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Jun

2020

5 Reasons to Go on A Road Trip

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Have you been feeling tired and stressed from your daily routine? Even for those stuck at home; a break in routine is still needed every once in a while. You long to go out and get away from it all. That’s just one of the reasons to go on a road trip.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
— John Lubbock, The Use of Life

A road trip is an opportunity to give your mind and body a rest. It’s a quick getaway that gives back huge benefits for your overall wellness. Who doesn’t want to enjoy the relaxing sights and sounds of nature without being rushed for time? We’re sure you have friends and colleagues who feel the same way. So why not put your heads together and plan for a road trip?

Here are just some of the many good reasons why you should absolutely go on a road trip.

1. Take a Break

When you’re bored with your daily routine or too stressed out to work, you lower your productivity. So instead of risking burn out, why not burn calories having fun on a road trip instead? A break from your usual weekend routine will also change your mindset and energy. It may even inspire new ideas on how you can make work more fun and productive.

If you usually spend your weekends catching up on sleep and still feel groggy on Mondays; that’s one of the good reasons to go on a road trip. Travel can help change your usual sluggish pace. Spending time in nature is always a good way to recharge. Plan a quick swim on the nearest beach or go trekking or biking on a nature trail. Enjoy breathing in the fresh air and take a walk on the ground with bare feet to ground you again and feel the health benefits.

2. Explore a New Place

Pick a place near your area that can be travelled by car that you’ve never been to before. Local travel may not seem as attractive an experience as your dream travel destinations. But you won’t know what gems you’ll find in your own backyard if you don’t go to experience them yourself. Another one of the reasons to go on a road trip is to help businesses in your locality. Ask your colleagues and friends for suggestions.

Is there a tourist spot that some of you have heard of that you want to check out? Have you visited a historical place near your city? Never tried taking a trek on a forest trail? Have you always wanted to climb a mountain? Would you rather have a food trip at some local town?

Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
— Dalai Lama

There are so many choices and possibilities. Just be sure not to put too much on your itinerary. A road trip should be a relaxing and fun experience. It should not be stressful; that’s what you’re trying to get away from.

3. Strengthen Relationships

There’s no question about it. Spending time together deepens the bond between people. That’s why you develop friendships in the workplace. You get to know each other’s personal quirks and preferences in the planning stage and you will learn even more about each other as you experience new things together during your travel.

On a road trip, you do not only get to bond with your friends, you also get to know new people. The stories you share with each other will help you understand each other more deeply than just casual work conversations. This is why people who travel together often go back to work with private jokes that only they understand. Some great friendships began with a road trip and some acquaintances become life long friendships because of a road trip. The people who you meet during your trip could become your very good friends later on too.

Stressed out from your love life or lack thereof? That’s another of the good reasons to go on road trip! It might just be the chance to meet “The One” that you’ve been waiting for.

4. Rediscover Yourself

Travel allows us to discover something new about ourselves. A new environment gives you the chance to reflect on yourself and be more aware of things you always took for granted. Sometimes, it even gives us the opportunity to change our own beliefs and habits and expand our minds to understand different points of views.

You may discover that you actually like listening to the songs of a local artist that a colleague likes to play on their mobile phone. It might just be the right song to accompany you on your road trip. It can even inspire the whole theme of your road trip or vice versa. You might find a new dish that you’ve never tasted before and it might inspire you to learn how to cook. Maybe you rediscover your creative side from encountering some local crafts or art.

You never know what you will learn about yourself once you get out of your comfort zone. What you discover may help improve your life or even drastically change it for the better. One of the best reasons to go on a road trip is that it might turn out to be the first step to your best life yet.

5. Create Lasting Memories

Time is something that you can never get back. You can always get a new job but never more time, so why not spend it making good memories?

Try to go on a road trip whenever you feel that you need to. Get together with the friends who want to experience new things with you too. Laugh together about the funny stories that you have from your childhood; cry together while reading a letter to your past, heartbroken self over a bonfire on the beach; sing along to your road trip play list; gaze at the stars on a clear night away from city lights and traffic; sleep to the sound of waves gently crashing on the beach; wake up to the sound of birds chirping.

There are so many things to appreciate and wonder at when you travel, and that’s just another one of the many good reasons to go on a road trip. Remember that the journey is the real adventure, the destination is not as important.

Enjoy the road trip with the wonder of a child and get back from the trip more grown up and hopefully, with a greater appreciation of yourself, your travel buddies, your country and the world in general. But don’t just take our word for it. Go on a road trip and experience it for yourself.

