raise your hand if you're going on vacation!

oooo, me! me!  i'm going on vacation!!
we've tried several times over the past couple months to do the vacation thing, but with new jobs and no spare money, we've had to sit tight.  come september, however, and we're off on our very own mini vacation {"mini" in that we'll be sticking to parts of the state that we know very well}.  the plan is to take a week off just after our 1st year wedding anniversary.  half of that time will be spent somewhere just north of san francisco, where we can relax by the ocean, roam through the headlands, and preferably soak in a hot tub/hot springs at night.  we've had a pretty rough past year so we decided we deserve to soak up the joys of doing absolutely nothing!  the other half of that week will be spent with friends in san francisco and a weekend wedding near santa cruz.  yup, an entire week full of love!!

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while i've been planning this trip, i've been thinking a lot about vacations in general.  they're so necessary aren't they?! and for those of us who are no longer in school {nor work at a school}, we don't get multiple breaks built into our yearly schedule.  in the post-school world, we might get a couple days off in december, or maybe we take a couple days off in the summer, but is that really enough?  if you ask me, we would all do a lot better if we continued to take multiple vacations - april! september! the end of january!
be wild and crazy and go nuts with some self-care!

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what i've learned...

take plenty of time for your vacation.  it takes most people a couple days to destress and forget about work, so make your vacation long enough to get over that hump and fully enjoy the time away.  you'll be far more energized if you take a week or even two {two? you're so wild!}.

include one day before and after your vacation to be at home.  you'll have a much better time on your vacation if you had a full day off from work to get ready, and a full day off to settle back in at the end.  you don't ever want to feel like you need a vacation just to prepare for and catch up from your vacation.

embrace the almighty staycation.  can't afford to travel?  still take that time off from work and regain a sense of sanity.  explore all the places you've never experienced in your area {hikes, museums, restaurants}, pamper yourself {long baths, reading in hammocks, play with homemade scrubs and masks, paint your nails}, or take up a new hobby you've never had time to do {painting, sewing, bird house making, tai chi, cooking. you can look up workshops/classes at your local community center or library, or check online for free web classes}.

protect your vacation with all your might.  remind everyone you will be gone and out of reach, set up those out-of-the-office messages on all your technology, ignore calls and emails, even lie if you have to.  your vacation, including a staycation, is sacred time away, so set those boundaries to actually have time away.

so there it is.
vacations are really good for you and you should take them,
even if you are no longer in school, even if it's not december, even if you are super poor.
go ahead, you deserve it!