My buddy Donny is intent on taking a lengthy 6 month vacation to travel around the World… literally. He has all his destinations mapped out and is currently working on the details of costing. While his aspiration of conquering the circumference of the globe is a bit extreme, it got me to thinking about the considerable value a long, relaxing vacation adds to our lives. In a way, it allows us to step outside ourselves, invigorating our minds with fresh ideas and alternative passions. Sometime’s we lose perspective in the daily grind, completely forgetting who we are outside of the routine.
Here are the top 3 reasons why taking a vacation helps you lead a more productive life:
A Vacation Revitalizes Your Mind – The demanding events of our weekly routine can wear thin on the livelihood of our psyche. A worn down psyche means your mind isn’t processing information at its peak capacity. So, even though you feel busy, you aren’t being as productive as you could be. Completely removing yourself from the weekly routine by immersing your senses in unfamiliar activities and environments allows the overworked parts of your brain to relax, while simultaneously stimulating the unused corners of your mind.
A Vacation Sparks Creative Thought – The redundancy of a weekly routine prevents the mind from stretching its creative thought process beyond the barriers of your typical activities. Numerous physiologists have proven that taking a step away from your routine actually assists the mind in solving problems that exist within the routine. In other words, your mind can realize the solutions to various problems when you are not even concentrating on them. How does this occur? It has something to do with freeing your mind from the barriers that restrict creative thought, thus allowing you to think more clearly.
A Vacation Allows You to Be Yourself – It can be extremely difficult to completely let your guard down when you are caught up in the rapid pace of your weekly routine. Fear of getting behind schedule, or letting other people trample over you, usually takes precedence over all else. Thus, a constant tension exists that presses you to maintain a robust image. This usually prevents you from just being yourself. Vacations rid you of these external tensions and allow you to act independently of the iconic image you are constantly forced to uphold. Being yourself may not always be essential to the immediate tasks present in your routine, but it is absolutely vital to your long-term happiness. In the end, we must accept that our time on this planet is limited. Regardless of our accomplishments, if we are not content with our existence, we are not leading a productive life.
MG says
Good for Donny!
If he hasn’t picked up “Honeymoon with My Brother” he might find that read pushes him through any remaining obstacles in his quest.
Point #2 is right on – when your mind breaks free of habit, creativity comes about.
Go slow.
Marc says
MG,
Thanks for the tip on Honeymoon with My Brother. It sounds like an interesting book. I’ll have to pick it up some time. Also, I’ll pass the info along to Donny as well. 😉
Donny says
MG thanks for the tip!
Here is the complete 360:
Start in Orlando
to Iceland
to UK
to Amsterdam
to Paris
to Switzerland
to Rome
to Berlin
to Sweden (probably Stockholm)
to Moscow
to Tokyo
to Sydney
to Hawaii
to Vancouver
to San Francisco
to Orlando
Anyone have any experiences in any of these locations? It would be a first in all of them for me.
Donny
suka says
Paris! Steer clear and save your money! They don’t treat people from the states with a bit of respect!