can look forward to a bit of holiday feeling every week of the year instead of just for two weeks?
I know that a complete break for a couple of weeks can be wonderfully restorative, but if it isn't possible there are two choices – to moan about your lack of holiday and become more stressed or make the most of the free time you do have to explore new places nearer to home and enjoy the relaxed feeling of a holiday on a more regular basis.

This really can work. A couple of years ago I went to Glastonbury with a friend. It was a place I had wanted to visit for some time but just hadn't prioritised. We went on a Saturday in September and didn't leave particularly early so we didn't arrive until about 1pm. I had packed a picnic, so we ate as soon as we arrived then we began exploring. It was quite magical. In the space of about five hours we browsed round the shops, took a bus to the Tor and climbed to the top, returned to the town and looked round the Abbey and then had a drink in a pub. It was relaxed and interesting – an unexpected treat in the middle of a busy schedule. The weather was fine and the sun was magnificent as we looked round the Abbey. We left at about six in the evening and stopped on the way back for a meal. It felt as if we had been away from home for days and I felt really relaxed and indulged when I returned to work on Monday morning.

So why not make a list of all the places you might like to visit in the local area and see how many of them you can visit over the course of the summer? The website www.enjoyengland.com has a wide variety of ideas, attractions, activities and destinations to suit all ages and interests. You may discover some real gems that become firm favourites. Then plan them into your schedule. If you don't write them in your diary the chances are that you won't prioritise the time. Your wellbeing is important – "You know you're worth it".

The same principles can be applied to having children home from school for several weeks. I know not everyone finds it easy, especially if you aren't able to have much time off but if you split the time so there are some days at home when friends come round, some days out to the beach, cinema or visiting friends and some family days and maybe a few days when you share child care with friends to give each of you some free time it is surprising how quickly and happily the summer passes.

I know many people take their children out of school to go on holiday in term time when prices are lower. I also know that schools take a very dim view of this practice and I know of one family that has been reported to the local education authority because they have done it on more than one occasion. Personally , and I speak as an ex-teacher, I really can't see a problem as long as it doesn't clash with exams. Children learn so much from a holiday – they learn social skills, they learn about other cultures and they can have the opportunity to make geography real and personal. They often get the opportunity to handle money and count change and make decisions about what to spend when they go abroad that they aren't often able to do at home so it helps their maths as well. It is sometimes the only opportunity the family has to spend a block of time together because increasingly parents work long hours, so they get the chance to renew the relationship with their parents in a relaxed setting. I dare say that I will get a lot of criticism from head teachers for voicing my opinion but all the time holiday companies make it prohibitively expensive for families to go abroad in school holidays parents will continue to holiday in term time. Given the opportunity I suspect that a lot of teachers would do the same!

There is a lot of talk about everyone's "carbon footprint" and how holidays can increase it. I am not going there today, it is a huge and contentious issue. It is the holiday season – enjoy it in any way you can. Take time to relax and explore new places and new experiences whenever the opportunity arises. If the opportunity doesn't seem to be arising then give it a helping hand! Enjoy 'now' as often as you can, live in the moment, but plan for future fun and inject the holiday feel into your life whenever you can – go to the park and have an ice cream after dinner or take a barbecue or picnic tea to the beach after work one day when the weather is glorious. I'd love to hear about your inventive ways to inject a bit of holiday fun into a working week.

Sue Courtney is a Personal Success Coach and Stylist. She can be contacted by email at: sue@successandimagecoach.co.uk or by phone on 01730 814439