What will It take to get your Summer Vacation off the Ground?

Summer is one of the biggest travel seasons of the year and the idea of a summer trip should be a root cause for excitement in our lives. But what happens when the idea of a summer vacation becomes a source of stress for us?

There can be a variety of reasons why a vacation can be perceived as a problem and it is important to identify why something as pleasurable as a summer trip has become a source of stress. One reason may be our roles in other people’s lives. Life can get more complicated as we get older and we may face a different game plan where people very close to us require our attention because of health issues.

Nobody can really plan for these kinds of sudden, profound life changes, but it is important to figure out how and where our new world fits into our current lives. You may even ask yourself whether you can even take a summer trip without a profound sense of guilt about your absence from a loved one.

There is nothing wrong with people who are concerned about their loved ones and how well the person with health issues will function if the caregiver takes a summer vacation. However, the answer is not to simply cancel a vacation because of the situation. A better game plan is to examine what steps can be taken to ensure the loved one will not face problems while we are on a summer trip.

How can we take and enjoy a vacation without guilt about these new realities in our lives? The easiest way is to examine the support system around the loved one and figure out how the support system can be altered to handle our absence. The assurance that everything is covered while we are on a trip is an achievable goal in most cases. We can develop a game plan where we can take a stress-free vacation if we accept the notion that other people can (and are willing to) jump into our role for a week or two.

One of the more positive elements of my job is when I discover the inner strength in people and their ability to make positive changes in their lives. I often challenge people to move beyond the reasons they cannot do something and focus on ways they can make things happen in their lives. They may have become so focused on the obstacle that they cannot even envision a way past the barrier and I want them to think about how they can make the necessary changes. My role is to coach them into other choices they may not have even considered because they came to an emotional standstill at the problem. I help them find that inner strength to make a decision about their lives.

Even a decision to take a summer vacation can be done without stress or guilt if we look at our choices to make it happen in our lives. We can learn from our past experiences and take care of the details before we take the trip. We will learn we can take vacations and our world back home will not collapse during our brief absence.

We can also learn how (and what) to pack from past experiences. We need to carry our passports, travel insurance, foreign currency for out-of-country travel, and a realistic amount of clothes to fit into our actual needs for the trip. Some may even consider dietary supplements like powdered smoothies that travel well because local food choices may not suit their health needs.

The final point is quite simple: the most important part of the equation is the vacation and we should feel pure excitement about the idea, even if we have encountered new challenges in our lives. We just need to get past the “What if?” anxiety of a vacation idea and get onboard with the “Why not?” vacation idea to make it happen.