Beech Tree News Network

Many of my Butler County neighbors have vacationed this month, and others have vacation plans for later in the year. The most popular vacation months seem to be June through October. Some people plan their vacation around a specific location while others plan to spend their time with family and/or friends. Regardless, taking a break is a good idea.

Many have reported the benefits of taking a vacation. 2011 Business Insider article stated that U.S. workers get fewer vacation days than any other developed nation (http://www.businessinsider.com/benefits-reasons-for-taking-a-vacation-ri...). For various reasons, people in our nation who have vacation days often choose to work rather than to vacation. Kevin Daum (Inc. columnist) said that even short breaks of a day or two helped him to recharge. He explained that some mini vacations didn’t cost much money, such as hiking or kayaking (http://www.inc.com/kevin-daum/why-you-need-to-take-a-vacation-even-when-...). In a 2014 Washington Post article (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2014/08/01/would-we-be-happ...), Brigid Schulte reported that an environmental psychologist in Sweden and his colleagues had studied monthly anti-depressant prescriptions in Sweden between 1993 and 2005. They found that the more people took vacations at the same time, the more prescriptions dropped exponentially. So, taking time off had physical benefits. In a Huffington Post article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/09/05/take-a-vacation_n_5701215.html), Renee Jacques reported that, based on a study done at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, taking two or more short vacations spread out in the year rather than one massive vacation may be more beneficial.

We don’t really have to travel far to encounter nature’s beauty. I saw an MSN article a few weeks ago that made me want to do more sightseeing. It included pictures of the most beautiful spot (someone else’s description) in each of the fifty states (ww.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/the-most-beautiful-spot-in-every-us-state/ss-BBsRRMc#image=1). The location chosen in Kentucky was the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Its Pinnacle Overlook provides a view of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. The most beautiful Indiana location was Brown County State Park, and the most beautiful Tennessee location was Twin Falls in Rock Island State Park (McMinnville). Each picture was stunning, but I think Kentucky’s lakes and state parks are equally beautiful.

Of course, people enjoy different types of activities – even on vacation. Statista (https://www.statista.com/chart/2464/summer-vacation-statistics/) reported the following 2014 U.S. summer vacation statistics:
•    The most popular destinations included the beach or ocean (45%), a city (42%), a national park (21%), a lake (17%), and a resort (14%).
•    Popular activities were shopping (54%), swimming and watersports (49%), visiting a historical event or sight (49%), going to a park or national park (46%), and sightseeing tours (46%).
•    Most popular travel dates for summer road trips reported were any week (59%), July 4th (37%), Memorial Day (29%), and Labor Day (27%).
These destinations, activities and travel dates seem to be popular year to year.

Every vacation is different. Robert Orben said, “A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/vacation_2.html). Tim Cahill said, “My idea of a vacation is staying home and doing short day hikes, floating the river and things like that” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/vacation.html). So, take a vacation day or more, and do whatever you’d like.