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***Being in Your Right Mind: the Do’s and Don’ts of Taking Vacations
A friend of mine once warned me: “Don’t trust any decision you make within the first week after you’re back from vacation because it’s the only time you are really in your right mind.” So I reminded myself how inspired I was when I got back from a vacation in Europe, how I felt in that first week back. I thought I should take a year or two off from college and write the great American novel. I didn’t. I went back to school. But there’s a tendency to forget one of the purposes of vacation is to refresh the soul, to air out the attic of routine, to re-hone the dull edges of the imagination, and to find unhurried moments to sweeten the heart. So here are some basic guidelines for summer vacations to get you off to the best holiday:
1. Make it last. It takes time to decompress, to unwind, and to relax. Give yourself a long enough block of time that you can actually get away from your routine schedule.
2. Don’t stay in touch. Forget emails. Don’t text. And turn off the cell phone. Be unavailable. And make your peace and quiet unassailable.
3. Be on a vacation. Don’t do a vacation. Make sure you are not running your vacation on such a tightly driven, regimented schedule you forget to include time for nothing—to relax.
4. Try not to overeat or drink too much. Often we associate vacation with indulging ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with that but as we age, it becomes easy to add pounds and harder to shed them. And everything in moderation.
5. Try to pay for your vacation in advance. There are few things more painful than paying for the vacation you took last year. The corollary of that is that hard economic times call for cheaper vacations, closer to home.
6. Make time for relationships – friends and family. The key to great vacations is to create lasting emotional moments. Whether it be seeing new sights or revisiting old haunts, such experiences are usually enhanced when they are shared with those who are near and dear.
7. Rest. One of the great luxuries in life is to take a nap. To sleep in late and stay up as late as you want. Or get up early so you can catch the sunrise because you know you’ll grab a siesta later. And, to have a second cup of coffee and read the paper.
8. Take time to eat well and deeply. Go shopping for fresh food. Take your time preparing it. Make that unforgettable dish to share. To have a special vintage that goes well with it. Or to linger over dessert.
9. Indulge in a hobby. Take time for the things you love to do. Try to focus on what will make you smile the most. Laugh.
10. Save a day for getting your “heat shield” ready. Re-entry from vacation can be the hardest part. The transition from a holiday back to the routine of household and work can make you feel suddenly re-pressurized. So save a day from you vacation to get re-settled… to open the mail, pay some bills, return emails, and get your lunch pail packed.
In the end, vacation is as much a state of mind as it is a destination. The trick is stay on vacation even when you’re not. Keep a memento from the trip – a pebble, a seashell, a photo in your wallet, a poem tucked amid your email. Keep something you can count on to carry you back to that beautiful spot, that perfect moment when you were – and still could be – in your right mind.
Allan J. Hamilton, MD, FACS, Boomer-Living Director. After studying art in college, which earned him a career as a janitor, he went on to attend Harvard Medical School, and to become the chief of neurosurgery and chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center. He currently holds a main appointment as a Professor of Neurosurgery as well as professorships in Radiation Oncology, Psychology, and Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Hamilton also is the Executive Director of The Arizona Simulation Technology and Education Center at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
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