To Really Succeed You Have to Stop Working, and Do This Instead

Take some time to recharge with these vacation ideas

There’s a general consensus that taking breaks from intensive work is an essential part of continued success. Not only does a vacation help set deadlines for important projects, but the break from work also offers time for creativity to flourish. You’re likely to find yourself returning from a relaxing vacation with fresh ideas, renewed energy, and new insight into familiar problems. Perhaps counterintuitively, taking a vacation can help you develop better leadership skills.

However, it has to be a good vacation. Poorly-planned trips increase cognitive load and stress, which defeats the purpose of the trip. Harvard Business Review completed a study on the connections between travel, stress, and happiness and learned that “the less the stress, the more likely you will experience a positive benefit from the time off. A positive, well-managed vacation can make you happier and less stressed, and you can return with more energy at work and with more meaning in your life.” To do a vacation right, plan well ahead of time and find options that take care of the details for you. Here are five places to get you started.

Surf Resort

Kalon Surf, located on the beautiful Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, is home to some of the best surfing in the world. At this all-inclusive surf resort, everything is taken care of: surf lessons, food, and lodging. Just show up, and the rest is done for you. There are plenty of optional side activities for you to do between surf sessions if being active is what you’re after, but there’s also a spectacular beach to lounge on for serious downtime.

Mediterranean Cruise

One of the benefits of vacation is to get out of your daily world and immerse yourself in a different culture. A cruise offers a great balance of catered experience with cultural adventure. What better place to do that than in the gorgeous Mediterranean? These luxury cruises provide comfortable accommodations, excellent dining options, and various activities. The Crystal Serenity, for instance, offers classes on everything from wine to digital filmmaking, as well as seminars from renowned lecturers and industry leaders. And many of these cruise lines offer longer options: You can take a 50-day trip from Athens to Stockholm on the Viking Star.

Wellness Resort

The Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami, Florida, is a great option if your doctor has been telling you for a while that you need to pay more attention to your health. The center includes personalized exercise routines, private consults with various specialists, and classes in healthy living (cooking, psychological well-being, and others). Between these activities, spend some time in the pool or on the golf course.

Mountain Retreats

If a back-to-nature experience is what helps you recharge, there are wilderness resorts that provide comfortable lodging while putting you right in the middle of beautiful skiing or hiking territories. The Clayoquot Wilderness Resort in the Canadian Rockies offers the best in glamping accommodations as well as plenty of activities and fine dining. If you want to go further abroad, check out the Chedi Andermatt in the Swiss Alps. The site includes Finnish baths and a courtyard ice rink.

Cultural Immersion

For some, the thrill of experiencing a different culture is exactly the change of scenery they need to shed the stresses of work. To get a full experience without getting lost in booking all the details yourself, turn to an organization like National Geographic Expeditions. They offer all-inclusive trips ranging from one to two weeks, on average, across the globe. If you want to delve into Europe’s cultural heritage, check out the “Human Origins” trip that takes you from Spain to France and includes visits to several sites in the charming Dordogne region. For the ultimate in luxury travel, book a trip around the world by private jet, which takes you along a northern route and lasts 22 days. Experts at stops along the way share knowledge about history, culture, ecology, and geology.

To get the full benefits of taking time off work, schedule your vacations before you’re burnt out, and make them a regular thing. And though it will be hard, putting your phone and computer away as much as possible while you’re gone will help your brain get the downtime it needs.

Written by: Hilary Thompson

Hilary is a freelance writer, small business owner, and travel junkie. With a background in content strategy, journalism, and business management, she loves to explore solutions for success, in all areas: health, business, parenting, life.