What do you do on your weekends?

Let me guess you either go for a drink with your colleagues/friends or Netflix and chill. Right?

Is it helping you to grow in any way? Most probably, it’s not!

And if you’re somebody who slogs on weekends too, then I would like to quote ‘Alan cohen‘ for you:

“There’s a virtue in work, and there’s a virtue in rest, use both and overlook neither.”

Alan Cohen

Let me ask you one more question-

Do you prefer to go to your office sober on Monday?

Or

Do you prefer going to your office fully recharged, rejuvenated, excited on Monday?

Obviously, you would opt for the latter. But what do you do about it?

So, the weekend getaway is the thing you must start considering.

A weekend getaway can be to any place like a drive from Toronto to Montreal. To be more specific, place where you can travel within 2-3 hrs of flight or 8-12 hrs of drive.

According to various surveys, people have started taking frequent short vacations rather than a long vacation, and that’s why it was one of the top travel trends of 2019.

Research suggests that frequent shorter vacations are much beneficial than a longer vacation.

According to Jonathan Alpert,  a psychotherapist and author of the book “ Be fearless: change your life in 28 days”, one long vacation is similar to binge sleeping. You compromise on sleep during the week and use the weekend to make up for the sleep debt of the week.

And while you may feel well-rested afterwards, binge sleep doesn’t provide the same health benefits as getting a full eight hours of sleep every day. The same idea applies to vacations too.

7 reasons to take short vacations rather than a long vacation-

1. It’s affordable, less stressful and easy to plan

Weekend getaways are relatively cheaper than longer vacations as you’ll not be traveling so far, and it would also take less time, which means fewer nights at the hotel and fewer meals outside.

It also doesn’t require a lot of planning, whereas planning for a longer vacation is quite stressful as a lot of things come into the picture such as leaves, flight tickets, hotel bookings, organizing a pet sitter, work commitments, jet lag and so on.

Also, on your return from a shorter trip, a lot of work piled up and a flooded email inbox will not be waiting for you.

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2. Easy to SWITCH OFF from the World

When the world is at your fingertips and being addicted to it, it’s quite impossible to switch off from the world entirely long time.

But it’s possible for a shorter period of time and its so necessary for your mental as well as emotional well being.

 Are you aware of, how much time you spend on an average on your phone?

Most people, on average, spend 3 hours 15 minutes on phones. The top 20% of smartphone users have daily screen time over 4.5 hrs (source: Rescue Time)

According to a study done by Harvard business review: the more you use Facebook, the worse you feel.

 I feel, its not just with Facebook only but with all the social media.

There is no point of a vacation if you’re checking work emails sitting on a beach or whatsapping from a mountain top.

Digital Detox is the real need of the hour!

3. It Boosts Productivity and Creativity

By taking time off, you become more relaxed, energized, rejuvenated, which ultimately increases your happiness quotient, and happiness is directly proportional to productivity.

When you travel, knowingly or unknowingly, you break routines, immerse yourself into nature, unplug, indulge yourself into some sort of exercise and these play a vital role in increasing creativity.

4. You Discover Yourself

Would you rather trekking up on a mountain or chilling at a beach?

How would you come to know which one you like? You have to try out both to find out what you like and, most importantly what you don’t.

Like I always assumed that I love mountains and trekking until the time I lived in the mountains and trekked for the first time. I guess I’ll choose beaches over the mountains.

Short vacations give you the opportunity to explore many more places and try out various activities.

Scuba diving or trekking?  Comment down below.

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5. It Strengthens the Relationship

Somewhere between the work commitment, daily life chores, and different responsibilities, our relationships take a back seat.

 Romantic weekend getaways can do wonders for a relationship.

When you travel with your partner, you get to spend some quality time together, some deep and meaningful conversations, you share new experiences together, you get more space to express, which helps in creating a bond that strengthens the relationship.

On the other hand,

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

April Masini, a relationship counselor says, getting away from your significant other for a short weekend vacay is a great relationship booster. You get a chance to miss each other and a chance to explore your own interests.

Time with yourself is essential to connect with deeper parts of yourself. You start understanding yourself better which makes you a better person and subsequently a better partner.

6. A Lot of Memories to cherish and stories to tell

Instead of whining about the same old shit that how your life sucks, how your job sucks to your colleagues, you’ll probably have some beautiful stories to tell them and some memories to cherish until the next vacation.

Positivity makes you charming.

Psychology says that memory tends to fade away so keep the photos and the souvenir at your desk, it’ll keep putting a smile on your face now and then. It acts as a great mood booster.

7. Nothing much to Loose

Firstly you won’t end up using a large chunk of your paid leaves at once.

There is less chance to be disappointed as there is no expectation to be matched. In contrast, in longer vacations, you anticipate it for so long that you start assuming everything will be perfect but, it rarely does happen.

On shorter vacations, you get an overview of a place. You get to decide whether you’d like to return or not to that place for a longer vacay in the future.

Conclusion

Take shorter vacations frequently. Feed your interests and desires as we humans are never short of desires. Convert your “I wish” into “I did.” While adding zeroes into your bank’s account, don’t forget to live life. Memories are priceless.

Happy Traveling!