Why You Need to Set Stress Aside While on Vacation 

All opinions are mine and mine alone.

Why You Need to Set Stress Aside While on Vacation 

Are you a digital nomad? Even if you don’t regularly work from anywhere and everywhere, having access to just about everything 24/7 has made even vacations stressful. It’s too tempting to answer an email while at brunch or scroll through social media when you should be making the most of your time off. Minimizing stress while on vacation extends from a service check for your car to committing yourself to decrease the time spent staring at your phone. Understanding where stress comes from is the first part of creating a memorable vacation.  

There are many reasons you should minimize stress on a daily basis, but why is it so important on vacations? Here are a few reasons you should spend time before your getaway understanding what stressors you have in your life and how to put them on hold: 

Stress will make itself the star of your vacation. If you’re constantly worrying about something, that will be what you remember most about the vacation. For example, maybe you’ve become a little obsessed finding the absolute best restaurants for every meal. Food is a big part of a vacation for many, but if you’re spending hours on your phone checking out reviews, that’s what your vacation will become. It will overshadow even the best meal. Take a chance and choose a restaurant that’s convenient or simply looks enticing as you walk past it. 

Your health will suffer. Stress can affect your health in several ways. It can lead to a higher heart rate, insomnia, and even heighten depression and anxiety. None of these situations are conducive to a relaxing vacation. Every vacation, no matter what the planned activities are, should be relaxing in some aspect. However, if you’re stressed out, that’s going to impact every other part of your bodily health, too. 

You might not get a chance to relax for a while. People are working longer and more. Bosses are asking employees to “check in” while on vacation, and a lot of people are saving their holiday hours for non-vacation things (such as family obligations). A vacation is a rare and well-deserved treat. If it’s full of stress, it won’t refresh you, and you’ll go back to work even more tightly wound. When you allow stress on your holiday, you’re not making use of the purpose of a vacation. This is a time to check out, to rejuvenate, and to build memories. 

You’re creating the perfect storm for a fight. If you’re vacationing with someone, one of the goals is to build or foster that relationship. This is pretty tough when one of you is stressed out. The added inconvenience of being in a new place without your usual schedule can create a perfect environment for fights and arguments. It’s unfortunately common for fights to break out while on holiday, but a driving factor is stress. If you keep this to a minimum, you can focus on your relationship. 

You already have enough on your plate. A vacation has unique challenges. Some people aren’t comfortable in new-to-them sleeping arrangements while others worry about finding their destinations in a different city. In other words, vacations are inherently stressful to some extent. There’s no reason to add to it with your stress-inducing accouterments.  

If you’re prone to worry, vacations can bring along plenty of opportunities to stress out. However, remember that stress tends to feed off itself. Preparation is key, and so is dedicating yourself to be in the moment once the vacation starts. This will be a challenge for the tech-addicted, but the perfect opportunity to see for yourself just how vital it is to be present.