The time spent anticipating something belongs to the experience before the event begins.

Waiting for something is not dead time before the real thing. The weeks of imagining the trip, checking the forecast and planning what to pack are already part of what you are buying, and often the longest part. Judging an experience only by the day itself leaves most of it out.

Give the run-up its due instead of hurrying through it. Book a little further ahead than you need, talk about it, let the looking forward be enjoyable in its own right. And if a plan falls through, count the weeks of anticipation as something you genuinely had.