Why Vacation is Good for Business

Several studies have shown links between stress and significant health conditions, including heart disease and a weaker immune system.  Constant stress leads to burnout. The adrenal system becomes overloaded behaving as if we were under constant attack.  Mentally, stress impedes oxygen to the neo-cortex as we tend to hold our breath, which results in lack of clear decision making capabilities and a tendency to emotional outbreaks. Reducing our stress allows us to gain a different perspective and often find solutions that had previously eluded us.  Think of all those marvelous ideas you have in the shower or while driving when your brain is active but relaxed. Similarly, holidays can engage the mind but in a positive and healthy way.

One area that suffers in our busy and harried lives is the area of relationships.  We tend to be so task focused that we often forget the niceties that go with nurturing and caring for our significant relationships.  We begin to take people for granted while we focus on going here and there and getting things done.  Slowing down with our family or loved ones allows us to reconnect to those who matter most and to open to new relationships that can enhance life.

Adventure travel, eco tours and mission oriented vacations are available everywhere. A recently released study shows that adventure travel has been growing 65% year over year since 2009. It is now a $263 billion industry, and it's still growing.

The August 2013 Adventure Tourism Market Study, a consumer-research report by George Washington University conducted in partnership with the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), indicated staggering growth in the adventure travel sector between 2009 and 2012.

According to the study, 57% of adventure travelers are male, and 48% are single or have never been married (compared with 43% who are currently married). Adventure travelers also tend to be younger, with an average age of 36.  This younger generation is more apt to try something new and challenging and to demand better life/work balance than previous generations.

Mission or volunteer vacations have also been on the rise. Individuals who choose service while on vacation reap the additional rewards and satisfaction of making a difference for a community while learning about a new culture. These vacations can range from teaching English, to monitoring dolphin activity to building houses to participating in ocean research. A large percentage of baby boomers are committing to this kind of vacation, wanting to use their skills in service of others as a way to give back to the global community.

"Led by a generation of baby boomers with the time, the money and the drive to give back, an increasing number of world travelers are making trips such as these (volunteer vacations) the cornerstone of their early retirements or their time away from the office." ~ Thomas Farley, Town & Country Magazine

For many, particularly introverts, vacations are a time to pause and be still – and alone.  Overwhelmed by society’s demands, many individuals choose to take shorter more frequent holidays to reconnect to their sense of meaning and purpose.  A cabin in the woods, a small house on a lake or a tent at the beach is enough to let nature work her healing on our over-worked and over-whelmed lives.  Simple activities such as reading, walking, hiking, cooking and gardening ground us so we can continue to pay attention to grace in our lives.  Taking shorter but more frequent vacations, during holiday season or even when it is not holiday season, renews the soul as well as the body and mind.