by Gabrielle Schrader

Created on: August 08, 2009

Although excitement certainly oftentimes exists in vacationing, relaxation is the main goal. Think about the overworked individual who cannot seem to find time away from his or her blackberry and business calls. What do they do? They pack up their things and go on a vacation with their spouse and their children.

Even when you think about vacation, you think about relaxation. Everyone needs that time off to relax. Everyone also knows that you'll never get it at home. You have prior commitments, people know where you are and how to reach you, and you simply will not be able to spend an entire evening with just yourself or the rest of your family. It's nearly impossible. Sure, it can be done but it isn't likely. Going on vacation, for most people yearly, allows people to re-cooperate. It gives people time to relax and have fun. This helps re energize them for the world when they return to it.

In today's world it has become commonplace to spend a day on the beach and the others running around to various attractions. While this certainly denotes excitement, it does not take away from the primary reason people go on vacations. Even if people are interested in traveling abroad to London or Paris, they often think about how relaxing it will be rather than how many various attractions they can go to. There is a certain mystique and quiet thinking. A certain restful peace about going on vacation.

I have vacationed for many years with my own family. My father used to always say when I was little, "We have to go for a whole week. Otherwise it isn't a real vacation." I would ask him why and he'd reply, "You won't be completely relaxed and de-stressed unless it is an entire week". This is so true. We have been on numerous vacations since and the ones that actually de-stress as well as calm me are the longer ones. When I say longer ones I mean seven days or more. And the seven days can include travel time.

Lastly, I would just like to point out that this side of the debate has the most votes. People may spend more or most of their vacation running around, getting excited. However, their intentions are almost always to relax. Whether they do or do not relax is up to them. Ask around and I'm sure you'll find that while most people hope some or all of their vacation will be exciting, the reason they take one is because of relaxation.

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