vacation

A weekend in Bali. A month in Morocco. Three weeks camping on the Baja Peninsula. Expensive, exotic yoga retreats, trainings and festivals are popping up all over the globe. As wonderful as it would be to just drop the kids off at Grandma’s and jetset around the world to connect with the yogis and energies of foreign lands, it’s not always feasible -- especially when Grandma’s RVing in North Carolina and you used the last of your PTO when your bestie was in town last month.

In these economically shaky times, traveling is a luxury few can afford and yet a holiday is the best bet to bust away the blues. Traveling can add so much to your life – from learning new things, expanding your inner vision, making you more appreciative and spiritual and basically making you connect with the beauty of the humanscape, as well as Mother Earth.

Selflessness is definitely a valuable trait to possess, but the whole “too much of a good thing” concept applies here. To be the best person that you can possibly be, you absolutely must remember to take the time to take care of yourself, too. Focusing on yourself is not selfish; it’s beneficial to your health. Take it from me, a dedicated people-pleaser who is slowly, but surely, learning to balance helping others and myself. This year, don’t forget to make yourself a priority, in your own life, by trying out these five simple self-care suggestions.

In August of last year I felt like one of the luckiest girls in the world. Because of the generosity my family and friends extended to me after I finally graduated college, I was able to go on a 10-day trip to Dominical, Costa Rica, with my boyfriend. Without their graduation gifts I would never have been able to go (thank you, family!). At the time I was a recent college grad with no money except for what I made at the restaurant where I work... wait, that’s still me, haha.