This is the time when many of us would be looking forward to a vacation – some time in the sun in a place that does not require dress shirst and where flip flops are the order of the day.
But not this year. This year many of us are staying home. Again. Air travel is still fraught with delays and conflicting guidelines and don’t get me started on the cost of gas. It’s alternatively sad, frustrating and exhausting. Not feeling comfortable going anywhere is hard for introverts and extroverts. Its a universal pain in the neck.
Here are some things you can do to help deal with the vacation situation.
Plan a trip anyway — get on your favourite travel site and plan a trip for next year. You don’t have to actually buy anything. Just scroll though the hotels, islands, museums and restaurants in the area. Everyone has a list of places they would like to go – just starting building itineraries for each one.
Hop on Youtube and find walking tours of an nice tropical or historic area. With a large screen and some headphones, this can feel quite immersive and refreshing. There are also tours of many museums and galleries on Youtube. You can do this with fancy VR googles for a really far out experience.
Take a day off. Plan ahead and actually book it in your work calendar. Sure, you might glance at your email but no meetings and nothing due. The act of looking forward to the day is, in itself, a little bit uplifting. What you do with the day is up to you. I took Monday off and spent the morning on the couch with coffee and magazines. It was quite delightful.
Change your routine. It can be something small like having breakfast for dinner or something major like rearranging your furniture or something really big like getting a new pet.
In the end, just the act of doing something new will open your eyes and cause you to see things a little differently as you take that short commute to your home office or that longer commute to your corporate office.
Recruiter's Couch 