With fuel hitting all-time highs, many RVing families are reconsidering their summer vacations. In order to save money, folks are thinking they’ll simply forgo a vacation this year. That could be a big mistake. Even dangerous. Here are five reasons why you should take an RV vacation this year.
Relationship benefits
Covid. Masks. Social distancing. School closings. Work from home. Covid variants. Return to school. Masks? Return to work. I think we can all agree that the last couple of years have been exhausting. And pressure-filled.
This year’s RV vacation can help rebuild or strengthen your relationship with your spouse and/or your children. Time away from the daily pressures of work and hectic family routines is essential. A vacation gives you a chance to see your significant other and kids in a whole new light. A vacation provides the opportunity for you to experience new (and favorite) things together. These memories often last a lifetime. And time away offers a chance for the family to talk—really communicate—about their thoughts, dreams, and plans for the future.
Mental health benefits
When we’re under pressure, the stress hormone, cortisol, builds up in our system. Over time, this stress can lead to anxiety and even depression. A vacation physically removes us from our daily stressors and gives our emotions a well-deserved respite. Even a brief break from our regular routine can provide long-term mental health benefits.
We don’t always recognize when the ones we love are feeling down. Children especially are often unable to voice their fears and anxious feelings. It may well be years before we know how the pandemic and rise in violence have affected our children. Until then, we need to do all we can to de-stress them. Perhaps that makes this year’s vacation more important than ever.
Physical health benefits
For years, physicians have seen how daily stress affects our physical health. Pharmaceutical companies have responded with migraine meds, sleep aids, and many other medicines in an effort to curb the alarming physical results of daily stress. No matter what job you hold or even if you’re retired, each day brings the potential for worry, anxiety, and stress. Day after day this pressure builds until eventually it negatively impacts our physical health.
We now know that vacations actually reduce the risk of heart disease (Framingham Heart Study). Simply put, our bodies feel better when we experience a break from stressful routines. The study further found that postponing a vacation for a single year can increase the risk of heart problems. Isn’t better physical health a good reason to take a vacation? I certainly think so.
RV vacation: Personal satisfaction
A 2013 study by Washington State University, University of Illinois Urbana, and Texas A&M University showed that frequent travel had a positive effect on a person’s reported life satisfaction and how they perceived their quality of life.
It seems like common sense. If you can relieve work or daily life stress, even for a short time, you feel better. Vacations help restore the work-play balance for life. After a vacation, many people have a better outlook about returning to work. Even when returning to our normal routines, and stress is reintroduced, the memories of our vacation help to put things into perspective.
Productivity benefits
Finally, vacations can help people be more productive in their daily lives. The Boston Consulting Group studied workers and found this to be true: Vacations bring happiness. Happy workers are more productive. It’s a win-win for both companies and their workforce.
When my husband and I return from a vacation, I feel rejuvenated. I’m empowered to take on “normal life” once again. I’m thankful for the time away—no matter how long or short a vacation it’s been.
The many benefits of taking a vacation make it well worth the time, money, and energy spent. Don’t you think so, too?
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What Is Keystone XL?
The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by TC Energy (then TransCanada) in 2008, was initially designed to transport the planet’s dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, to market—and fast. As an expansion of the company’s existing Keystone Pipeline System, which has been operating since 2010 (and continues to send Canadian tar sands crude oil from Alberta to various processing hubs in the middle of the United States), the pipeline promised to dramatically increase capacity to process the 168 billion barrels of crude oil locked up under Canada’s boreal forest. It was expected to transport 830,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil per day to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas. From the refineries, the oil would be sent chiefly overseas—not to gasoline pumps in the United States.
The biggest reason for taking your RV places is that you purchased a significant asset and just letting it sit around unused is the worst offense of all.
Fuel is certainly a huge issue right now. It will not be a forever situation. Fuel prices rise and fall; few people remember and look back at 2008 when gasoline and diesel fuel ramped way out of control.
And, that was during the George W Bush administration….how ironic that people are now blaming the President over the current fuel spike. A lot of complex issues are causing this; the war in Ukraine, higher demand, less research and development on the part of oil companies and record dividends and profits for shareholders who own oil stock. It has absolutely nothing to do with the “pipeline” which NEVER got built.
There is no pipeline. And, by the way, that pipeline was intended to move oil from Canada to the gulf for EXPORT. It wouldn’t have done anything for increasing domestic supply.
Gail gives many reasons why vacations are important, but none that shows why an RV vacation is important. RVing is just one option, there are also hotels, tent camping, Airbnb’ing, staying at family’s or friend’s houses, etc.
RVing is definitely not for all, and it can be a very costly way to vacation, ex: the extra cost of gas to pull an rv, payments , if the RV is bought on a loan, the extra costs for storage, if there is no space at home, the added insurance cost, and the costs to fix it when things break down (appliances, awnings, etc).
When people jump into buying an RV just because of the perceived vacation benefits of traveling in one, and then find themselves in a pool of debt, those benefits are gone.
Second, more than going on vacation, if people stop listening to the news and believe in everything they say, that will have a greater impact in one’s mental health than an RV vacation. Now, couple that with an affordable, debt free vacation and happiness will ensue.
We’re out on a long planned 2 month, 8,500 mile trip circling most of the country. Paying $6/gallon now here in California. Costs me $126 to fill up our Winnebago camper van for the next 325 miles. Fully expect we’ll see $10/gallon before the summer is over. But… we’re still loving it! And at 70 now, we don’t know how many more big trips we have in us before our health stops us. We’re cherishing every day out here.
The author should stick to RVing not psychology and mental health, statements like stress causing migraines? That’s just wrong and misleading.
You are incorrect, I get stress migraines, Dr’s diagnosis.
You need a new doc. Please study the research on migraines. Google migraine NIH (National Institute of Health).