ARIANA SOTELO

The Mirror

Everyone needs a break once and a while and vacations are the best way to get that time off from work, school and another day to day tasks.

Vacations can have both physical and psychological benefits. Psychologically they can reduce stress, cause people to be more positive and make them want to work harder to achieve their goals, according to Allina Health.

“Students and people, in general, tend to come back more rested, relaxed and happier, after given an enjoyable break,” Anthony Altmann a teacher at Stevens Point Area Senior High (SPASH) said.

There are also many ways that a vacation can help someone physically. According to Take Your Time Back going on vacation can lower the risk of heart disease. The article stated, “Men who vacationed regularly were more than 32% less likely to die from a heart attack. For women who vacation regularly, that figure jumps to 50% less likely to die from a heart attack.”

Take Your Time Back also showed how vacations can help to prevent illnesses by de-stressing the body. Stress can affect the immune system which can lead to different illnesses, but when you take a vacation it gives your body time to recuperate so that it is less likely to get sick. It can improve your quality of sleep by at least 20 percent.

With all the benefits a vacation can bring it should be a top priority for most people but today many Americans aren’t taking vacations. According to the Cable News Network (CNN), part of the reason could be that employers aren’t mandated to give vacation time and the time off is seen as more of a bonus for the workers.

The reason people take vacations is to get away but that can be hard when a lot of the family members are also busy. Kids can have a hard time making up school work after a vacation and it can be hard for adults to get away from the constant work they deal with.

“The key reason people give for not taking vacations is that they don’t feel like they can leave work,” Author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One has the Time, Brigid Schulte said.

Americans could also be putting their vacations on hold because their parents before them never took the time to go on vacation. This makes it seem as though vacations are not important and therefore the children will never want to take that necessary time off.

For some people, it can be a struggle to set aside time for themselves, but there are plenty of things one can do to make going on vacation a regular thing. CNN suggests that writing down the date in a calendar beforehand can help to finalize and allow other aspects in your life to be organized around the date planned.

One of the most important things to do is have vacation be a priority and make it something that has to happen that can’t be skipped over. This will allow someone to make a commitment to themselves.