Experiences – Life – Inspiration 🇨🇭🇯🇵

There was a time in my life when I couldn’t imagine getting through the year without two or three vacations.

A ski trip here. A beach week there. These breaks felt absolutely essential—like oxygen. Without them, I’d run on empty.

But some years ago, this has shifted.

I noticed I no longer feel the need to “get away” so often. And I started wondering—why?

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🧠 The Science Behind Needing a Break

It turns out, this isn’t just personal. Research supports what many of us experience without fully understanding it.

When our daily lives are filled with stress or feel disconnected from what truly matters to us, vacations often serve as a recovery tool. A study in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that people often feel happier and more satisfied right after a vacation, but the effect fades quickly once they return to their normal routine.

It’s not that the vacation wasn’t enjoyable—it’s that the underlying stress was never resolved.

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🔁 The Burnout Cycle

For many, this leads to a cycle:

Work hard → feel depleted → take a vacation → recover → return to burnout.

Sound familiar?

I used to live in that loop too. But something changed when I began spending more time doing work I actually care about. Work that feels creative, meaningful, and energizing—even when it’s challenging.

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🎯 Flow: The Opposite of Burnout

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term “flow”—a mental state where we’re so engaged in an activity that we lose track of time and feel deeply fulfilled.

Flow isn’t just enjoyable—it’s good for us. People who regularly experience it report:

• Lower stress
• Greater focus
• Higher life satisfaction

I’ve found that when my days include more moments like this—whether I’m flying drones, editing videos, writing, or just being outdoors—I feel less drained. And because I’m not constantly burning out, I don’t crave escape in the same way.

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🌍 Not Everyone Feels This Way—And That’s Okay

This doesn’t mean I never want a vacation again. It also doesn’t mean that if you do need a break, something is wrong with you.

We all have different lives, responsibilities, and energy levels. Some people find real renewal in regular time off—and that’s valid and healthy.

But for anyone who finds themselves counting the days until their next vacation, maybe it’s worth asking:

What is my day-to-day life asking for? Is there a way to build more joy, creativity, or control into it—so that I’m not always waiting to escape it?

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✨ Vacations as Exploration, Not Escape

These days, I still love travel—but for different reasons.

Instead of needing to disconnect completely, I now see trips as chances to explore, be inspired, and deepen what I already enjoy. There’s no urgency to “unplug.” And that shift, for me, feels like real freedom.

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💬 Final Thought

Needing fewer vacations doesn’t mean I’m always productive or have life figured out. But it does point to one thing: I’m living in a way that feels more aligned with what matters to me.

And maybe that’s a question worth asking ourselves:

What would a life look like if we didn’t constantly need a break from it?

Not because we’re superhuman.

But because we’ve chosen a path that nourishes us—little by little, day by day.