Vacation — when you finally get to relax, rest, and take a much-needed break from regular life and the grind. And while we know that rest and recovery are an essential part of our lives, have you ever felt guilty on vacation? I know we sure have.
According to a new study by New View Strategies, one in three Americans feel a sense of guilt about taking time off. As Americans, we are programed to prize overworking. So when we are given the opportunity to take a vacation – it can feel pretty hard to relax.
Picture this, you’re walking the streets of Rome eating gelato and taking in the scenery. While one-half of your brain is admiring the beauty of Rome, and the gelato, the other half is feeling guilty for not answering emails waiting for you on your phone. Ridiculous? Indeed, but more times than not, due to our fast-paced lives, we find ourselves feeling a sense of guilt for changing our routine and being on vacation. Being “away.”
Maybe we feel uncomfortable declining a work call, or eating an extra plate of pasta in Italy, or even a sense of abandonment for leaving our kids at home with our parents.
Or maybe you’re like me and simply struggle to get out of your routine for a week or two.
“Many of us live in our to-do lists, with a constant stream of thoughts around what we should be doing and should be able to accomplish. When we are on vacation those thought patterns don’t necessarily turn off. Many people continue to think that they ‘should’ be accomplishing things, even during times that have been specifically designated for relaxation, leaving them with an undercurrent of feeling guilty,” says psychotherapist Kate Mercurio, LCSW.
Experiencing guilt on vacation is a real thing, and I’m here to talk about it and offer some ways to help. We all deserve a guilt-free vacation! Here are five things you should remind yourself to ease the vacation guilt.
1 It’s okay to be out of a routine.
Routines are great, they get us out of bed and keep us on track. But you know what is also great? Getting out of a routine. A routine wouldn’t be one if we didn’t take breaks and experience life a little bit!
2 Vacation is a reward we don’t always get, so when we do, we should enjoy it to the fullest extent!
Most people spend the majority of their lives working. And we’ve all heard the statistics of how many vacation days people are due and don’t take and ultimately lose. We’re idiots! We work from 9-5 (we all know it’s longer than that), which means we’re spending most of our day working and not resting or doing leisurely, fun activities.
If you are lucky enough to actually be on vacation — soak it all in! Feel guilty about blowing all the days off you had!
3 Work will be there when you get home.
I don’t think this one needs an explanation. Work is perpetual and will most definitely be there when you get home. Put down your phone and take in the scenery! Use your phone to take pictures.
4 Life is way too short to worry about an extra cannoli.
One of the best things about being on vacation is experiencing the food in different places around the world. I mean, who doesn’t love food? You don’t get to eat this food every day and that is exactly why you should try as much, and eat as much, of it as you want of it! Look at it as your duty as a citizen of the world, if you need to.
5 You earned it, and spent hard-earned money!
You work so hard so you can enjoy moments like a great vacation, do you really want to spend it feeling guilty the entire time? Any of the time? I know I sure wouldn’t!
Guilt is funny — I do not mean literally funny –- it creeps up on us in moments when we may not expect it, even on our vacations. It’s largely because of a culturally ingrained over-work ethic, that we have to do more, work harder, be more productive. It’s frankly a bit of a societal disease. And most of the rest of the world doesn’t share it.
But if you do get these feelings of guilt on your next vacation, I hope you look back at this list. You should take every second to be present and enjoy your vacation! (See 5 above.)