How not to get exhausted during summer holidays – 4 lifesaving tips.

End of school year is a relief for many parents – no more homework to check, activities to drive to, following school emails and newsletters. And yet, many parents have been already planning the long 2 month summer vacations for their offspring well in advance. Summer camps, students jobs, the accommodation for fresh university entrants need to be secured well in advance. The family holidays maybe even sooner. If not, we are running out of options, the prices get astronomical and so our blood pressure values. Each time we hit the search button on internet we have countless options where to go but also where not to go – floods, fires, too many tourists, rising temperatures, strikes at the airports. But we still search for the paradise, although the paradise has long been lost. There are too many of us searching for calmness away from daily life that we often make frantic ourselves.

Supposedly we have made our plans, booked the trip(s) and we feel excited, now anticipating the weather conditions, checking what could we do or see or whom to pay a visit. We plan every day, every detail, trying to accommodate all family members and at the same time sensing that we can burn, not only from the sun exposure but burn out from too many expectations.

1.        It is good to be prepared – to know a little bit about the place, surroundings, cultural habits, daily rhythm. But let´s not overdo it. The disappointment comes always from too many expectations. Allow for imperfections – in the hotel, apartment, in the quality of food, services, weather, transport, time in queues, mood of your co-travelers. Check your criticism tendency – am I complaining because something is really wrong (delayed flight but no info) or the criticism comes from the entitlement (I pay a lot for this restaurant so the waiter needs to be quick, not confuse my food with someone´s else's, cheerful and food impeccable)?

2.        Forget about FOMO (fear of missing out). Yes, we come to a new destination that offers spectacular places, sights, cultural events to see. But we do not need to see it all. Often seeing all means running all the time, having tight schedules, especially when these days we are supposed to book museum visits for a specific time slot. Pick few highlights you want to visit and allow slow pace exploration. Afterwards stop in nearby shops, hidden cafés, go in the streets with no „points of interest“ marked in the tourist guide.

3.        Be open for days of doing "nothing"or eventually let your companions not do something you really wish them they do with you. We have the tendency to think that other people share with us the same vision of leisure time, same passion for sports or art. This is more of a wishful thinking than reality. Learn to do alone the things that bring you energy during some days of your family holidays. Accept that for somebody recharging batteries means reading the whole day, or sipping caffe freddo at a bar watching the sunset.

4.        Holidays back in your home country? Everybody wants to see you – larger family, old friends and in between you want to squeeze theater or cinema outing? Again, you cannot have it all – to accommodate many people and at the same time to rest. Ask beforehand whether you really want to see someone or you feel it more as an obligation. The inner pressure that we are supposed to maintain old friendships and that we owe it to our families might be strong. Listen to your gut feeling and act out of love towards yourself. Saying no to one thing respectfully means saying yes to something else. Maybe yourself.

We are all looking forward to summer holidays. We speculate often that it is because we need a break from our work, kids´ school routine, we need sun and mountains or seaside. But if we sit in a quiet place, just with our breath and closed eyes and we picture summer time, often those images, smells, feelings, atmosphere that open up in our mind are connected to moments of calm, presence, freedom, warmth, cheerfulness, lightness of being. We have all experienced that when we were children, adolescents, young adults.

Now, in order to not be exhausted at the end of summer, we can make these moments happen again but we need to slow down. We need to do less and expect less from others and ourselves. Maybe this year´s summer holiday can be the one that shifts our focus from doing it all to being fully present for sufficient time at one place, with people we care about.   Then in September we may try to apply the experience to our everyday lives. Happy summer time.