our our

HOME | CELEBRITY CRUISES | CRYSTAL CRUISES | AUSTRALIA VACATIONS | FIJI VACATIONS | SIGN IN
>Subscribe
Subscribe to this feed Subscribe to this blog's feeds!

Share this page:

>Vacation Links
Celebrity Cruise Vacations
Crystal Cruise Vacations
Gay and Lesbian Vacations
Australia Vacations
Azamara Cruise Vacations
Royal Caribbean Cruise Vacations
Viking River Cruise Vacations

Global Travel Destinations BLog

IT’S MIDSUMMER. HAVE YOU TAKEN A VACATION YET?
A real one? Modern conveniences that keep us in constant touch are great – unless you want to get away from it all. Since we can be in touch, we think we should be. Hence the modern syndrome coming to be known as “leisure guilt.”

Consider some of these stats: One in four workers plans to work during vacation this year, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.com. Expedia.com even conducts an annual “vacation deprivation” survey — which this year showed that workers will give back 574 million vacation days in 2006.

The inability to leave the office behind is not a new psychological phenomenon, but today’s modern conveniences are making it a lot harder. According to Dr. Raymond Folen, associate professor of psychology at Argosy University/Hawaii in Honolulu, “For decades, white-collar workaholics have packed reports and office correspondence right next to the bathing suits in the suitcase. In the past, though, what helped put some boundaries on this behavior was the fact that taking a vacation made one much less accessible to those back at the workplace.”

The urge to check in with the office can have any of several roots: a fear of being left out of the loop; the worry that you’ll seem inadequately conscientious; the image of yourself as indispensable. Work can also be your dominant lifestyle habit, and habits, as we know, are hard to break. If you travel for work, you may also find it hard to separate travel from work.

What many people leave out of their cost-benefit analysis is that vacations reduce stress. According to Dr. Folen, “A vacation is as important for your body, mind and spirit as exercise and watching one’s diet. A vacation might allow the brain to grow some new dendrites — branch-like elements of brain cells that tend to break off under chronic stress. A vacation may allow the mind to gain fresh perspectives and allow the body to appropriately repair and maintain itself.” If you know you’ll be distracted by what you might be missing at work, he suggests picking one trusted colleague to “watch your back” while you’re away and notify you only if your input is critical.

“Overworked and overstressed workers may end up taking vacations regardless,” Dr. Folen said, “either now at a beach resort, or later in the hospital while recuperating from a stress-related condition.” And they don’t allow cell phones in hospitals.

Building PermaLink... | Post a CommentPost a Comment

Sign In or Become a Member to post your comments
>Quick Links
My Blog
Write an Entry
Create a Journal
My Profile
Sign In/Sign Out

>Categories
Experiences
Travel News

>Most Popular Tags
celebrity cruises(71)
celebrity solstice(26)
royal caribbean(17)
azamara cruises(16)
asia(15)
azamara journey(14)
regent voyager(13)
oasis of the seas(12)
celebrity xpedition(12)
galapagos islands(12)
ecuador(10)
hotels(10)
crystal cruises(10)
virtuoso(10)
bermuda(10)
celebrity(9)

>Latest Blog Entries

>Archived Entries
Jul 2013 (1)
Jun 2013 (1)
Jan 2013 (1)
Dec 2012 (1)
Nov 2012 (1)
May 2012 (1)
Apr 2012 (4)
Mar 2012 (5)
Feb 2012 (1)
Jan 2012 (1)
Dec 2011 (6)
Nov 2011 (8)
Oct 2011 (1)
Sep 2011 (3)