I realized that I never fully finished choosing days off for next year. I know it’s only October, but our clinical schedule books WAY out. Thankfully, I had already identified days for the early part of the year but I’m glad I remembered that didn’t finish NOW rather than like . . . in the spring.
It forced me to think about what kinds of Big Rocks I want on our calendar next year. This is something I am very big about encouraging participants in my courses to do (both thinking through the upcoming year + the upcoming seasons, with different levels of detail) but the truth is that for many of us this needs to start well before Reflection Season!
I started by looking at my PL balance, since this is obviously a major limiting factor for me. Then I figured out when our ‘big things’ are. Currently, BIG ROCKS include:
- week in February — I had planned to take off all or part of this week for a PHL trip (visit family, some skiing, maybe even a BOBW meetup event) as both A & C have the week off
- spring break — this will be just half the week (we want to be home for Passover w fam) but will be a Disney trip with my niece and my sister! Excited to experience Disney through fresh eyes and I think this will be really fun for everyone.
- summer — HAWAII. OMG. It’s happening! I had thought of this 20th anniversary trip as “so far away” for so long but . . . now it’s not. (I already have our hotels booked, just not flights yet. And yes, we are all going to celebrate not just Josh + me because it just makes sense.)
- Christmas 2026 week on call. Well, I was due I suppose! So, MAYBE we will go to Montana the week after, if it does not seem entirely fiscally irresponsible (this is why I am aiming to WORK HARD at my credit card points game next year.)
Smaller things I am excited about and would like to fit in, if time and finances allow:
- college friends trip! We really do love to get together yearly, so hopefully can make this happen over a weekend (or Thursday-Sat/Sun).
- couples trip (also probably a 3-4 day weekend, and one that does not revolve around a doctor’s appointment or race)
- Ariana Grande concert. She is coming to Miami in late June/early July and I really really want to go. At least 2 kids want to come too.
- Hoping to make it to my niece’s bday party (#6) and bring at least one kid with me
- A has at least one ‘far’ meet (States in Gainesville, in the spring) that we will likely all go to over a long weekend.
Work and work-adjacent rocks:
- PES – peds endo conference. Yes, the one I bailed on the past 2 years. I am determined to go next year.
- Likely one BOBW Summit (we try to do this yearly!) with Laura. (Often in FL, often in the colder months – I mean, we might as well be strategic about these things.)
- BLP Live: Planning 2027. YES 2027.
- Speaking engagements TBD?! Or stuff related to book launch? Nothing set in stone yet but some possibilities being tossed around, we will see (and I will definitely let you all know).
- Call weeks. Less glamorous/fun than any of the above, but very important to pay attention to.
Of course, I am also open to new and unexpected rocks that may be thrown in my direction but at this juncture I cannot plan around them as I don’t know what they are yet!
Learning from my mistakes, I asked for a few ‘buffer days’ off so that if opportunities come up I have some wiggle room. (I often will “unblock” them 2-3 months out and they have plenty of time to fill up.)
I actually am REALLY craving a calendar-making retreat with Josh so maybe we will have to figure out how to do one, maybe over Thanksgiving week.
Have you started looking at your 2026 Big Rocks yet? I don’t think I would start quite this yearly if I didn’t have to block my work schedule but then again January is under 2.5 months from now!
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I have started thinking about this but mostly because June promises to be zany over here. My pub date for my book is June 2. One of my very best friends in getting married on June 6 on the opposite coast and I truly wouldn’t miss it. And my oldest son will graduate from high school on June 20. Three big rocks in less than 3 weeks.
I am trying to get my husband to decide what to do for spring break. Either all 4 of us will go to DC for 3-4 nights to see my sister/sightsee, or I will just go with the oldest. He has until the end of the month to decide. I’m going to guess he will a pass on it as our youngest hasn’t quite reached the ‘easy to travel with’ stage yet…
Brandi Carlile is coming to Minneapolis 2/21 so I am for sure going to that! Beyond that, we have no other plans. We don’t travel much since the youngest is just not at a great age but someday that will change. I do need to block my cal for things – otherwise work travel will get scheduled. I like the idea of a couples trip but might try to talk my husband into a UT national park trip during the summer. It’s easy for my parents to watch them in the summer since they live on a lake. And then we don’t have to worry about school calendars. But we need to decide before we make camp decisions. I think we will always have the push/pull of me wanting to schedule and him wanting to ‘wait and see’… 🤪
Oh how fun Brandi!!! I am jealous and DC will be great either way!
