Vacations may be for living in the moment, but they aren’t only for that. Yes, your vacations are supposed to be your chance to break from your routine, banish work from your mind, and live it up, but they’re also about building memories that will last a lifetime. Vacations are crucial to your productivity and to your health. This is not only because you return to work relaxed and refreshed, but because treasured memories are happy things to look back on.
What makes a great vacation memory, though, and how can we build better ones? Let’s explore the ways in which we can experience and preserve the things that make our vacations special.
Put your phone away
Modern smartphones are powerful and useful. They can even be used to make your vacation planning easier and your vacation itself better. However, you need to beware because smartphones also have the power to ruin your vacation. It’s too easy to spend a whole trip looking at the sights through a smartphone camera and screen instead of with your eyes. Worse yet, you could be looking at something entirely unrelated on your phone.
Moreover, smartphones provide a point of access for our stressful work lives. Work-life balance means setting boundaries and, in turn, means reserving some time during which you won’t be reading every email that is sent your way. With that in mind, put your phone away once in a while.
Take your phone back out at the right moment
Smartphones can be a major distraction while you’re on vacation, but they’re also useful. These days, most of us walk around with a camera in our pocket. That’s just the thing for preserving memories, so don’t be afraid to take out your smartphone once in a while to snap memorable photos of yourself and your loved ones. Just be sure to focus on making memories and the people you shared them with. You can use Google Images to look at photos of Big Ben any time, so take a photo of yourself or your kids instead.
Also, be sure to save and share those photos securely. Augment the regular Android or iPhone photo storage that you have with extra cloud storage solutions. When your valuable photos are saved in the cloud, you won’t have to worry about losing them if your phone gets pickpocketed or dropped off of the Eiffel Tower.
Choose your destination wisely
Where will you spend your next vacation? As you plan the perfect spot, don’t just think about the relaxation you’re after (though that’s important, of course); think about what will make the entire group (whether two or 10 people) happiest.
Going on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a faraway location is a wonderful way to build memories, but so is heading to a familiar place and starting a family tradition. Maybe you’ll spend every summer vacation at the same lake, tying summer after summer’s worth of memories to that same place.
Consider the beauty of the space and the activities available there, suggest the experts at an Oregon casino that bills itself as a “site for shore eyes.” Memories are not things that you can simply manufacture but, let’s not fool ourselves, if you’re not doing anything, you’re probably not making very meaningful memories. With that, try to get yourself involved in something interesting and new while you’re on your trip (whether that means taking a surfing lesson or just going on a long walk with your family members or friends).
You’ll come back from your vacation feeling fresh. You’ll also return with more than just souvenirs; you’ll have wonderful memories to think back on.
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