Have you ever returned from vacation more tired and stressed than before you left? You may have to reevaluate your approach to your vacation!
The purpose of a real vacation (and no, working from home during vacation does not count as vacation) is to relax and refresh your mind and body from the stresses of everyday life.
Managing stress is very important to staying healthy as stress is known to increase the risk of everything from headaches to serious medical conditions such as heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes, and more. Even when you’re dealing with everyday stress, it’s important to take the opportunity to decompress for extended periods and give your body and mind a well-deserved reset.
Here are some strategies you can use to make your next vacation more relaxing while you search a property.
Your to-do list shouldn’t get too long while you’re on vacation. Scheduling activities is fine, of course, but be sure to include plenty of free time on your schedule. This is important for several reasons:
1.- A relaxing schedule
It allows you to improvise if you discover a new activity you want to pursue.
It creates room to move around, so unexpected delays and detours do not destroy the entire route.
Downtime is a valuable resource – use enough time left between scheduled spaces to sit still and read a book or take a nap! Few things are as relaxing as a nap without being constricted.
Do not forget to include the entire vacation period, including travel time, in your schedule. If you’re leaving town on vacation, give yourself a day or two at home between work and travel, both before and after your trip. You need some time to make some final preparations before your trip, as well as unpack and rest a bit after your trip before returning to your daily routine.
2. Create a realistic budget
Make sure your vacation is affordable. It seems obvious, but it’s easy to look at the costs of transport and accommodation and forget about other costs that arise during your vacation. Research well in advance the costs of travel, accommodation, meals, tourist activities, souvenir purchases, and other expected expenses. Also, build an extra seat for unplanned expenses – you may realize you’ve forgotten your bathing suit and need to buy one upon arrival, spontaneously opt for a guided tour of the area or (hopefully not) luggage or hotel.
If you prepare a budget with some buffer for unexpected costs, you will not create stress every time you have to reach for your wallet. In addition, knowing what activities you can afford will help meet the expectations of your family and your own.
3.- Get away from work
It’s hard to relax when you always have one eye on emails or other reminders of your daily chores. Before your vacation, plan to delegate work so that it does not derail your vacation. Set your out-of-office message to your work email address (and even your email address if you use it at work) and leave a contact that people can reach if their message needs urgent attention. The most ideal vacation is one where you can turn off the “working self” before returning, but it’s not a realistic option for everyone.
If you can’t completely cut off work-related communication, set a limit on the amount of time you spend working each day. If that time has passed and you receive another email, you can reply tomorrow. Alternatively, you can spend time each day, specifically checking your work e-mail – let’s say for 30 minutes each afternoon you will be browsing your inbox, answering whatever is important and then putting your work off again for the rest of the evening.
4. Take a relaxed mindset with you
One of the most important things to remember is that de-stress will not happen magically just because you are in a new environment. When planning your vacation, start creating a relaxing mental space. Be prepared for things you can control, but remind yourself that there will be unexpected events and schedule changes – and that’s okay. Practice developing a mindset where you can roll with the blows and adapt to whatever your vacation brings each day. Putting extra pressure on yourself to relax creates additional stress that is counterproductive.
Take the time to relax, leave stress at the office and let yourself be pampered in paradise.
If you want to schedule a travel to see properties in Cancun, see you soon in paradise!
