The following applies to any day, whether it’s in your day-to-day life, or on vacation.  One measure of a successful life is whether your vacation days are an amplification of most aspects of your daily life, just perhaps in a different setting like the beach.  Making the choice to stay home for a vacation (when money isn’t the issue) is a great indicator that you have tailored your life well. The following is ordered roughly in the order of difficulty, the first being the easiest, so if you’re forming new practices, start there.

I used to say this to my wife, and she really didn’t know what to make of it.  Our family is fairly typical in that it feels overscheduled both in day-to-day life and during summer break. Because I was unhappy in my marriage and unfulfilled at work, I also made plenty of time for mountain-biking and climbing, including camping trips where both could happen (good times!).

After major setbacks two years ago, including a near-divorce, being cut from a defending national champion ultimate team for personality reasons, and suffering from medical burnout, I started down a path of self-inquiry.  I quickly found myself on a path of necessary self-improvement as the extent of my disengagement from life became clear.