1. Don’t set expectations too high

2. Leave the electronics at home

3. Keep the required activities to a minimum

4. Bring a journal or sketch book with you.  Allow a time of creativity in your day – not a writer or an artist?  Just write descriptive words of what you see around you on a page or bring some colored pencils or crayons and only draw lines or abstract shapes using the colors you see around you.

5. Open yourself to new experiences each day

6. Spend at least 30 minutes each vacation day by yourself on self-care

7. Realize that everything will not be perfect and everyone will not be perfectly well-behaved on vacation. By letting go of the expectation of perfection, you can give yourself permission to relax 

8. Realize what you can and cannot control.  You cannot control the weather, but you can control how you deal with the consequences – perhaps using this time to play a board game you haven’t played in years, or discover a small local haunt that you wouldn’t have explored in sunny weather.

9. Bring nature into your vacation.  Find an opportunity each day to notice what is around you outdoors.  Have a picnic and reconnect with the natural world around you.

10. Allow yourself at least one day to reacclimate to your life at home before going back to work