United States
International
Events
Where to sleep – Reviews
Travel Gear to Use
Flying Tips
Driving Tips
Back Pain & Stress Relief
Stress free travel
The dive dock at Kasawari Resort, Lembeh Straits, Sulawesi.
Recipe for how to ruin a vacation:
- 1 part crazy and long work schedule
- 1 part too little sleep
- Add rushed, fast food meals
- Eat too little or too much
- Mix in too little water, too much caffeine, and alcohol
- Sprinkle with too little exercise
- Stir and discover that your hard-won vacation may fall victim to anger, sickness and stress.
This recipe has been tested thoroughly. It led to me sacrificing a full day of scuba diving in one of the most exotic locations in the world – Lembeh Straits, Indonesia. It doesn’t matter whether you’re traveling across the planet or across town. Leaving home overly tired, stressed, poorly nourished and dehydrated can sabotage any trip.
Tea served once we finally arrived on the other side of the world.
The good:
It was a pleasure to find electric plugs and USB connections on our Singapore Airlines flight to Narita, Japan. The meals in our Economy seats were unlike anything served outside of first class on any American airlines. They handed out warm, moist towels once we were airborne! Wine and spirits were gratis (although not a good idea when working to counteract jet lag).
The bad:
While the trip, planned months before, was looming, I choose poorly and set up meetings, events, promotions and a flurry of detailed tasks before getting out of town. To top it off, I let my traveling partner know I needed to work while on the road. Good WiFi was key. However no matter what the airlines, airports or our resort promised, it was too often spotty, extremely slow or expensive.
The ugly:
By the third day of the trip, I found myself too sick to panic. My head pounded in an unusual way. My usually vigorous appetite disappeared. Trusty Ibuprofen did little. Usually a light sleeper, I could barely move my head off the pillow and afternoon naps stretched into the wee hours of morning.
My companions were worried too. One doctor in the group generously made a house call and gently asked a dozen questions. Rest, more painkillers and lots of water were prescribed. I spent a full day in bed while my friends were out muck-diving and playing in some of the most beautiful waters in the world.
Luckily for me the dark clouds lifted and within 24 hours I was feeling nearly normal. Dinner was doable and I re-joined the group for a birthday party with the locals. I abstained from drinking alcohol or eating too much sugar. By the next morning I was back in the water and the rest of the trip went well, as long as I moderated my eating, sleeping and didn’t over-extend.
What the doctor ordered. Kasawari Resort, Lembeh Straits, Sulawesi
Lesson learned.
Don’t follow the recipe for how to ruin a vacation! I hope this helps you or your travel buddies avoid my mistakes and that you never compromise your precious vacation time.
I recognize the recipe, my husband uses to work too much before the holidays. Once we are on the road, we normally gets sick by the third day or so…
Sounds like he had a grueling schedule. We all hope to learn from our mistakes.
Oh gosh you so got the recipe for ruining your vacation down pat! Sorry it happened, especially when you needed to work/travel. And bummer about the scuba diving trip – could you change the day for another time? Indonesia sounds amazing! At least you were up for the Birthday party 🙂
Thanks, Lisa. I think I’ve learned my lesson and haven’t had any problems since. The day off yielded other boons. I was able to take lots of pictures and visit with the staff. When you get lemons make lemonade, as they say. I would’ve loved to be in the water but all went well later.
Although you cant’ avoid viruses, some lessons could be learned, like trying to take it a little easy on yourself for a couple of weeks before the big trip. Would be nice to take time off before and after and rest some, but it is not often realistic- what we CAN do thought is PLAN the prepping part and not leave the packing and other errands to last minute and try not to overbook the tasks before we leave.
So true about the packing and errands not being left to the last minute. I’ve learned my lessons.
Lesson learned, but I think we’ve all done it. Trying to get everything done at work that needs doing before you leave, trying to get everything done at home that needs doing before you leave, plus pack. You plan to get work done on the road (during downtown-ha!), but wi-fi is slow or non-existent. On my last three-week trip I finally gave up and just enjoyed the trip.
You are so right – sounds like we’ve all done and I so hope that the lesson’s learned.
