When we are planning trip it is natural to want to pack in as much fun stuff as possible—this is especially true if you only take that one big vacation a year or possibly even less often. But, the enthusiasm to see and do it all can leave you exhausted, and turn your enjoyable trip into an experience rife with stress, rushing around and ‘’checklist mentality’’ where you just move from one activity to the other without savoring any of it.
- Tips to Take a VacationThomas Hawk / Foter.com / CC BY-NC
Here are some tips to have a great vacation that will not leave you feeling like you need another one.
Spend More Time in Fewer Locations
Anyone with a love of travel has a desire to rack up the list of visited locations and see as many places as possible. If we are honest with ourselves, it is really an ego thing—we want to impress people with our tales of all the cool places we saw. But, if simply adding some more notches to your travel belt is your main motivator, you are missing out on the true benefits of travel and you will likely wear yourself out in the process. Instead of spending a good chunk of your vacation on trains, planes and buses to ensure you visit as many places as possible, trim your itinerary a bit and spend more time in fewer places. You will get to know the area better, have more time to actually do and see things and it will be a much more relaxing experience. You can always go back again in the future.
Only Do the Things You Want to Do
Most vacation destinations are going to have a large variety of activities and places to see—you may feel like you are missing out if you do not hit all of them– and this can make for a very stressful trip as you pack each day to the brim with organized tours, or you insist on hitting each church or other landmark listed in a city’s guidebook. You heard a lot about this beautiful waterfall, but if you really could not care less about seeing it, do not subject yourself to the 4-hour bus ride required to get there just because it is considered a ‘’must-see’’. If boat tours are the big thing to do, but you hate them and get seasick, do not subject yourself to hours of physical discomfort because you feel you should partake in one of the location’s signature offerings.
Take Some Time to Just Soak Things In
This third tip is somewhat related to the previous one. When on vacation, you may feel pressure to always be doing something, whether it is photographing a city’s famous sites, going on some sort of tour or partaking in some sort of activity. Of course you want to do things and get to know the area—you did not come on vacation to just sit in a hotel room and watch television. But, you also came to relax and unwind—if your itinerary is making you feel stressed and rushed much like you may feel in your everyday life back home, you need to tweak some things. It is okay to just sit in the park and watch the locals do their thing or sit at the outdoor café and just let life pass you by.
Kelli Cooper is a freelance writer who enjoys sharing tips on making your vacations great; if you are vacationing in the great state of Nebraska, check out the Quality Inn Hotel and Conference Center in Grand Island Nebraska for quality accommodations at a great price.
I know what you mean in the third tip, and sometimes is hard to find the balance in really getting to know and enjoy the place without getting stressed. There are too many things to do in a few days, tours to take, museums, restaurants, parks, taking pictures, sometimes it gets overwhelming.
These are some really good tips as I always feel like I need some time to relax as soon as I get back form any vacation that we take.
it really sucks coming back from a vacation feeling tired, and it almost always goes that way, that is cause we all want to make the most out of it but in the end we get tired and stressed as you say. In my opinion it is worth it to spend a little more so time wont be too tight and alternate activities, leaving the morning or the afternoon to take an hour or two just to lay and read on the beach for example.