Ohio State nav bar

Skip to main content

The Ohio State University

  • Help
  • BuckeyeLink
  • Map
  • Find People
  • Webmail
  • Search Ohio State
  • Home
  • Food
  • Family and Relationships
  • Money
  • Mind and Body
  • Webinars
  • Authors

Family and Consumer Sciences

Live Smart Ohio

Ohio State University Extension

Topics:

The Ohio State University
You are here: Home / Mind and Body / Vacation . . . . . Take Time to Relax, Refresh and Recharge

June 17, 2016

Vacation . . . . . Take Time to Relax, Refresh and Recharge

CoveredBridge

Summer is almost here and many of us plan to take a vacation. Is yours planned with your tickets purchased and reservations made for special events or activities? Do you like a vacation that is unscheduled and allows you to “go with the flow” – enjoying activities as they present themselves? Do you travel to one location and explore the area as time, energy, and money allow? Some of us purchase a vacation package which takes some of the planning stress out of the vacation. Once you’ve selected your vacation and paid the fees, you can sit back and enjoy the cruise, trip or planned activities.

Many of us are very busy at work but need to take the time away to recharge our batteries. According to Christine Carter, Ph.D., Senior Fellow at the Greater Good Science Center, we must plan a vacation where we totally unplug and disconnect from work. Don’t check your email, call the office, or work on a special project. We need that time away from work. Sometimes I get my most creative ideas when I’ve had a true break from work.  Dr. Carter also suggests planning your re-entry back into the work week.  Allow a “catch up” day on your first day back. Be productive but realize that time will be spent responding to emails, phone calls and project tasks. Don’t over-schedule that first day back or you may negate the positive effects of your vacation.

A vacation doesn’t have to be expensive. Perhaps you decide to cut costs and have a “staycation” – where you stay at home but explore areas around where you live. We live in Ohio, where there are many covered bridges. It is easy to find a covered bridge within a few hours of home. Take pictures if you want to document the places you’ve seen. Explore what interests you – perhaps it is a festival, farmers market, covered bridge, old cemetery or state or national parks.

2016 marks the 100th Birthday of the National Park Service. Celebrate this birthday by finding a National Park near you. Check out their website and find a park near you.

Send a comment and share which one appeals to you.

NorthCountryTrail

 

 

 

Other vacation reminders:

  • If you will be out in the sun, wear sunscreen every day. Even if it is cloudy, you still need sunscreen.
  • Use your vacation as a physical activity opportunity. Take a walk at a park, on the beach or to visit a historical site.
  • Have fun! Have reasonable expectations about your vacation. Allow a little time for your family to adjust to being together all of the time. Plan a little “me” time into your vacation.
  • Take a book or a magazine that you want to read. Visit your local library for free books to take on your trip. Travel advisors, books-on-CD, print and digital books can add to your reading enjoyment.

Relax, kick back, rejuvenate and refresh. Everyone will benefit from the new “refreshed” you!

 

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Like this:

Like Loading...

REVIEWED BY: Joanna Fifner, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Medina County, fifner.2@osu.edu

SOURCES:

  • https://www.nps.gov/index.htm
  • https://www.nps.gov/subjects/centennial/index.htm
  • https://www.nps.gov/kids/features/2016/JrRangerCentennialBooklet.cfm
  • http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/you_do_have_time_for_a_summer_vacation

Categories: Mind and Body
Tags: Covered Bridge, National Park Service, Relax, staycation, Stress Relief, vacation

Avatar for Michelle Treber
Avatar for Michelle Treber

About Michelle Treber

Michelle Treber, LD, MA, is an Ohio State University Extension Educator, Family & Consumer Sciences in Pickaway County. Her area of specialization includes health, nutrition and wellness. Worksite wellness is a passion and she enjoys working with businesses to strengthen and develop their wellness programs. She is married and has a blended family of four adult daughters and one adult son. In her free time she enjoys gardening, walking, mixed media sewing, and biking. Spending time with her grandchildren is a joy. She has a 4 year old granddaughter and an infant grandson who live in Wales and 7 year old twins who live in North Carolina.

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

pen and paper

A Day of Mini Mindfulness Practices

ten minute timer

Top Ten Tips for Practicing Mindfulness

Finding your path to wellness webinar series presented in Spring 2024

mug

Winter Slump to Winter Wake Up

Follow Us!

  • Facebook

Footer

Need Assistance?

If you are having issues logging into the site, need assistance with updates, or need to request an alternate format please send an email to the EHE Service Desk at servicedesk@ehe.osu.edu stating the nature of your issue and we will assist you. Thank you.
Are you a Live Smart Ohio Author? Log in here!

Categories

  • Food
  • Family and Relationships
  • Money
  • Mind and Body
  • Webinars

Follow us!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
The Ohio State University
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN ECOLOGY
COLLEGE OF FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

© 2025 Live Smart Ohio - Family and Consumer Sciences | The Ohio State University - College of Education and Human Ecology | Accessibility | Privacy Policy

%d