Need a Reason to Get Away? Here You Go!

Posted byLisa at Micro of the MacroPosted inBeauty of Nature, Health & Well-Being, Psychological Health, TravelTags:, , , , , , , , , , ,
All photos in this post were snapped in California (I must do better at photographing the beach/ocean when in Florida!)

Do you remember vacations as a kid?  I can recall living for vacations.  My family would always go to the Gulf of Mexico and stay in a motel on Florida’s Panhandle.  We traveled to Flarda, as it’s pronounced in the South, to swim, lie in the sun, play in the surf, and deep sea fish.  My mom and grandma would prepare snacks and sandwiches when we went inside for a break from the heat.  Thinking back, I can still feel the crunch of sand under my feet as I walked barefoot inside the cool, dimly-lit room.  Anticipating those summer Nature escapes helped me through the humdrum of the school year.  Turns out, they were even better for me and my family than I could have imagined.

As I got older, things changed, and vacations became less frequent.  That seems to be the case for many of us.  The Center for Economic & Policy Research calls the US the No-Vacation Nation, referring to the fact that about 25% of American workers have no paid time off, and many who do are reluctant to take it due to workplace pressures.  I am well acquainted with that feeling from past positions – I even worked while eating lunch!

Not honoring our need to get away, however, can have dire consequences.  A study from the World Health Organization & the International Labour Organization reveals that working 55 or more hours per week is associated with an estimated 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, compared to working 35-40 hours a week.  In 2016, according to their estimates, 745,000 deaths were attributed to longer working hours.  Yikes!

A Pub Med meta-analysis states vacation has positive effects on health and well-being, but these effects soon fade after work resumption.  Therefore, frequent mini-breaks should be considered, like long weekends camping at a State Park or even a single day away to hike or bike a new area.  

Vacations can improve mood and reduce stress by removing people from the activities and environments that they associate with stress and anxiety, according to this article citing various studies.  Further, vacationing improves productivity and increases happiness; a win-win for employer and employee.

A write-up in the Journal of Positive Psychology asserts meditation and vacation may have overlapping effects, providing multiple pathways to boosts in mindfulness.  If you’ll recall my past post on mindfulness, I shared that this state of awareness is shown to bolster immune function, decrease chronic pain, and can help improve behavior in children due to enhanced emotional regulation.

Once we’ve returned from our glorious getaway, we feel more overall life satisfaction as a result of our detachment from work, relaxation, and mastery experience during vacation, a paper from the University of Massachusetts sets forth.  The last bit of that statement refers to our tendency to try something new while away – wind surfing, snow boarding, or simply exploring a new area to learn about its history or topography.  

Vacationing benefits your head, heart, life satisfaction, and longevity.  Making a regular plan to escape the everyday and enjoy the delights of Nature can have surprisingly positive impacts on you and your family.

Blessings for Time Away,

Lisa

The content of this article is for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult with a qualified health care professional before acting on any information presented herein. Any statements about the possible health benefits of any subject discussed have not been evaluated by medical professionals or the Food & Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or illness.

80 thoughts on “Need a Reason to Get Away? Here You Go!”

  1. Pingback: ReBlogging ‘Need a Reason to Get Away? Here You Go!’ – Link Below | Relationship Insights by Yernasia Quorelios

  2. My parents never had a lot of money and so we used to spend our summers (9 weeks off school) at my Gran’s house near Manchester in northern England. This entailed travelling by overnight ferry from Belfast to Heysham then a train to Manchester and then a double-decker bus to her house! We did that every year from a very early age until I was 13-14 years of age. There were always lots of visits to aunts and uncles, also to the seaside, and all by train or bus, and such happy days they were and your post just brought all those memories flooding back! 😊🙋‍♂️

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    1. Hi, Ashley, I’m happy to hear my post brought back sweet memories! I appreciate you sharing your experience. You must have been very comfortable with public transportation by the time you were a young adult! Wishing you & your wife the best kind of weekend. 🌞

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  3. Can definitely relate to this post. I spent 31+ years in a high stress job with coworkers and customers all over the world which meant meetings and issues day and night. Always appreciated the attempts to get away from it all (although inevitably the work calls would invade the tranquility). Clearly a toll over the years, but now at a point where I’ve been able to escape completely and enjoy a permanent vacation. I do think the workforce is changing, more individuals are realizing the benefits of temporary “get aways”.or even sabbaticals .. just don’t know yet the long term impacts that change will have on the workers (likely working longer ornot on as strong of a financial foundation etc) as well as the employers. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. I can still remember returning to work with a certain emotional distance where I couldn’t understand the urgency of my peers in accomplishing tasks that were not inherently urgent. By the next day I had joined them in that state. I am retired now.

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    1. Hi, BettyJean, good to see you. Yeah, I can remember returning to work after a week away and feeling resentment from others. And maybe I felt that as well when others were gone, if I had to pick up their slack. Anyhoo, glad that’s over for both of us! 🌞

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      1. You’re soooo welcome Lisa.. it’s always great and inspiring. MEEEE too. I have a line on Cabo from and friend/client where I can stay as a guest. and do almost nothing yay.. fingers crossed. You have a great one too. 💖

        Liked by 1 person

  8. As evil as this sick human race gets; God’s magnificent beauty in His creation cannot be masked out!
    The light will overcome the darkness and sooner rather than later I pray!
    I would like to get away; but really get away, as in to heaven completely away from this mostly shameless insane world that the human race is making it! ✝️🕊🙏 🌞

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      1. 🌞Hey how are you doing Lisa! Absolutely a great truth that you offer here to anyone who now living in this tumultuous world these days while of course having to cope with some of the harshest realities in history! I agree, and I will say my faith has kept me going and literally saved my physical life more than a few times over the years, also as well my sanity. But, part of that coping mechanism at work in me is God’s magnificent diverse and abundant beauty of the natural world He has created not for it to just be there without purpose but for His children, to survive on many levels both physically and mentally!

        I offer these words here from one of the few scientists I truly admire as a human being not just for the scientific discoveries and knowledge he presented to the world; that one man we’ve all heard of, Albert Einstein.

        I think even though his head was immersed in the world of science and theories he had a keen insight into God’s presence and reality like few people can achieve with our limiting cognitive faculties.; and his respect and love of God was present and genuine; therefore we can say God will judge accordingly, I know for myself Einstein was a good and respectful soul in this world, so I do wish him well.

        “The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling is at the centre of true religiousness.”
        -Albert Einstein – “The Merging of Spirit and Science”

        I do see how appreciating the intrinsic God quality in nature and for me the things that grow and animals, all life; are a daily incentive to hang on and always try my best to seek God and do His will, for me to make the best of life just one more day until the next one comes; then there are plenty of the same and more incentives to keep going!

        I will say sadly it’s not people for the most part that give me this zest or enthusiasm over all to hang in there, because for me too many were selfish or actual backstabbers, a disappointment, and so I tend to not be as gregarious and open to just about anyone as I once was as a kid or even young adult; it’s now as the expression goes, “keep at arm’s length,” or further these days! But, I still love good people and they come into my life here and there; it’s just that I don’t think I can depend on them, so I don’t count on them for much of anything; only, God and of course nature that he created never lets me down!

        So once again thank you for giving me a bright spot in the day’s thoughts with this; and other similar past offerings! Amen.
        ✝️🕊🙏 🌞
        Take care Lisa, and have a beautiful weekend and upcoming week!🌞

        Brother in Christ Jesus,
        Lawrence

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      2. Wow, Lawrence, thank you for sharing your heart. I’m so happy my post was a bright spot for you! I, too, am a big fan of Einstein. The reason I like him so much is for the same reason I like Dr. Zach Bush so much: he’s not only brilliant, but very spiritual. It sounds as though you might be struggling, my friend. I wish you many blessings. 🌞

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      3. 🌞 Thank you Lisa and keep your heart and everything real! We are in for big struggles and hell on earth up ahead; too many people were asleep at the wheel for too many years wishing things away or saying let somebody else do something! Now too little too late; but this perspective on all of creation and our bountiful world has much resilience and no care what fools are doing it still shines like the sun and will until the end! Yea those guys have a deeper and cleaner real perspective on our short lives in this amazing creation and so they spoke well and some do now but so much it being ignored and twisted for agendas that are all bad!
        Thanks for the good thought and hang in there doing your best it pays off in the end!
        The light and truth will prevail no matter what happens with civilization. 🌞

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  11. Great post Lisa 💕🌸 and a great reminder of vacationing benefits. I could previously, before the pandemic often do those much needed breaks. I’m ‘working’ towards getting there again and taking those much needed vacations.

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  13. We didn’t have a lot of money but my dad always believed in taking vacations. We would go for one or two weeks and then when he was doing a little better, we would go for three weeks. We went all over the United States by car. For some time we would go down to Florida every year or two and go to Sanibel Island, staying in cottage where Mom fixed our meals because we couldn’t go out to eat all the time. We also went all over the southwest. One of my favorite memories is of leaving so early that we would get to the stoplight by our house and no one else would be there. I inherited that love for travel and vacations. 🥰

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  14. Wonderful post!!! 🙂 There is nothing like getting away from it all and a change of scenery. In addition to mini vacays, I think it is good to plan some mini-moments into your day or evening as well where you relax. It is so easy to get caught up in everything. Another thing that is wonderful is the ‘planning stage’ of vacations where it is fun to read up on what you will be doing. When you return from a vacation, they say you should extend it when you get home. You can put together a scrapbook of your memories, or fix a meal or cocktail that you had on vacation. Just thinking about an upcoming weekend or trip can be beneficial. You are dreaming and planning about something happy! 🙂 Even if you must postpone travel for the moment, a ‘staycation’ is better than nothing at all. We sometimes forget that even in our own backyard, there is happiness to be found. My husband and I have taken vacations together without the children, with the children as they were growing up, and with our grown children now. So many happy memories!

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    1. Hi, Linda, these are such great ideas. I love, love, love planning for vacation. And of course, sharing the photos we took while away. I also love when experiences stick. For example, a few years ago, we went to the Jersey Shore & I learned to make the perfect margarita from our bartender. So each time I share the secret with someone, I give him credit! Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful comment! 🌞

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  17. I love to go on vacation as well and all of my fondest childhood memories are from vacations. Making time for vacations and family time was a huge factor in deciding to start my own business so that I can have the flexibility to make my own schedule. Great post! Plus, I love the photos!

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  19. You’re right as we grow older vacation become less frequent. I remember my childhood vacation that had no any stress and free from any work deadlines. But now, I think I need to reconsider those vacations. I have to take time off, not because I have to, but because it’s a human right.
    Thanks Lisa for sharing such a great insights.

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  20. The coastline in California is absolutely gorgeous as well as the redwoods! I think that for our health we need to get away from the everyday chores and escape even if it is just for a day trip. That is one of the reasons I started by http://www.GypsyRoadTrip.com travel blog so people could have some local ideas of where to escape for a day.

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  22. The no-vacation nation would be wise to abandon that title. It’s always good to see and experience things from someone else’s vantage point if if it’s just different geology. It just might inform those who need it the most. 😉 Have a great weekend!

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  24. Now is the time to be thinking of the benefits of travel as we finally see some resolution to the pandemic. But I think you have to distinguish here between a vacation that serves as a nice relaxing getaway vs. a trip which can be a more forced and programmed affair like a wedding or a funeral.

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  27. Pingback: Need a Reason to Get Away? Here You Go! – JESUS M SOLIS M

  30. YES for vacations/long weekends/mini breaks … that’s what keeps one sane (and happy)! And afterwards, you have so many beautiful pictures to look at (like yours) ☺️ … beautiful memories created and invigorated!

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