Do You Need a Vacation (or Staycation)?
It is likely safe to say that everyone loves a good vacation. While our ideal vacation preferences certainly vary, intentional time for relaxation, pleasure, and socialization is an important factor in our health and quality of life. Many of our daily lives involve long working hours, taking care of family members, and other stress inducing events that make it easy to put our own physical and mental care on the back burner. This fact is exactly why we believe it is important to consider taking intentional time for yourself, whether it be a full on get-away or a relaxing staycation. We will cover the emotional and physiological benefits of vacation as well as tips so you can consider how you might schedule in time for yourself.
Research shows that vacation time does indeed have a positive effect on health. Studies showed that participant’s mood, energy-levels, and life satisfaction increased during the time of their vacation. These effects are likely the result of the release of obligations usually present, like work, childcare, etc., that then allowed participants more leniency in their sleep schedule, daily activities, and interactions — all the things usually associated with taking a vacation. One important thing to note is that the results of several studies concluded that the positive health effects of vacation is often short lived, meaning that once normal obligations resume, many return to feeling like they had prior to taking the vacation.
What we can learn from these results is that when facing a heavy load of life stress, taking a vacation can physically and emotionally help us heal and allow our bodies to begin regaining its normal functions that can resume when stress is lifted. As mentioned earlier, sleep is improved during a vacation due to more time and decreased stress, but it is possible that many of our other bodily functions that are affected by stress to have a chance to resume normal function in the absence of stress such as digestion.
There are several factors to consider when planning a dedicated time for self-care, relaxation, and joy:
Will you stay home or go somewhere else? Either staying or going away can both be beneficial vacation time depending on your personal goals. If you’re just looking for some time off work but don’t necessarily want to go anywhere else or spend money on lodging away from home a staycation may be your best bet. If you’re looking to get time away from a certain environment and work, going somewhere else may be what you need. Keep in mind safety when traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
What should you do? Again, the choice depends on the specific goals of your time. Planned time may be better for someone who is looking for more structure or adventure, or taking specific time to accomplish something specific aside from their normal duties. A schedule free vacation may be beneficial for someone who normally has a rigid schedule and wants time to do things as they feel called instead of meeting a deadline. We recommend taking time while planning to determine what you want to gain for yourself. It may be as simple as feeling more relaxed, or getting more sleep.
How long? The length of time of your vacation ultimately depends on the availability of time you have to be away from your present duties. Some people’s employers have a given amount of vacation they can take for the year or maybe your time depends on how long you can get childcare. Whatever the case, determining the amount of time you will take for vacation should be a factor of what amount of time YOU personally need to accomplish the goals you have for yourself for the vacation and how much time you have or can afford to take.
We noted previously that the beneficial health effects of vacation have been shown to dissipate quickly after returning or ending. Instead of throwing all of that vacation goodness out the window, we recommend trying to keep one of the positive effects you gleaned from your vacation and apply it to your daily life. Of course it may be difficult, as concluded by the study, most do not retain the beneficial effects likely due to resuming one’s previously busy schedule, but it may be possible to treat one healthy improvement you took away from your vacation as a new habit you are trying to implement, such as getting a full 8 hour night sleep. This certainly takes time and effort, but they pay-off for your health is tremendous. Our next blog will discuss the best ways to help a new habit stick.
PIM wants to hear from you! What recent vacations have you taken? Do you find this article helpful? Share your thoughts in the comments below or on our Facebook and Instagram!
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Sources:
Chen, C. C., & Petrick, J. F. (2013). Health and wellness benefits of travel experiences: A literature review. Journal of Travel Research, 52(6), 709-719.
De Bloom, J., Geurts, S. A., Taris, T. W., Sonnentag, S., de Weerth, C., & Kompier, M. A. (2010). Effects of vacation from work on health and well-being: Lots of fun, quickly gone. Work & Stress, 24(2), 196-216.
De Bloom, J., Kompier, M., Geurts, S., De Weerth, C., Taris, T., & Sonnentag, S. (2008). Do we recover from vacation? Meta-analysis of vacation effects on health and well-being. Journal of Occupational Health, 0812090045-0812090045.
Strauss-Blasche, G., Reithofer, B., Schobersberger, W., Ekmekcioglu, C., & Wolfgang, M. (2005). Effect of vacation on health: moderating factors of vacation outcome. Journal of travel medicine, 12(2), 94-101.