I like the idea of planning in those anchor, or big rock events. 2026 is a year of uncertainty at the moment. I have finally finished my dual training and have a locum consultant contract for the lab and hopefully will be interviewing for a paeds endo job next month. Although the one big rock is my eldest is starting school so I guess if nothing else that will give me some definite dates I need to work around.
San Francisco for PES looks like a fun location!
You should come!!! And sounds like an exciting year ❤️❤️
It’s very tempting! Especially knowing you’ll be there <3
I’ve started thinking about it a little. I don’t have nearly as much going on as you do, but I have a big race planned in March. I would also like to do one in January, but that’s dependent on whether or not my daughter makes all state (which would require a trip to Tampa). I would also like to go visit my son again, but once again that depends on his schedule. The good news is, I can request days off as late as a month in advance- so I don’t have to decide everything right now.
So many rocks! My daughter’s bat mitzvah and resulting family trip (Israel pending security situation, otherwise Italy). 2 family weddings, 1 other family bat mitzvah (all involve travel). Sleep away camp was booked on Monday. Couples trip to Hawaii while they are away (also 20y!). Likely another college trip with my son (tbd on that, not sure where it fits in yet).
2026 promises to be a doozy. I’m supposed to be on sabbatical from January to July, but TBC. I have two funded projects, a secondment, and a book to write during this period. But we’ve also decided to move back to the city – we’re planning on putting the house on the market mid-January – for a April/May move? And there’s an election here early May – which is always a big work event for my husband and me.
Our travel plans include a 4 day Amsterdam trip (on the overnight ferry), a 14 day California trip at Easter (just me, T, and my dad to see my grandma, aunties, uncles, etc), and our normal Portugal trip over the summer. Although we might just send T depending where we are in the moving progress or just collapse in a heap somewhere.
I had to request my weeks for summer 2026 months ago. And my conference time has to be booked a year in advance too. We are horribly understaffed and it’s worse most other places. I will be lucky to be able to get to take all my days.
Hawaii was a big rock for us in 2025. You guys are going to have the best time!! TBH any big rocks in 2026 will pale in comparison for us. I do want to travel to see family though.
This is how i felt about our 2023 Alaska trip- nothing else measured up but that’s ok! I think hawaii will!
We only have 3 big known things on our calendar so far next year and 2 possible unknowns – my kids’ spring break is over Easter when my husband also has time off work so we’re going to do a ~5 day trip either to San Diego / Legoland with my mom or somewhere just the 4 of us. My son’s first reconciliation & first communion are this year so not travel, but 2 Saturdays we need to be here & keep clear! My 15 year college reunion is the last weekend in May (and covid cancelled my 10th) so I’m definitely going and the family is TBD. We are trying to get tickets for the World Cup with a big extended family group so that’s our huge unknown that could be anytime and anywhere in the States or CA from mid-June to mid-July. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll try our luck with Tyler Family camp this summer as recommended by BOBW listeners!
[…] I’m back from my trip. I’m ready to start planning for NaBloPoMo and beyond! Yesterday SHU did a post about her “big rocks” of 2026. She has to plan a lot farther in advance than […]
As a teacher I subconsciously have my eyes open for certain things that repeat year after year.
First week of November is NJ Educator Convention and all schools are closed. We have four days! Maybe NYC (from NJ it’s not far)
Thanksgiving week-four days off!
February break- three days.
Spring break – one week and change, want to go back to the Outer banks again.
Memorial day- usually three days but it could be five (if they give back the unused snow days).
Summer: two months.
I want to go to Russia to see my parents and this time the kids are coming with me.
Then, by way of Turkey, maybe spend a week or two in northern Italy to see the Dolomites+Venice+Milan. Maybe swing by Slovenia coast… Not sure, but it is still cooking in my brain…
The biggest block for us is to decide summer break. Sofia is likely to do summer camp in the US, to be decided where and how long, depending on that we plan our other trips. I also want to do either Galapagos or ski trip. Thinking about it, my most planning effort is placed for trips.
Our big rock is also going to be a Hawaii trip! We are pretty we will go to Maui and Kauai again (my husband and I went years ago and hands down my favorite trip ever) but still deciding on lodging!
We did a small one night trip recently and the hotel was a disaster – SO LOUD because the room next to us left the tv on all night even after we called the front desk and did a LOUD phone call at 12:30. So I am feeling a little down about committing $$$$ to a trip at the moment and thinking of doing a house rental on one island but obviously that’s a whole different kind of experience.
I usually don’t – and don’t have to – plan my days off for the next year in advance. I tentatively might make plans but I don’t have to submit time off requests that far in advance – which can be good and bad, I guess. Sometimes it would be nice to plan a little bit more ahead and enjoy the anticipation: )