It's that time of year. The sun is out, schools are almost out, and it's time to get moving about.... But people don't take as much holiday as they could. Or should. Quite apart from the wellbeing benefits that spring from leaving the work-a-day world behind, travel can broaden and nourish the mind in ways that can benefit not just you the person but you at work.
In this article we are sharing with you, Mind Tools Editor, Kevin Dunne, reflects on the importance of taking a break from work and studies, and the lessons he learned from his extended trip to South America.
Pack your bags
According to a recent report, annual leave taken in the U.K. fell by nearly eight per cent between 2022 and 2023. Another survey reported that "less than a third of U.S. employees had a whole week off work in 2023."
So why aren't people taking their vacation? The reasons given included:
deadline pressures.
fear of coming back to a bigger workload.
wanting to look dedicated to the job.
taking the money instead of time off.
But working or studying too long without a break can mean overwhelm, a struggle to concentrate, anxiety and, ultimately, burnout.
A holiday, or even a short break, can help to fix all of these things. It reduces stress, aids better sleep, and you get to spend quality time with your loved ones. You feel better. But on top of that, just over the horizon, are other long-lasting benefits - ones that can help you in the workplace.
It's a jungle out there
Any time you go away, you probably come back with more than just a suntan and a credit card bill – without even realizing it. Things like new skills, more confidence, and maybe even a different mindset.
Going on vacation means planning, preparation, research. It will certainly mean adapting to new environments and dealing with the unexpected. It can mean having a mindset that sees a problem as an opportunity.
To navigate all of that, you’ll need skills like building rapport, reading other people, using your instinct to judge situations. Just like you do at work.
Six lessons I learned on the road
Why am I saying all of this? Well, earlier this year, I took off with my partner and left it all behind.
What started out as a plan for a sabbatical (kids all off to college, we’re not getting any younger, etc.), turned out to be an extended holiday from England to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
And apart from having a wonderful, unforgettable time, I learned stuff too. Like the value of:
1. Switching off
Just having a break in the diary changes how you feel about life. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the daily grind of head down, go to work, pay the bills.
It's easy to forget to smell the roses, to hear the birds, to be mindful of the good things in life. Knowing you're going away can give you a new, positive perspective.
2. Planning, research, preparation
If you’re going to make the best of your time away, you need to be organized. That means to-do lists, checklists, meeting deadlines. What inoculations do you need? What visas are required? How safe are the places you're headed?
For our trip, everyone worried “will we be safe?” So, we used sites like the U.S. Department of State’s Travel Advisories and the U.K’s Foreign Office travel advice to find out.
Researching online where to stay, what places to avoid, and uncovering cultural behavioral insights helped us to get over our pre-travel anxieties.
And adopting normal, sensible precautions proved to be sufficient to ensure we had a beautiful, welcoming, friendly time.
3. Parking your bias (it's holding you back)
Catching a cab at midnight on arrival in Bogota, I was a little edgy and out of my comfort zone.
But by and by, my unconscious – and conscious – biases melted away. And nowhere did they do that quicker than in Medellin, the murder capital of the world in the 1980s and 90s.
Suffering as it did under the reigns of terror brought down by the drug traffickers, right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing revolutionaries, its positive transformation is staggering.
Take Comuna 13, for instance. Once the most dangerous neighborhood in the world’s most dangerous city. These days it's firmly on the tourist trail, thanks to its legendary graffiti, street dance, lively bars, restaurants, and breathtaking views across the Andean metropolis. So I thought, "Don't get in your own way, embrace new perspectives."
4. Building rapport
When you’re travelling in a strange land, you're going to need people's help. So don’t be afraid to ask. And most people do want to help.
What makes the big difference is being able to make a connection; not so easy when you don't speak the language. But we studied Spanish for weeks ahead of our trip and tried to speak it everywhere we went.
People really appreciated that. What also helped was paying attention to body language – eye contact, facial expression, gestures. Is this person genuine or are we getting scammed? Do we look open and friendly?
And mimicking other people's way of communicating helps; if they're loud and expressive, be likewise. The same goes for softly-spoken and gentle. These simple things help to connect people who don't know each other.
5. Being agile
When it comes to strategy, it's best to understand we live in a VUCA world: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous.
To be prepared for this, you need to keep up with events; in your field, your company, your profession. In short, you need to be agile – ready and able to respond quickly and effectively to emerging opportunities and threats.
In our case, I was about to book our bus back from Peru through Ecuador for our return flight. Then the news came through: in Guayaquil, where we were headed, armed drug gangs had invaded a TV studio, sparking a spate of arson attacks, car bombings, shootings and prison riots. A rapid change of plan was required.
6. Recognizing problems can be opportunities
Flying back from where we were was hugely expensive. So instead we flew into the Amazon for a fraction of the price and took a boat down river to where Peru, Brazil and Colombia meet, and flew back from there.
The Amazon, which we never planned on seeing, was amazing, crazy and beautiful. We even walked a mile into Brazil for lunch on our last day!
Back at my desk, after seeing Medellin’s transformation, I realized you can never be too bold. Things you don’t think are achievable actually are.
And that no matter how well you plan you can’t mitigate for everything and often we are at the mercy of events.
What you can do is be prepared, be adaptable, flexible and ready to challenge your assumptions.
Travel builds your confidence to tackle whatever the world throws at you. And it will throw something.
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