Soooo it’s Wednesday…. and I know what you’re thinking…… I’m late… I apologize for not notifying you sooner. I gave myself a day (or seven) off. However, I don’t apologize for taking some time off and neither should you.

The past 7 days, I spent my time with no WiFi and some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I was a little bummed about the WiFi at first, but when I let that go, I ended up having so much fun. The best part was, I didn’t feel like I missed anything. I didn't miss Instagram, I didn’t miss memes, I didn't miss checking my phone every minute. I felt free. A feeling I only really remember from being a child, when the greatest worry was if the rain would stop and the biggest excitement came from waiting on your friends to come home from school. A simpler time where time itself didn’t seem to exist. I took 7 days for myself, ended up finding a second home, and meeting people who now feel like family. I was forced to take a break and it didn’t disappoint. *More on this soon*

In my conversations recently, I’ve noticed a trend of people expressing that they are feeling exhausted. We go through our everyday cycle: wake up, go to work, come home, cook dinner, watch tv, go to sleep, then rinse and repeat. We go and go and go and go until we can’t go anymore. We don’t take a break unless we’re forced to. It’s a vicious cycle and it could end up controlling your life if you let it. I know because I’ve gotten caught in it. Just because you don’t see people around you taking a break doesn’t mean that they aren’t tired as hell. Just because you decide to take a break doesn’t mean you’re giving up. Just because you decide to take a break doesn’t mean you are a bad person or bad employee. Taking a break does not mean you don’t appreciate your success and how far you’ve come.

Taking a break means you love yourself. You love your mind. You love your body. You love your soul and you want to take care of it. You love your successes and you want to be able to produce more. You love how far you’ve come and you want to be prepared for where you’re going next.

Travel Tip #14: Take a day off.

Sure you’ll miss things while you’re gone. You won’t see every Instagram story or every episode, but you do that every. single. day. Do you really think taking a day off is gonna make that much of a difference?

Live in the moment for a change,

Mai