Yes, You Deserve That Trip

For most of us, each year we are granted a small but important number of vacation days. These hours of freedom are like gold – our escape from the office and chance to have a life outside of work!

But how many of us use our vacation days? Some people like to hoard their days, taking advantage of rollovers or just don’t bother to use them. In 2017 (the most updated information I could get), 52% of Americans had unused vacation days. 705 million days of paid vacation were NOT used. Can I say that again for the people in the back?

705 MILLION DAYS that people had to NOT work and still get paid did NOT GET USED.

But the problem doesn’t stop there. In 2017, only 46% of paid time off was used for travel. Question for you - how many days of vacation do you use to actually take a vacation?

I’m sure most of us use our days away from the office to do things other than jet set around the world. How many of us are guilty of taking days off to go to an appointment? Or to just sit at home? Maybe you save your days to visit family over the holidays – which, let’s be honest, isn’t always a vacation.

There are tons of reasons why taking time off work to travel is good for you. A quick Google search will give articles and reports showing how it can help your job performance or help you live longer. While all of that is great and worthy of a read, I’m here today to tell you the only reason that really matters:

You fucking deserve it.

Yeah, yeah language. But seriously, you deserve a vacation.

Not a day off to sit on the couch binging another show on Netflix, or a weekend at a chaotic (but fun, I know) family get-together, and definitely not an afternoon off to sit at the dentist.

From the blaring alarm waking us up every morning to the last racing thoughts before bed, you work your ass off. Whether it’s crushing it at work, hitting the gym hard, keeping your house clean and bills paid, taking care of the people in your life – you are constantly in a state of “doing”. When do actually be human “beings”?

Think about the past 24 hours and add up all the time you had to just sit back and breathe. Did you ever have a moment where you didn’t have something on your to-do list? How often did you feel burnt out? How many hours did you spend trying to get just one more thing done? How long did you felt the need to juggle it all? It’s exhausting just getting by sometimes. Our society seems to pressure us into being the best at everything we do, which can make you feel stuck on a hamster wheel with no end in sight.

You have been working HARD day in and day out and there is no shame in waving a white flag and taking a break. Whether your vacation is a weekend getaway one town over or some tropical resort paradise or backpacking around a mountain, you deserve it.

Evaluate what you need to actually heal and let go of the mounting stress and pressure. A few deep breaths? Eh. What if you could get away and truly rebalance? What if you could ditch the alarm clock and the emails and the feeling to accomplish everything? Traveling is the self-care we need!

There’s something about a getaway that brings you back to center. You wake up when you want, you eat and drink when you feel the need - your priority is to simply be in the moment and take in your surroundings. There’s really no agenda or pressure. You have nothing to do and all day to do it.

Traveling takes you out of your routine, which temporarily halts the stressors in our lives. How many times have you come back from a vacation feeling worse than when you left? Likely never – well, unless you went to Vegas. Instead, you’ve probably come back feeling restored and rejuvenated and ready to jump back into things. You’re focusing on healing and giving yourself a true break during a trip – something your whole body and soul needs.

Vacation days are there to take you out of overdrive and give you the break you deserve. Be selfish and use that time for a likely long-overdue reset. Instead of turning to medicine to fight another headache or a glass of wine to ease the daily woes, turn to the globe to show yourself the love and care you should.

Imagine how much better you’d feel if you could tune out the noise of our everyday lives for a moment. The calm, joy, and energy you’d return with would have a ripple effect on all else you do. It’s not about treatin’ yo’self, it’s about taking care of yourself. Recognize all the hard work you do and reward yourself with the vacation you have so totally earned and more importantly, deserve.

Do it. Go take that damn trip.

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