Taking regular vacations is essential for maintaining your mental health, allowing yourself breaks, giving yourself space to rest, and taking time to step back and enjoy your life. And for creatives in the workplace especially, vacations are absolutely necessary to give you new inspiration and help to refresh your mind to find your flow state again. Research by Mark Rosekind of Alertness Solutions showed that a restful vacation can increase an employee's performance by 80%. If we can find more time to rest, we will actually be more productive in our workplace.
I recommend putting something in the books every three months. It’s enough time to give you some time to plan for what you need to get done before but also allows you something close enough to look forward to. Something to look forward to gives everyone a little more motivation and excitement when going into work.
Tips for planning your next vacay:
Figure out your budget.
Ask yourself: how much do you want to spend for the excursion? (And, be sure to factor in the meals and activities you plan to enjoy once you get there!)
Decide how far you are going.
Do you want to stay local, travel to a new state, or take it international?
Decide where you are staying.
Is it an Airbnb, hotel, or a friend’s house?
Decide how you are getting there.
Are you flying, road tripping, or maybe cruising there?
Decide the duration of the trip.
Is it a weekend getaway, a long stay, will there be days for travel recovery from jet lag, or days for road tripping?
Decide who is going with you.
Inviting friends and family can make the cost go down and leave you extra money to spend on food and fun! But make sure they are reliable and won’t bail on plans the day before. And if you are taking a long road trip, definitely consider if you think 20+ hours in the car will threaten your friendship.
Decide what you want to do there.
You can either plan to not plan aka be spontaneous once you arrive OR you can do some research, look through Pinterest boards, and jot down the Top 5 places you want to see or things you want to do. And any unique restaurants you want to try.
Wait expectantly for a great adventure!
It doesn’t have to be stressful, but if it is, the payoff is definitely worth the short-term suffering!
If planning stresses you out, do something short term. Rent an Airbnb for a weekend you are free and get out of town! Pick a place for dinner when you get there and walk around to see what the area has to offer. You often won’t have to wander far to get your next spontaneous, unplanned idea!
Take care of yourself and take more vacations.