Updated. First published on Pinoy Smart Living 2019.07.16.
Featured Image: Original Photo by picjumbo.com from Pexels.

May

2020

Spend Money on Experiences Instead of Things

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Society is constantly developing into a more high-paced environment causing burnout from our daily jobs. This is not just because of the pressures of the job environment but of the external environment as well. While keeping a good job is hard, keeping up with the Jone’s is an even harder issue to deal with. This is why you should not neglect taking time off from work. A vacation leave not only prevents you from crashing and burning out in the workplace; it also serves as an escapade from having to fulfill unnecessary “obligations” to people you’re not even close with. It is because of this that you should take time off and relax. Go on vacation. Pamper yourself. Spend money on experiences instead of things.

When you’re away on vacation or just taking a mini break from your usual environment; you gain more freedom to do what you want without having to please anybody else. This is the kind of breathing space that everyone needs from time to time. If your current level of wellness is not at it’s optimal state, spending time on a new experience is definitely helpful.

There are other reasons why you should spend more time and money on experiences rather than things. Here are 5 of them:

Feeling Good is Better Than Just Looking Good

Clothes can make you look good but if you’re feeling unwell, your clothes won’t be able to hide it (not all the time anyway). On the other hand, even if your clothes are just plain and simple, if you feel good inside, it will definitely show.

A good workout and healthy habits, like having a set of morning habits, are an important part of feeling and looking good. So before you splurge on more clothes and shoes (I know, I’ve been there), think of pampering your body first. A trip to the spa or a massage might be a better plan of action than blowing your budget at the department store.

Learning Something New Can Inspire You

New information opens up our mind to new possibilities and inspire us to form new life goals or pursue dormant ones. Engaging in the learning experience itself also provides you with a sense of purpose and accomplishment that you may not find in your regular job.

More importantly, it allows you to connect with different kinds of people and form new relationships; helping you to further expand your perspectives and social network. No one is too old to learn something new, so follow your heart and find something that interest you and learn about it in whatever way you can.

When you go to the office and have new things to teach your co-workers, doesn’t that scenario feel much better than the usual conversation by the office cooler?

Experiences Enhances Your Emotional Health

A dinner out, a staycation or a vacation is not just a good way to unwind but also enhances our emotional health. Staying out of a stressful environment obviously has benefits to your physical health but it has positive effects to your emotional health as well.

It opens you up to new things to appreciate, wonder about and be interested in. Yes, there might be moments that you will complain about but overall, a travel experience leaves lessons and memories that you can never buy with money.

A vacation is also a chance to get to know yourself better. New experiences present new challenges such as having to get along well with people, that gives you satisfaction and leaves you with more confidence when you have overcome the challenge. For example, you may succeed in overcoming a situation which requires a lot of your self-control.

Of course, a vacation also means you can make new friends, taste new food, experience different cultures and even discover a new interest or a new side to yourself you never knew you had.

When you go home from a vacation, your only proof are your scars or your sunburn, photographs, souvenirs and your memory of all your experiences. When you look back on them and tell your stories, you always realize how precious those times were. Some people regret taking a particular vacation but most vacations end up as good memories that we always want to recall again and again.

Giving is Better Than Receiving

We usually have a weekend routine of going to the mall with family or with friends. Try volunteering your time and energy for a good cause and get a different sense of satisfaction.

You don’t have to volunteer for a charitable foundation or event. Just the act of giving time to a friend for a heartfelt conversation; volunteering to clean the house while the rest of the family is away or cooking for your friends at home rather than eating in a restaurant, gives you a different sense of accomplishment from the usual pleasure of going to the mall.

Helping does not only give us a different kind of satisfaction, it also enhances our sense of self-worth. Don’t wait to be asked for help. Volunteer and see for yourself what kind of satisfaction it brings when you see the light of gratitude spark in the eyes of the person who appreciated your efforts.

You may have many more reasons to add to this simple list. Go ahead and try them out. The point is to spend more time in taking care of yourself and strengthening your sense of self so you have more motivation and energy to go through your daily activities.

So don’t refuse to take time off, take that vacation, splurge on that spa session, get that massage. You must also make sure that you include activities that help improve your wellness in your daily routine. You can get another job, but you can’t get another body. Take care of yourself first. Put yourself number one in your list of things to do.

Updated. First published in Pinoy Smart Living 07.19.2018
Feature Image: Original Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash.