But if you've ever felt like you need a vacation from your vacation, from all of the planning, traveling, and stresses of being away from your normal life, you're not alone.

Here to help us stay stress-free during our time away is psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman.

Good morning to you.

Welcome back.

Let's talk about step one when you're planning a trip, because I feel like sometimes that also brings the stress, especially if there are going to be multiple people on this trip.

A lot of people leave the vacation days on the table, but here's the thing.

Longer isn't better.

Taking shorter, more frequent vacations is more restorative, more to look forward to, more to replenish yourself.

And we have this thing called duration neglect, and we end up sort of forgetting how long experiences were, but remember the quality of them.

To me, it's a vacation works when it's like, "I wish I had one more day" as opposed to, "Oh man, yep, yep, I know, absolutely.

But it was just the, even before you pack your suitcase, just the act of planning your vacation is beneficial for your mental health.

You have something to look forward to, helps you sort of deal with the current moment when you know there's something on the calendar.

And you also maintain that we should focus on green and blue spaces as well.

Absolutely.

So being in nature is particularly restorative and being around a body of water we know as well is really healthy for us and helps sort of our parasympathetic nervous system go down.

And so we just feel much better.

So even if you're visiting a city, go to the park, maybe go for a walk by the river so you have some opportunity to sort of reset there.

Beyond that, when we are away on one of these trips, how can we go about maximizing the rest, the relaxation?

So I really think of four things, rest, R-E-S-T.

And when we think about sort of recovery, usually we think about like just doing nothing, sitting on a beach, maybe sipping a drink.

Is there something wrong with all of those things?

Nothing to do, and that is restorative.

But also there's another kind of recovery, and it's when we stretch ourselves.

We challenge ourselves in some way.

Maybe it's hiking, maybe it's zip lining, maybe it's going for a walking tour.

And that's also a form of recovery.

So to do both.

Also, you know, make sure you pack your sense of humor, that you're flexible.

Plan ahead maybe, but just not too much.

You can't do everything at once, aim for good enough.

And try new things, especially if you're doing a staycation.

If you're staying home, try to see wherever you live through fresh eyes and do something new.

I like that.

You're good at not planning, not over planning.

Plan nothing.

And then you can plug in because you have the opportunity. - I agree. Yeah.

Speaking of plugging or unplugging, you know, social media, our phones, our screens, you know, not just for the kids, but adults as well.

How do we do this without it feeling like it's a punishment or something?

Well, we know that the more you disconnet, the more connected you're going to feel to the experience and to the people that you're with.

So try to designate maybe 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon so you can check in.

But in the spirit of unplugging as well, don't feel pressure to post everything and to document every little thing. - Yes.

And so maybe bring a digital camera, one of those disposable cameras so that you can use that and maybe wait till the end of the trip to do that photo dump.

So you're not always checking.

So let's say you get to the end of the trip, is there any advice, you know, you've been working about on this trip or thinking about it for months, if not years.

And then when you get to that last couple of those last few days or last day, is there any kind of, I guess, advice for...?

That sort of as the vacations winding down? This end of vacation blues?

How do you sort of put that off?

Plan for sort of a fun activity at the end.

Have a highlight, something that you have to look forward to.

And if you're a last hurrah, a definite last hurrah.

And if you are going to splurge in some way on a direct flight or an upgrade, do it on the way home.

And also make sure you have a buffer day in between.

You don't want to need a vacation from that.

I think we've all learned about the buffer day.

I don't know how people do that.

I didn't used to do that.

And I started taking that one day off.

Those are great tips.

Good advice, Dr. Portman.

Thank you.