We are coming up to one of the biggest events in the year. Every year we spend hour upon hour thinking, planning, strategising and working out logistics. We spend more time planning this event than any other - we are of course talking about Christmas.

But it's not just presents we need to buy, wrap and label. Most of us will also be spending some time on the road during this holiday period, and I bet you have everything planned down to the last minute detail.

• What clothes are you taking?
• Have you filled up the fuel tank?
• Have you got the food ready?
• What presents are you taking for the folks?
• Who is travelling with you
• What time are you leaving?
• When are you getting back?
• Who is looking after the house and the cat whilst you are away?
• Do you need to pay any bills before you go?

It is the same for everyone, and I bet you thought you weren't any good at planning an event, let alone a road trip. You see the distance doesn't matter. the planning is the same. The logistics will be slightly different for each trip you make, but the planning and preparation is essential. I mean we don't want to get to the end of the trip and discover we've left the presents on the kitchen table now do we? Err, that's a rhetorical question by the way.

Everyone will have a different way of planning their Christmas and their road trips / holidays. I use a series of spreadsheets. Who gets what - how much are we spending - what food do we need to get (that's different from the norm) etc etc.

Planning and preparation allows us a degree of control over what might be considered a very busy time. Those people who don't plan are the ones who are usually bleating at the end about how they never have the time to do what they need to do. So plan, prepare and lay the foundations for next year if you've left it a little too late this time around. We can all learn from our mistakes.