Make Your Vacation a Spectacular Escape

Ever notice that you have a fresh perspective at work right after you come back from vacation? Sometimes to solve challenging problems, you need to change your perspective. It often doesn’t matter what you change, but rather it is more important that you change something, anything.

To make that easier, here are some vacation possibilities. We'll start slowly, and work towards some more intriguing ideas...

1. Read, instead of watching TV.
2. Cook something yourself, instead of eating what others cook.
3. Smile, instead of frowning.
4. Observe details, instead of making assumptions.
5. Draw pictures, instead of using words.
6. Write with a pen and paper, instead of using a digital device.
7. Sit still for an hour, instead of filling every moment (a hammock helps).
8. Exercise, instead of running errands.
9. Play with children, instead of talking with adults. (Get down on your hands and knees.)
10. Walk, instead of driving.
11. Bicycle someplace really far away, instead of walking around your neighborhood.
12. Float on your back in water, instead of sitting in a beach chair.
13. Order a food you've never eaten, instead of ordering your usual choice.
14. Buy a magazine you've never noticed before, instead of reading the paper.
15. Go to a dog (or cat, or bird) rescue shelter and play with the animals, instead of going to a movie. Donate the cost of the movie to the shelter.
16. Be silly and impulsive, instead of rational.
17. Go to a very small town and walk all around it, instead of sticking to the popular destinations.
18. Read two books that have opposite perspectives, instead of just reading one to which you are naturally drawn.
19. Hire someone to examine your posture and make suggestions, instead of letting another year pass while your shoulders hunch even more forward.
20. Call your most distant relative, instead of letting more years pass without any contact.
21. Learn a new sport, instead of watching a favorite sport on TV.
22. Imagine an utterly different life, instead of worrying about how much work you will have to do after your vacation. Imagine every little detail of your new life, and don't restrict yourself to practical or realistic choices. It's a game! Let your imagination go wild.
23. Write to the most interesting person you can think of, instead of assuming he or she would never respond to a kind letter from a person they do not know. In my experience, most people will respond to an intelligent, substantive and positive note. If you handwrite it, your odds of a response go up exponentially.
24. Try using your non-dominant hand, instead of using the hand you've relied on every day since you were born. In recent years, I learned to use a mouse with my left hand and even to hit a squash ball with that hand. Doing so forces interesting changes in your body and brain.
25. Take really deep breaths, instead of breaths so shallow it is difficult for others to know whether you are actually breathing.

What are your suggestions? Add them below, and if we get enough, I will write a followup article that credits all contributions I use. Happy vacation!

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Bruce Kasanoff is co-author with Michael Hinshaw of Smart Customers, Stupid Companies. Bruce also has free ebook guides available at Kasanoff.com.

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Image credit: ExcitingSounds/Flickr

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