Travel

We all know that stress is bad for our health, yet we carry on doing the same routine 52 weeks of the year. Stress is known to deprive our body of vital nutrients; it raises blood pressure, creates fatigue and manifests itself in headaches or in skin allergies such as dermatitis. Taking a vacation is a small price to pay for our health and for a higher quality of life.

Getting away from work, home and routine is bliss. No telephone calls, no demands from family and friends, no list of jobs waiting to be done. The only way to enjoy a complete break is to get away from the home environment and go somewhere completely different. The opportunity to switch off is suddenly right there, and the tension begins to melt away.

A vacation gives you the chance to do what you really want to do. If you live in the city, a vacation means you can walk on the beach each morning before breakfast, find time to play tennis or go for long hikes in the peaceful countryside. Doing nothing on vacation generally means you have time to be more active. If the weather is hot, you may want to swim. If the surrounding area is rural you will not be able to resist exploring a little, on foot, by bicycle or even in a kayak rather than getting from A to B in the car as you usually do. It is a well known fact that physical activity boosts seratonin which lifts ‘the blues’ and makes us feel good. These activities are wonderfully invigorating and promote a healthy heart and lungs as well as a refreshed and positive mind. Nature certainly puts a smile of contentment on most faces, if we only have the time to ’stop and smell the roses’.

A vacation is good for family life too. Finding time to kick a football, teach new skills to our children or play a board game promotes and restores healthy relationships within the family. Who can put a price on that? All too soon the family has left the nest, but the memory of vacations will linger on, enriching their experiences and your memories. Traveling to new places, especially abroad is a great way to broaden the mind. Tackling a few phrases of a new language; sampling strange food and seeing new cultures is a wonderful stress-reliever and offers the chance to leave our routine cares behind and completely switch off. Even the journey can be part of the vacation if you plan it carefully. For road trips, plan to cover just a couple of hundred miles a day so that there is time to turn off and explore an interesting-looking place, a sign to a local attractionl, or a delightful-looking café.

Slowing down and listening to your own body as it unwinds and relaxes is a necessary part of a healthy lifestyle. With time for ourselves, often huge problems which swamped us at work or at home will fall back into perspective. If you have not already got a vacation planned, MAKE A RESOLUTION FOR YOUR OWN SAKE to take a break and start planning today. No guilt feelings is for your health, your family will thank you forever.There are plenty of excellent deals for vacations, especially at short notice, so start getting the health benefits of a vacation right now by having something to look forward to.

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