Take a Break and Relax

take a break and relax

I wanted to do something fun and slightly edgy to celebrate turning 65. I decided to take a break and relax. I weighed lots of options and tossed around a lot of ideas and finally settled on going to Cuba.

Always interested in the history of this little island and remembering the turmoil of the late 50’s with Fidel and Che’s revolution, recalling the Cuban missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs, I decided I wanted to visit Cuba before Starbucks is there.

relax-1It took some planning.  I had to arrange to cover a significant amount of real estate business, details at home needed planning, travel matching with Dave’s schedule took some discussion.  We finally got it all together and off I went to meet Dave in Merida, Mexico where he was hosting a small group of travelers.  We met up, spent a day with his group, then flew to Havana for three days. And flew home.

Merida was beautiful. Cuba was interesting. The food was phenomenal. The weather ideal.

The trip was short. The travel days were long. There was a lot of walking and waiting. It was exactly what I wanted.

 

I was completely satisfied.

And, surprisingly,  it was relaxing.

As I reflect on the relaxing part, I realize that there was an element to the trip that was not relaxing, at all.  It started with a 15 hour travel day, followed by cars, planes, taxis, late nights, and more long days.

The relaxing part was that I made the decision to completely unplug for the time we were in Cuba.  Using my phone would be possible, but expensive.  We read that internet is sketchy at best. So, I just turned everything off; I took a break.

No phone. No email. No texting. No facebook.
No communication….for 52 hours. Nothing.

That is not a very long time… but it was lovely.  And relaxing.

Relax

 

I have a job that requires communication. I have family I want to stay connected to. I’m curious and love to research and write and read and have information ready when I need it (or want it).  I’m involved in our community.  I love having a smart phone and a laptop and a tablet.

Those 52 hours make me think about how stressful and energy-sapping being plugged in constantly is.  I am going to be better at intentionally giving myself regular quiet time with no connections for better energy and real relaxation.

 

 

What is one thing you can do to create space in the rhythm of your life to unplug and recharge?