Planning A Relaxing Vacation

A common so-called irony in       relaxing for them.                 life, is when a person                                             finally gets around to          Two years ago my wife and I went   taking a much needed vacation,        on a vacation with friends. We     and falls ill as soon as they are     went cross-country skiing at a     away from work.                       resort. The cabin we stayed in                                           was beautiful, we were surrounded  The reason for this situation         with close friends, and the        being common is easily explained.     weather was nice - Seemed like a   Most people, as they are              recipe for a wonderful vacation.   preparing for a vacation, are in      Unfortunately, our friends were    a hectic state; trying to tie up      far better skiers than us, and     loose ends at work, getting           ran us so ragged we were           packed, finding a house and or        painfully stiff for days. Also,    pet sitter, finding visas or          we let loose in the evenings, and  passports, organizing and             trying to keep up with our         cleaning the house, getting the       friends' drinking proved to be a   yard prepared, creating "to do"       big mistake. My wife and I         lists for people, the list goes       returned from our vacation         on. When you finally set off on       exhausted and ill.                 your vacation, your body needs a                                         break. Your immune system has         The way to avoid a poor vacation   been suffering from lack of sleep     is to plan ahead.                  and excess stress. It's an ideal                                         time for a virus to attack and        - Think about what the purpose of  get a solid foothold.                 the vacation is. If your aim is                                          to reduce tension after a busy     There's another reason illness        time at work, make sure the        attacks during vacation. Often        destination will give you the      people choose a trip that is not      peace and calm you need.                                                 advance. Nothing is more           - Take a vacation before your         comforting than a sense of         vacation. Take three or four days     preparedness.                      off work before your vacation                                            begins, so that you can get           - Lastly, do not feel like you     organized, and begin to slow down     have to do anything on your        your pace gradually.                  vacation. Often there is pressure                                        to go site-seeing, or participate  - Get prepared, well before your      in social events. If you feel      vacation. If you will need any        like staying in the room and       documentation (visa/passport),        reading a book, that's probably    prescriptions, reservations,          what you should do.                tickets, etc... get them all in        About the Author: Mark Altman is the webmaster of http://www.soundsleeping.com, a website containing free relaxing music, sleep-aids, stress reducing tools, relaxation advice, and an active discussion. Source: www.isnare.com