However hard you may strive to cultivate a lifestyle that is both productive and healthy, it seems there is always one element that has to be left out to make room for all the others. Perhaps you work hard, exercise well and take proper breaks – but you don’t have time to budget properly. Or maybe looking after kids, pets and the household does not leave you time to pursue the career of which you once dreamed.
Well, there’s one part of a productive and healthy lifestyle that is often presumed to be too expensive and time-consuming to remain very high on the priority list: vacation. But the good news is, if you use your imagination and other local resources you might have overlooked, it’s perfectly possible to get the benefits of a proper vacation without leaving town.
Travelling is important for both your work life and your personal well-being. Taking time off of work gives you a chance to recharge, to get a fresh perspective on your projects, and to lower your stress levels for a few days. It’s been shown that those who take proper vacations end up more productive than those who put in longer hours, for just these reasons.
But travel is expensive, and there are all sorts of things that get in the way. Maybe you genuinely can’t arrange to get away from the office for more than a day or two; or a member of your family is unable to travel for personal reasons. This needn’t be a reason to give up.
There are always new places in your locality to discover, for example by playing walking games (‘drifting’), augmented reality apps (Pokémon or Ingress) or by checking out what other people are photographing on Instagram. Cultivate your own photography project, and you’ll soon start seeing your town anew.
If leaving the house is a problem, try getting a taste of the exotic by cultivating a film night, meal or Spotify playlist (or all three at once!) around a different culture that you’re interested in. Life can get very samey when we rely on Hollywood to provide our entertainment. If there’s a part of the world in which you’ve always been interested but you can’t get there right now, do some research online and bring a little bit of it back home.
A new infographic from PoundPlace collects these and more ideas on how to create that vacation feeling without paying vacation prices. Take a look, see what works for you – and bon voyage!
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Nice points! Need to give 2nd a try :D
Sometimes it is about refreshing your perspective, and sometimes it’s about some small moments that make your experience wholesome. Travel need not always be about momentous moments, right? I wrote a little piece here about one such memorable experience in Sikkim – https://escapistpri.wordpress.com/2016/12/10/a-gift-from-a-monk/ . Do check it out. :)