Kids are finishing up school. It’s been a long year (OK, more like 15+ months but who’s counting?)! You and your family probably haven’t vacationed in 18 months or 2 years. Yes, it’s been that long for most! It’s that busiest travel time of the year and it’s time to plan another vacation. And, I’m letting you in on the secret that working moms can benefit from family travel!
Why make a vacation a priority? I’m sharing more on why vacation with family is important for working moms, both personally and professionally.
The travel bug bit me long ago
OK, I’ll admit I got the travel bug a long time ago. Throughout my childhood, I traveled with my parents to new places, often for long stretches. Eventually, I traveled solo, negotiating more vacation time as I started a new role. And I took every single vacation day. When I met my husband, we took an international trip when we first started dating. I wanted to ensure we would travel well together. And we started traveling with our older son (now 10) when he was 18 months. And took our first trip a few months later.
I’m always looking for the benefits of travel. And I love traveling with my boys. Really, though, there is more to it.
Why do we need time away from work?
Being the researcher by nature that I am, I looked into the importance of vacation. It turns out chronic stress [like that from work] is really bad for your body.1 That stress can affect everything from digestion to sleep to the body’s ability to fight infection.1 Your memory can start to suffer and you could start making worse decisions.1 These are only a few of the issues from stress, including work stress.
For those whose jobs use a lot of general brainpower, consider our minds aren’t designed to let us work for 8 straight hours a day without mental fatigue setting in. And the need to combat mental fatigue makes it important to integrate leisure time like a vacation into the mix.2
Benefits of travel
So now that I mentioned the negative impacts of too much work and stress in general, let’s switch to the benefits of leisure activities vacation. For starters, time away lets you recoup from work and the stress of everyday life.1 “Leisure activities, including taking vacations, contribute to higher positive emotional levels and less depression.”3 Vacation, especially to new places or where you see/learn new things, can help with personal and social development.1 From what I read, active vacations involving new challenges are most beneficial.1 Really, though, if hanging out at a beach is your thing, do it! Enjoy the time away whatever that time looks like.
Working moms can benefit from family travel
Even before the pandemic, working moms were likely the primary caregiver on top of the usual work hours. Add to that the impact of a pandemic. McKinsey shared in a recent study that during the pandemic, working moms added 15+ hours of household duties on top of our work time and the usual non-work time related to our family and homes.4 So, yes, working mamas deserve a break. After a brutal 15+ months, working mothers need time to recoup and re-energize to be at their best at work and at home.
Benefits of travel with family
There are all sorts of reasons to travel with family. Family travel provides a way to bond as a family. Family trips are the stuff of memories and stories that you and your kids can tell for years, even your young children. It doesn’t have to be far away from home. You could go camping nearby or spend a few days within easy driving distance from home. Traveling and vacation are opportunities for a different kind of education.
Benefits at work of vacation
Need a “professional” reason to go on vacation? How about this? Workers often get many of their best ideas away from work.3 Without having to respond to each crisis in real-time, employees have time and opportunity to consider different and innovative approaches.3 More than a third of workers report feeling better about their jobs and more productive after taking a vacation.3
Prolonging the benefits of family travel
So now you understand that working moms can benefit from family travel. You get that part. How do you keep the benefits going after you return home?
In our family, once we’re back from a family trip we try to keep the positive feeling from vacation for as long as possible. Even though we get overwhelmed by the usual goings-on of life, we try to remember the fun or enjoyable elements of our trip. One way we do this is by having easy access to a printed or digital copy of a picture that embodies how we felt on vacation. If we see the overwhelm coming on, we take a look at the picture and remember the moment and what we enjoyed about it. It’s a small thing, but it definitely helps my family.
Don’t stress if you haven’t planned your trip yet
Even if you haven’t made plans for summer travel, it’s not too late. There are all sorts of last-minute deals or you can plan for later in the summer. Figure out what you want to do and make it happen. And remember that it can be close by. You don’t have to go across the world to get the benefit of vacation and time away.
Have a fun trip you’re planning on taking soon or even in a few years? Want to share a place you’ve traveled to that you really enjoyed? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Want to get tips for greater work-life balance delivered directly to your inbox? They’re different than what you see in the blog. Don’t miss out! Sign up for the newsletter below.
In case you want to read more, I’m including my resources:
2Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter page 71
3http://traveltips.usatoday.com/benefits-taking-vacation-1755.html
4Women in the Workplace | McKinsey
