Not all of us have a life where we can go on one extravagant vacation after the next or even year after year. Some of us don’t really want to. But I have a secret, you can incorporate certain things into your life on the regular and spend more than 7 days a year on your own personal beach. Even if you have a deep desire to travel but lack the time or funds to do it right now there is a way to spend even more time chill-axing per year than your get setting peers.
A week long vacation is about 168 hours long but you spend 56 hours of that sleeping leaving you with 112 waking hours to enjoy yourself. Let’s be generous and say that it only takes you 8 hours to travel there and back and you don’t loose any time to jet lag leaving you with 104 hours of fun. That’s not a lot of time if you think about it roughly 2 hours a week for each of the 52 weeks of the year. You see where I’m going here right? You can (somewhat) easily spend more time than that recharging and it’s probably better for you than a week that comes all at once. Plus no packing, planning or paying and all that stuff sucks.
The thing is you’re going to have to try at this, be extra and be determined to be present and enjoy all the moments though, just like any other vacation though. Make sure to shedule a block of time (or a few) each week and stick to it no matter what. Go above and beyond, plan, pamper and revel in all of your vacation moments. If you do all that you might find you’re not so desperate to get away for real anymore. What won’t work is just doing what you would have anyway and pretending to love it. Build a life you don’t want to leave even for a week!
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Long bubble filled baths where you add hot water, watch your favorite show and do absolutely nothing but exfoliate.
- Load your bike in the car and discover a new spot for an afternoon
- Participate regularly in an exercise you love ( yoga class, run a race or seek out a tennis partner.)
- Treat yourself to dinner and or a movie you want to see in theaters.
- Go for a long walk in a pretty place with or without your favorite tunes.
- Take the time to properly clean your car so you enjoy it everyday.
- Keep your nails painted or do aa weekly spa night if that’s your thing.
- Take your friend on a special planned out friend date.
- Light candles and make dinner for your partner or light candles and celebrate the day when they cook for you.
- Make a small garden and enjoy the process and the rewards
- Write, what ever that means your you, diary, novel or a story. You never have to show anyone.
- Actively let go of bad relationships in a healthy tactful way.
- Spend time every week on a hobby you already love.
- Whatever your thing is, do that!
This weekend think about how to build a life just for you that you love or start thinking about it. Even if you get to take a vacation regularly wouldn’t it be nice to never NEED one again?
Sweat Sweetly 
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