Clár ábhair
A pre-planned vacation becomes a goal. We are counting the days, dreaming and anticipating. We dream of mountains, the sea, new cities, adventures… What a shame when, before we can start, our vacation is interrupted by illness.
Often, going on vacation, we suddenly begin to have a fever, “catch” poisoning or some other unknown ailment. Another option: we get different injuries, even if we are not talking about active recreation. I have a friend who brings home a couple of brand new scars from every vacation, and once even returned with a fracture. Why is this happening? Why, instead of calmly resting and relaxing, do we cripple and get sick?
1. Is this a vacation?
The first misconception is that a trip to another country is a vacation. At the level of consciousness, perhaps you think so, but for the body this is stress. Flight, climate change, ecosystems, sometimes time zones, nutrition, regimen — all this is not a vacation. Social and psychological ones are superimposed on physical activity — other people, a different culture, language, atmosphere, rules and norms.
The result is a set of stress loads. It turns out that we give the body signals that contradict reality. We say: “Now it will be cool! Let’s finally rest! Hooray!» And our body and subconscious feel everything differently: “What kind of rest? What are you talking about? I’m under stress, and you tell me that everything is fine. Yes, I have less strength than it was!
If we do not hear ourselves, our body is ready to calm down, stop us and convey the necessary information by any means, up to poorly coordinating movements, slipping, falling, hitting or not fitting into any corner.
2. Do it in 10 days
Normal adaptation requires a minimum of 14 days. And this is only the time for full acclimatization, when the body is ready to reach a flat plateau of rest. No wonder spa treatment ideally lasts 21 days. In our realities, a vacation rarely lasts longer than two weeks. Sometimes 10 days, a week, or even 5 days. This time is not enough not only to relax, but even to just recover.
3. All or nothing!
Good sleep can rightfully be called rest — in the process of deep sleep, metaphysics changes, processes in the body slow down, real relaxation sets in. But on holidays, many sleep worse than at home. A change in the usual environment, difficulties in weakening control, the desire to take more walks and have time to see everything that is possible, disturb sleep.
And what loads do we give to the body? Get up at 5 in the morning to rush on a long and distant excursion, at lunch try to try the maximum number of dishes from the buffet, taste the entire mini-bar and make a tour of the most interesting places in the resort town, which will end late at night. It is not surprising that after such a «rest» one more is needed, already at home, in order to restore strength. Holidays are very high stakes. Like in a casino — bet everything and lose! This happens because…
4. We don’t know how to rest because we don’t know how to work.
Now, for sure, someone will want to argue with me and argue in favor of their hard work. “We work all day, sometimes we come to the office (or somewhere else) earlier than expected and leave later.” That is the problem. Such a schedule is not an indicator of the ability to work. We overwork so much that on vacation, instead of rest, rehabilitation begins.
If you learn to take care of and love yourself always and everywhere, systematically distribute the load throughout the day, week, year, then there will be no sharp distortions on vacation. Yes, it is not always up to us. There are circumstances, bosses, clients who require a full calculation every day. In general, work may be unloved, but where to go.
In this case, everything should be compensated by your favorite hobby, pleasant meetings, delicious food, good sex, good sleep and regular rest. Then the balance will be struck. In this case, the long-awaited trip can be woven into your schedule as a change of activity and environment, and not as the only time in the year when you can go all out and be sure to do everything. With this approach, the body does not have to «upset» us through weakness, illness or trauma. And we will be able to get more benefit and pleasure on vacation.