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I wondered how I would start this post.
“I recently got the opportunity to go on a trip…”
Or, “I was lucky enough to go on a much-needed vacation this past fall…”
None of those sounded quite right, and I finally figured out why– it’s because I wasn’t lucky or given the opportunity, I (or we, I should say,) just went. We took the plunge, made plans and booked tickets all in one night, and we were off exactly 25 days later. Things could have gone smoother, but I had a fabulous time, and I don’t regret it one bit.
Beauty isn’t only about the products you use or the steps you take. Yes, a good concealer can work wonders on your dark under eye circles, but wouldn’t you rather banish them altogether? In order to truly take control of your beauty, you need vacations. Let me repeat that: You need vacations. Here’s why.
Vacations give you something to look forward to
Life can be pretty lackluster– we get up, go to work, take care of obligations, and go back to sleep. Then we get up the next day and do it all over again. It can feel like an endless cycle. But think about how it feels when you have and event to attend on Saturday– you deal with the week with just a bit more pep in your step because you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now imagine how it would feel if that “break” is a relaxing weekend getaway, or even a week-long jaunt in a city you’ve never visited.
When you know you have something exciting coming up, everything you do, no matter how familiar and un-exciting it is, feels as if you are doing it for an awesome reward. Going to work? It’s so you’ll have extra spending money, or even so you’ll have a sense of accomplishment while you are away.
Doing laundry? It’s so your favorite outfits will be wrinkle-free and smelling fresh for your daily shopping trips and nights out. Going to the DMV…? You get the idea. Although you are doing all the usual things, a simple change in mentality will make your daily tasks a lot less painful.
Bonus* Stay tuned until the end of the post- I’m sharing a few of my absolute favorite travel products that’ll make your special trip even sweeter!
You get to reconnect with loved ones
It is frightfully easy to get so caught up in our daily grind that we lose touch with our loved ones, whether it’s your parents that live in another city, or your significant other, who lives in the same room as you do. Work and responsibilities are important, but so is nurturing relationships.
Take a trip for no reason but to reconnect with whomever it is that you’ve lost touch with. Go home to see your parents or other family members in the middle of spring. Why wait until Christmas? Go to a vacation resort with your significant other, where you’ll have nothing to worry about but each other. Even if you think you haven’t lost touch, there is always room to become closer, and vacations are the perfect places to do it.
You’ll learn to feel more beautiful with less “stuff”
Unless you live a minimalist lifestyle, chances are you have a lot of stuff at home. All of these things add up to complicated beauty regimens that leave us feeling overwhelmed. Not to mention, we can become reliant on our “potions” and forget about the real magic that awakens our beauty- our love for ourselves.
When you are away from home, obviously, you’ll have less items with you. And that can be a good thing. Instead of depending on these things to make you feel beautiful, you’ll be able to look in the mirror, and see how happy you are to be treating yourself. That my friends, will make you feel beautiful.
When you get home, perhaps you’ll elect to keep your slimmed down beauty routine. As we all know, this is awesome news for our wallets, and that part of us that reeeeally wants to sleep in.
Awaken your curiosity with travel
Life is repetitive. Repetitiveness leads to boredom. Boredom leads to lack of thought. And lack of thought leads to stagnation. When nothing out the ordinary or even remotely interesting is happening, your mind tends to lose sight of the bigger picture, and all you begin to see is how you are going to get through each day, and then each week without going crazy.
Consider this: when did you last big idea spring into year head? Was it when you were loading the dishwasher, or when you were typing your 10,000th email to that particularly bothersome client? Unlikely. You best ideas come when a change happens that clicks something in your brain. For that, you need a change of scenery.
Treating yourself to vacations promotes positivity
Going on a trip is special, and it’s not something that we can just up and do all the time. So when it does happen, it revives that little beacon of hope we all have inside of us– the beacon that dulls a little every day we go without relighting it.
Just when you start to think, “this is life, it is what it is”, vacations remind us that good things do happen in life, and that life doesn’t have to be an endless cycle of work and despair. Do something positive for yourself, and you’ll enjoy the effects in much bigger ways than you’d expect. I can promise you, you won’t only be feeling positive for the time you’re away.
You’ll start a positive cycle
Before we committed to our trip, my boyfriend was like, “Vacations are a waste of money. I’d rather just work and work and work and work so I can afford to buy a huge house I’ll never be in because I’m always working to pay for it.” Okay, he didn’t say it exactly like that, but you get the idea. Now that it’s over, he too can’t wait for the next one.
Why? Because taking the plunge the first time will start a cycle that you won’t want to stop. Instead of going round and round, where you can only see as far as the end of the week, start a cycle that enables you to look up from the now, and start looking ahead to the exhilaration in the future. Once one trip is over, start thinking about planning your next one. You will be in a perpetual state of hope and excitement. Isn’t that what we all want?
Plan a vacation today. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Just do it.
I totally get it. You’re an ambitious, busy, go-getter. You want to feel beautiful the easy way. Makeup and products are a huge help, but they’re not permanent fixes. (Although they are pretty great 🙂
Here’s my challenge to you. I want you to clear three days of your schedule. Just three days. Of course, a few more days is always nice, but we can start small. Find a nice destination a few hours away from your home, and make a reservation. There’s no turning back now. Not that you’ll want to. Your beauty awaits.
You can thank me later.
That’s all for today!
Related: How to Write A Foolproof Travel Packing List
If you find this post informative, interesting, or just plain entertaining, tell me about it in the comments below. And don’t forget, sharing is caring. Share this post!
Till next time! ♥︎
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FTC- Not sponsored by and products mentioned. I purchase all products myself. All opinions are my own. Some links may be affiliated.
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