If you’ve got your VRBO or your rental cabin secured, now you can daydream about filling your days. If you’re frazzled by parenting, your career, or the doomscroll on your phone, a retreat mindset might be just the thing to help you plan.
Eat Al Fresco
Complicated food is hard to transport outdoors. Just by deciding to eat outside, I find that I simplify meal prep. I’m a foodie, for better or worse, so I have a few go-to ideas to feel nourished and pampered. For proteins: seafood or fish packed in oil, hard boiled eggs, cheese, or summer sausage. For fresh veggies: carrots, peppers, cucumbers, jicima, and cherry tomatoes. For starch: crackers, and a loaf of bread.
Nap in the Afternoon
There’s satisfaction in accomplishing your to-do list, no doubt. I have hundreds of lists, and I won’t embarrass myself by sharing their titles. I stop noticing or celebrating the wins, though, if I don’t add rest to my agenda. At home, I’m getting better about a sleep routine that works for this stage of life. On vacation, I’m experimenting with naps. Here, there’s often a breeze off Lake Tomahawk—the perfect companion for a nap. I often take a book out to the hammock, to signal to the family to steer clear, and can snooze for 10 or 20 minutes. Once I shake off the half-dream, I’m a more playful family member. Those are the real gems of vacation, right? Being your happy, joyful self with the ones you love?
Try Gentle Movement
I can’t empty my mind without movement. My thoughts leap and swing around on the mental jungle gym of tasks, responsibilities and worries. If I can move—whatever that means for me that day, I naturally vary my breathing patterns and, wham! I’m clear. In the Northwoods of Wisconsin, that often means a paddle across the lake, a walk in the woods or a swim around our peninsula.
Find Nature’s Wisdom
I’m too squeamish to put frogs or bugs in a jar, but I love to gather beautiful seeds, rocks, and pinecones wherever I go. With age, I’ve learned to take only what I can use. More and more that means harvesting the simple metaphors on offer in the landscape or the weather. For instance, how fast a summer storm thunders in—it’s a great reminder that life circumstances will sometimes surprise me, bring on a deep chill, and then the sun will appear. Sometimes there will be a rainbow.
Share Your Ideas!
How do you reset? Vacation isn’t always right around the corner, so we need to slip in 5-minute tricks to keep ourselves regulated. Or, if you are wondering if we have something at our rental house to help you retreat, please email stay@campkulisha.com!