What is a vacation?

Dictionary.com defines vacation below:

1.a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity,usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday:Schoolchildren are on vacation now.2. a part of the year, regularly set aside, when normal activities of law courts, legislatures, etc., are suspended.3.  freedom or release from duty, business, or activity.

What is your definition of vacation?  Renting a house on the beach with family?  A condo at a golf and tennis resort?Escaping to a cabin in the mountains?Backpacking through Europe?  Safari in Africa?  RV'ing through the US and visiting all the sites along your journey?  A week immersed in a family-friendly theme park?  An all-inclusive resort in Mexico?  A cruise to the Caribbean?

These are only a few options available to someone wanting a vacation, but until you can define your purpose of vacationing, you will not be able to choose the best vacation experience.

My definition of vacation is  "a change in the status quo."  A true vacation, in my opinion, is changing the course of your everyday habits, mixing it up, shocking your life with change.  This is true for your muscles when you workout, so why not for your life and vacation habits?

If you wake up each morning and check email, write contracts and talk on the phone, then either don't do it at all or scale back considerably on vacation.  A great vacation option for you may be primitive camping, forcing yourself to be completely unplugged.

If you cook every meal for your family every day, you are not vacationing if you continue to cook every meal for your family while on vacation.  Perhaps an all-inclusive resort or cruise is the best vacation option for you.

If you are a golf pro, and you play golf everyday, I do not think a true vacation for you is visiting a golf resort.

If you find that you don't have time to play with your kids after a hard day at work, or worse, you've forgotten how to play with your kids, I recommend a theme park vacation for your family.  This allows the adults to enjoy life from the child's standpoint, racing from one thrill ride to the next, anxious with anticipation for what the next ride will bring.

Some people define vacation as a luxury, and I disagree with this definition.  Vacations, or a change in the status quo, do not have to be expensive or elaborate.  It is simply shaking up the norm.  If you drive into work everyday, take a few days and determine that you are not only not going to drive into work, but you are not even going to check your computer.

If you are vacationing with other people, for example your immediate family or extended family or friends, it is important that everyone's vacation definition is understood and accommodated.  Renting a house at the beach with a full kitchen may be great for the kids who get to play in the sand all day and the parent who gets to lounge by the ocean reading a book or catching some zzz's, but not so much for the parent left behind to make the meals, just like at home, or change the diapers, just like at home.  This would not equate a vacation to that person.  This is an example of someone returning and saying, "I need a vacation from my vacation!"

All of this is to say that we often settle for the vacation we have always done because thinking about what a vacation truly is to me is too much effort and will rock the boat...all the more reason you should mix it up!  What if the idea of searching for a different type of vacation is daunting...too many options available on the Internet!

Next time you are thinking of a vacation, be sure to contact Favorite Place Travel.  Favorite Place Travel is a travel agency with experience in travel all over the world, and we are ready to help you vacation!

Contact Stacey at sgross@favoriteplacetravel.com, 404.409.4174