On stress and taking a vacation

Have you ever found yourself in one of those conversations where you have no idea what the other person is talking about? Well, maybe "no idea" is an overstatement. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I remember a conversation with a good friend a couple years ago in which she told me that she wished she could just get away- just pack up and go somewhere far and leave everything behind for a while. We were really close and I knew her super well- she had a lot going for her and I thought she was a happy person. That's why it confused me when she said she just wanted to leave. Why was she trying to escape her life? I guess I never really understood why until recently.

As I may have mentioned before, I could consider myself a very fortunate person. Not to sound cocky, but so far in my life, things have seemed to work out for me- yes, I work hard, but I would also consider myself a pretty lucky guy. However, as many of you probably know, with ambition and success, comes stress. We all have different levels of stress and deal with it in our own way. I like to talk it out, exercise, eat, watch tv/movies, or a combination of these things- whatever seems to work at the time. Unfortunately, there are times when our stress levels soar and we don't know how to deal with it and many of haven't found that one thing that can help them relax and unwind. I think it's important to note that we are all going through this at one point or another and that we're not alone.

Back to what my friend was saying...

When I was younger, I always thought vacations were just trips to go far away and do something fun. I never really understood the reasons for the vacation- I was just excited to go. Now I realize that taking a vacation- taking a break- is so incredibly important for our well-being. Sometimes, we just need to give our minds a break and let loose. I finally get what my friend was saying- she wasn't unhappy with life- just needed a little break. I unfortunately lost touch with her, but I truly hope she found what she was looking for.

This past weekend, I took the train up to Santa Barbara to visit my friend Nicole. It was so great being there, going to the zoo, and getting to experience Isla Vista and Carpinteria, the town she's from (and now I can vouch that it is in fact, an awesome place). It was so cool to see where she grew up- walking around downtown and going to the beach. The area is so chill and relaxing, especially compared to LA. I absolutely love going to school down here, but being in SB was amazing. It was such a great mini-vacation and she told me that it felt like a vacation for her too- showing me around everywhere. We were both happy to get away from work and midterms and just hang out and enjoy the weekend.

Sometimes we have to give ourselves that vacation we need, the one we deserve. It makes such a big difference.

View from the train to Santa Barbara
(more pictures on facebook)