Catching a Case of the Vacations

Photo via lawsome.net

What is it about taking a vacation that makes us exhausted? What it is about arriving at our vacation destination that makes us want to sleep? I find that often, when I "take time off" from my normal life to go on vacation--even if it's only for a few days--I become seriously exhausted. I'm much more tired than usual on vacation, and I'm even more tired when I return, no matter how much sleep, relaxation, and/or "doing nothing" I did on my vacation. Why is that??? I'm convinced that it's because when we go on vacation, we finally let our guard down. We give ourselves permission to relax and once we've done that, we're allowed to truly feel the fatigue caused by the running around of our day-to-day lives. When we stop, slow down, and tune into our bodies, we often find that they need a break. Not necessarily a break from doing things, but a break from our normal, busy routine, from our daily to-do lists.

This past weekend when I went to Chicago to visit my dear friend Kelly, we were very active, but did not push ourselves. We didn't have a long agenda each day, and instead just went along with how we were feeling and did whatever we wanted to do next throughout the day. We slept in, and we ate delicious food, and we relaxed. But, we were both still exhausted a lot of the time. We went to bed early and got lots of sleep, but we couldn't shake this feeling of sleepiness. My theory as to why? We both entered into vacation mode. We let our "work" slide away from our minds, stopped our minds from going a mile-a-minute and moving on to the next to-do, and were just present. With that presence, we found out that we needed a break. We needed to relax, to sleep, to see a movie in the middle of the day and not worry about what needed to get done afterward--to just be. What an amazing feeling! With this feeling, I was once again reminded of why vacations are so important. Even a weekend or a day-trip can give us the space that we need to tune inward and check-in with what's going on for us in our daily lives...

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Photo via travelpod.com

My challenge to you (and to myself)? Find time for a vacation. It can be a mini-staycation, and afternoon in the park, a day, a weekend, or a week away. It doesn't have to be a week at a spa or a mountain getaway (although that would be nice!), it just needs to be a change in daily routine, a break from your daily grind. Once you get away, notice how you're feeling and let yourself be tired. If you're exhausted, let yourself relax. You may even come back feeling more tired than you were when you left, but you'll be just a bit more in-tune with this state, and hopefully, you'll be reminded of the beautiful power of taking a vacation. 

Every time I get away, I feel this exhaustion. But, every time I get away I also remember the importance of getting away, and am reminded of how easily we get wrapped up in our daily lives. So here's to exploring your fatigue, and if you're lucky, catching a case of the vacations :)

Namaste,
Mary Catherine

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