Lesson learned, but I think we’ve all done the same. You rush until the very last minute trying to get everything done at work that needs doing before you can leave and at the same time get everything done at home that needs doing before you can leave–plus pack. I tried working on my last three-week trip and found the same problem–spotty or non-existent wifi and little to no connection with my hotspot. I finally gave up and decided to just enjoy the trip since there was nothing I could do about it.
Funny how not having WiFi can lead to enjoying the trip more. What have we become?!
Yikes, I’m sorry you’re sharing these tips out of personal experience, but I’m glad you were able to rally and enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Thanks, Katrina. I feel sometimes professional travelers gloss over the challenges of living life on the road. My hope is the confessional helps others avoid the same pitfalls.
Great tips! I always completely disconnect from work when I’m on vacation. I always feel like if I promise to work during vacation, I’d be stressed out about internet connection and such, and be unable to fully enjoy my travels. I get that we can’t always disconnect completely though!
Another thing that I find ruins vacations is planning too many things into a day. I’ve been too ambitious in the past, and tired out my travel partner who ended up being a little grumpy during the trip about sore feet!!
You’re blessed, Bryna, to be able to disconnect from work on vacation. I do it in waves only. Have to keep our travel buddies happy too, don’t we? As long as I’m able to communicate my needs before traveling things go better for all.
I was discussing this same topic with a coworker this past week. We agreed that is is a good practice to take the day before a long vacation off. In that way, you have time to rest and disconnect yourself from work. A day off before returning to work should be taken into consideration too.
Great tip, Ruth. Unfortunately for those of us self-employed the line between work and home, not working and working can get blurry. I wish I had the discipline. Luckily I love the work I’m so fortunate to do and that helps.
There are many ways in which you can ruin a vacation, but getting sick is not under your control so what can you do? I’m sorry you had a bad experience, but fortunately you recovered pretty soon and without any complications.
You’re right, sometimes you just get sick. Not a normal thing for my constitution though. When traveling you are subjected to all manner of new microbes, bacteria, strains of things. I now travel with my Rescue Remedy and Wellness Formula to take at first hint of getting sick.
This is so true! So often you start a holiday so strung out that the first few days are a write -off, and/or you fall victim to some virus or lurgy that you picked up on the plane. I try to make sure I super-hydrate the day before flying just to counter-act the drying effects of flying. In my experience, dehydration is one of the key contributors to feeling a bit off. (came here via #WeekendWanderlust)
Thanks, Fairlie, I’m learning so much from my fellow travelers. Yes, drinking enough water is important when flying for sure.
Our last getaway we left home from an extremely stressful 3 months. I had us all booked in for a treatment at the day spa on our first afternoon. I am sure it helped us all to relax and therefore enjoy our few days away.
I love that idea, Sally. Will definitely get a massage at the very least after the next stressful journey.
I’m glad your vacation wasn’t completely ruined by all your hasty pre-trip work. SCUBA diving is definitely one of the best things you can do in Indonesia. We saw so many of the same colorful fish that we used to keep in our saltwater tank, and many we’d NEVER seen before!
Did jet lag have any effect on the poor start to your trip? If so I can recommend a homeopathic remedy (appropriately called No Jet-Lag) from firsthand experience. We have not had any problems with adjusting our internal time clocks when we use it … even after a 32-hour journey/12-hour time change from D.C. to Bali.
Agree with you on the Singapore Air experience. Compared to domestic US airlines, even economy feels like first class.
Hi Linda, thanks and I’ve used No Jet Lag before. It must be used exactly as prescribed to work, I’ve found. The trip I detailed was compromised by the pre-trip stress and the fact that I didn’t get the sleep I usually do on long flights. We had a layover and I was so excited to explore Changi, then by the subsequent flights it wasn’t till I was swirling through traffic in Manado that I started to fail. Things happen and it turned into a good, cautionary tale!
This can happen to best and most experienced of us: all that last-minute stuff not getting quite finished, creating way too much stress before leaving on that dream trip. We have emptied out our house twice before taking off on long, open ended trips – so I know what I’m talking about. The good news: at the latest, 3 to 4 months down the track, the stress is all forgotten…
Three to four months for stress to be forgotten!LOL, Juergen.
I can relate. Trying to tie up every loose end and accomplish three weeks worth of work in the week before vacation is not a good thing. Hopefully, we’ve both learned.
Thanks for enduring my confessional. Hopefully, yes, we’ve both lived and learned.