A Lazy ‘Stay Vaca’ Was Exactly What I Needed And I Highly Recommend It
In our country, it’s rare that we use all of our personal days and vacation time each year. And we should! Most of us are overworked and stressed out and taking time for ourselves is usually at the bottom of our to-do list. Beginning on December 25 until January 3, I took a totally lazy stay at home vacation. It was so what I needed.
Traveling isn’t something I do often. I rarely have the funds to go on a cool vacation and unfortunately, with my weak immune system, flying isn’t great for me. As a general rule, I’ll go to the beach with my girls for a long weekend every summer and that’s all I do. This March I’m going on the ‘Monsters of Rock Cruise’ with one of my best friends. It will be the first ‘real’ vacation I’ve had in 8 years. I had to take out some cash from a 401 K to go on the trip, but I deserve it damnit!
Over the last week, I stayed at home with my dogs, and I have to tell you it was a smart thing for me to do. Although I’m not a doctor or mental health professional, I must say that unplugging from the world is helpful mentally and physically. For the first three days I was off, I slept. A lot. It’s funny how when you’re going through your day-to-day life, you don’t realize how tired you are! I bummed around in sweatpants, watched TV, and ate gingerbread cookies.
All of us have things at home that need to be taken care of. There are always chores to do. While on vacation, I did clean the house twice, I did some grocery shopping and errands, went out for drinks with the girls, and saw my parents. That’s about it. The rest of the time I played silly word games on my phone and limited my time online and on social media.
Learning From Doing Nothing
Mentally, I feel a lot better after a week of nothingness. Phil and I rarely discuss serious topics on our show, but while searching the internet for fun and interesting things to talk about, we’re subjected to all the horrors of the world. All of us are on a daily basis! There’s no way you can go online without seeing horrible news. This affects your mental health. At least it does for me. Technology is great but I must admit that I miss the days of NOT knowing everything. Reading and seeing sad and horrible stories can be so depressing. Taking a break was good for me.
Mental health issues can cause physical health issues. If you’re a Gen Xer like me, you were taught to work hard and be loyal. A great work ethic can take you a long way, but I’ve found that being loyal to a job in lieu of your health is BS. If you have vacation time, use it! Using that time to just focus on yourself is worth it! As I’m getting older, I’m realizing that the only person that can really take care of me, is ME. Don’t feel guilty about using your time. Don’t feel guilty about taking time for yourself, to do whatever it is you want to do. Eat what you want, erase negative thoughts, and just be happy doing you for a few days. You’re worth it! And you’ll feel so calm and centered.
