This is Why You Need to Use Vacation Days and Travel
In this fast-paced world, it is sometimes difficult to justify taking time off of work. However, you are entitled to those days off, and in fact it is important that you take them. You feel better when you vacation and it will alleviate some of your daily work stress.
We all know that work is stressful. You have deadlines, ever higher expectations and responsibilities. While your career is an important part of your life, is should not consume you. In truth, work-induced stress affects your physical and mental health. You don’t eat properly when you are stressed ad you neglect regular exercise; this leads to obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. You also likely work long hours that contribute to heart disease when coupled with job-related stress. In fact, blue-collar workers are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease than white-collar workers because they have less control over their work environments. Job stress also leads to burnout and depression, which are also associated with heart disease, stroke, obesity, eating disorders, diabetes and some types of cancer.
Here are 2 ways that you can relieve some of this stress through taking a vacation.
1. You Need to Unplug to Improve Your Overall Well-Being
Work is stressful. You have deadlines, ever higher expectations, and responsibilities. While your career is an important part of your life, it should not consume you. In truth, work-induced stress affects your physical and mental health. You do not eat properly when you are stressed, and you neglect regular exercise; this leads to obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Obviously, working too much without a vacation is detrimental to your mental and physical health. You can help yourself leave work behind by using tools such as Thrive Away, an app that lets people who email you while you’re away know when you will return and then deletes the email. The benefit is that you will not have more stress when you return to work and see mountains of email waiting for you.
As you struggle to find a work-life balance, you need to leave your laptop and work phone at home when you are on vacation to maximize the health benefits of traveling. Simply having your smartphone with you on vacation inhibits you from fully benefiting from time off: one study found that merely being in the presence of a smartphone induces stress. You need to truly unplug in order to recharge and be able to give your full attention to yourself or your family while on vacation.
Plus, a vacation is a wonderful time to promote self-healing whether you are dealing with anxiety, depression, relationship stress, or addiction. Use this time to adjust your perspective and focus on making positive, healthy choices, one of which is this vacation. Make the most of it by choosing a destination with outdoor/wilderness-focused activities so you can really unplug and enjoy the mood boost and stress relief that being in nature provides. Bring your dog along too so that the two of you can enjoy the outdoors together away from life’s stresses.
3. Ensure Your Vacation Will be Stress-Free
The best way to combat job-related stress is to take a stress-free vacation. That means you need to do everything in your power to make your vacation go as smoothly as possible, from planning ahead, to leaving early for the airport, allowing time for traffic, and setting an automated email response so you can leave your work at the office. When you know your flight and hotel are booked, you packed appropriately for weather and potentially lost luggage, and you don’t have to rush on departure day, you will go into your vacation in the right frame of mind to allow yourself to relax and keep stress at bay.
You also can enjoy a stress-free vacation by choosing the correct destination for your situation. Any time you travel to a destination near a body of water, you put yourself on a path toward relaxation. Being near water calms your brain and senses and helps them recover from over-stimulation. You hear the sounds of the water and give yourself a quieter space to spend time in while also providing a calming visual of a horizon devoid of traffic, buildings, and crowds. Water promotes meditation and inspires mindfulness that reduces stress, relieves anxiety, pain, and depression, and improves mental clarity, focus, and sleep quality.
You also can relieve stress by taking part in watersports while traveling. Scuba diving, swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding, and surfing can be relaxing while giving you a chance to explore and learn. You’ll also get exercise that releases endorphins and improves your mood and helps you feel good. You can even take your vacation a step further by choosing a destination that focuses on fitness, such as Hilton Head Health, New Life Hiking Spa, and Momentum River Expedition. These vacations offer fun activities that will help you get fit, as well as healthy food options.
As you can see, using your vacation days is good for your mental and physical health by reducing some of your job-related stress, even for a short period of time. Then you can return to work re-energized and less stressed which can make you more productive at your job, and happier and healthier overall.
This blog post was written by Henry Moore. Henry believes travel can change you, and good health preserves you. He combines both in his work on FitWellTraveler. Another way to ensure that your vacation is stress-free is to hire a travel professional from Anywhere But Here Travel. Also, we are always open to featuring guest content on our website so please contact us if you have content you want to share with our audience.
