“Don’t forget that the earth delights in feeling your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
kahlil gibran
Exactly one week after my mother’s funeral, my family and I headed to the Cape for our summer vacation. We had rented a five-bedroom antique in Chatham months before, when it seemed likely that my mother would make a full recovery from the broken shoulder that landed her in hospital and physiotherapy rehab. But months into her new reality of hospitals, assisted living facilities, and physical and occupational therapy centers, she contracted a virus from her roommate, the side effects of which would never recover.
So it was with deep emotional pain that we drove to the island, the pull of the water and just getting away from the world for a while was stronger than the pull of staying in bed with the curtains drawn to shield us from the summer sun. Our four kids were bringing their boyfriends, so ten of us would fill this cavernous place, set on three acres where God’s grace was bestowed a couple hundred years ago. A five minute bike ride from one of the most glorious views on earth, the hilltop view of Eastward Ho! Country Club, confirmed that we had indeed made a good decision to go out into nature while trying to heal our souls.
Reports coming from a variety of government agencies and the financial press tout statistics indicating that American families are canceling summer vacation plans altogether or modifying them to offset the rising cost of gasoline. Here in Connecticut, we have long seen prices in the $4.00 range and up. It’s $5.00 a gallon of gas that makes our stomachs knot. Across the country, Americans are fighting to keep our summer vacation intact, a virtually sacred time on our family calendars, while coping with the mounting costs of simply getting there, not to mention the staggering numbers of unemployment, fall in housing prices and greater volatility in the capital markets. James Hamilton, a professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego, says that “every 50-cent increase in the cost of gasoline takes $70 billion out of the American economy over the course of a year. That’s about half one percent of gross domestic product. (1) Stories abound of families switching to a diet of rice and beans and a switch to flea market shopping to keep those sacrosanct summer vacations on the calendar.
Let’s face it: We all instinctively know what scientists have been telling us for years. Taking a vacation provides tremendous emotional and physical benefits. In a 2000 analysis involving more than 12,000 men ages 35 to 57 at high risk of coronary heart disease, the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial found that those who took regular annual leave had a lower risk of death than those who worked all the time. (2) It has been shown in study after study that women who take two vacations a year are less likely to have heart problems than those who take a vacation every six years. Other studies show a link between healthier relationships and vacations. Psychologists who study the link between personal happiness and vacations find a positive correlation. People who use this free time to pamper themselves, explore a new hobby, or reconnect with family and friends are much more likely to increase their happiness quotient.
In fact, we can feel the physiological changes in our bodies when we start to de-stress. Just going offline for a week, purposely not checking voicemail or email, allowing myself to sleep late and skip that early morning gym ritual, avoiding the news on TV and in the financial press all worked miracles for both in my physical and emotional health. .
from today Wall Street Journal The notion of “unlimited vacations” stands out. It’s essentially vacation in turbocharged mode. Employees need to self-discipline how much, when and where they take time off and out of the office. The writer claims that Americans are unlikely to take necessary time off, even when those days are allotted to them. In fact, only 38% of American employees use all of their assigned vacation days, according to a survey by Expedia.com. The fear of wasting time, being cut down, and returning to hundreds of unanswered emails leaves many would-be vacationers stuck in the office cubicle.
I would propose that the benefits of a vacation far outweigh these possible negative side effects. It shouldn’t take a family crisis to put you on the beach. This year posed extraordinarily difficult challenges for my brother, sister, and I, as well as our own spouses and children. We are all still reeling from its aftermath. But it is likely that you are not in the same state of mind or body. I can’t encourage you enough to take the time this summer to get away. To find a piece of land that brings you closer to heaven.
Let this quote from Eleonora Duse move you:
“If the sight of blue skies fills you with joy,
If a blade of grass that springs up in the fields has power to move you,
if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand,
rejoice, because your soul is alive.”
Happy trails!
NOTES:
(1): “Gas Tanks Drain Family Budgets,” The Associated Press, May 27, 2011, p. 2 http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20110527/WIRE/110529539/-1/news300?p=2&tc=pg
(2) Van Dusen, Allison. (2007) “Ten Healthy Reasons to Take a Vacation.” Forbes.com, August, p. 1. http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/02/vacation-work-summer-forbeslife-cx_avd_0806health.html