7 Ways to Have a More Mindful Vacation

I was visiting with a good friend last week who was feeling exhausted, frustrated and saddened that her recent family vacation was not what she had intended or needed. “We crammed too much in, checked our work email too often and didn’t build in enough downtime. I don’t feel like we really got to connect as a family or take full advantage of our magical surroundings,” she shared.

Planning a summer vacation and feeling stressed about where you’ll go, what you’ll do and whether you can afford to take time off from work and caregiving responsibilities?

Whether you’re going camping at a local park or heading to the ocean or the mountains, here are some tips for creating a less stressful, more mindful vacation that leaves you feeling renewed and recharged:

• Prepare! Get things handled (and delegate work) in advance so you can leave it at home/the office and be present with your loved ones.
• When planning your trip, ask, “What do we really need to recharge?” Maybe it’s camping at Yellowstone, an unplugged staycation or visiting old friends and renting a lake house together. Plan a trip that will help you replenish and unwind so you return home rested.
• Unplug—as much as possible (your body and mind need rest from technology) and set guidelines for the family and yourself on how/when/if you’ll use technology while you’re away.
• Do less to experience more and keep it simple; the fewer decisions we have to make on vacation, the happier we are. Create space to digest what you’re experiencing. Don’t complicate things, create busy itineraries or over-schedule yourself or your family (kids especially hate to be rushed).
• Spend time in nature—the ultimate antidepressant—enjoying family hikes, lounging on the grass, picnics next to the lake, exploring new trails or soaking up the sun.
• Schedule unscheduled time—seriously—you and your kids need time to daydream in hammocks, stroll around your surroundings and just let things happen spontaneously.
• Rest—give your entire family permission to be lazy and lie around (this may mean staying in pajamas until 3:00 p.m. or eating scrambled eggs and fruit for dinner).

If you’re a parent (or grandparent), it can also be helpful to visit with families who have kids of similar ages prior to planning your family vacation. Ask them to share what their favorite, most enjoyable, relaxing vacation spots have been. What worked and what didn’t work for them on their trips? And, don’t be afraid to do less and take the road less traveled. How many times have you heard friends share that their all-time favorite vacation activity was not visiting the Eiffel tower, but lazily sipping coffee and people watching while sitting at small, quaint sidewalk cafes? Remember this as you consider what will truly nourish you on your next getaway.

Warmly,

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Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by life balance coach/author/speaker and catalyst Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women find balance through the art/science of self-care, Renee has been facilitating high-impact, interactive workshops and women’s retreats for Fortune 500 companies, national nonprofits/conferences and organizations/teams worldwide for 25 years. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, Good Housekeeping, Yoga Journal, AARP Magazine, Spirituality & Health and more. She and her team have certified more than 450 facilitators in 10 countries around the globe to lead self-renewal groups/retreats based on her pioneering self-care curriculum. She’s the author of two books on life balance including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life. She and her husband live in Western North Carolina and their son lives in New York City; her latest venture is Wild Souls Nature Adventures. More on Renee here.