Similar: holiday, time off, getaway, break, rest, trip, leave, tour, stopover, day off, recess, adjournment, respite, staycation.

For most people, these words cause a rush of excitement and anticipation. Taking a vacation is one of the greatest feelings in the world; you aren't working, you're actively seeking out activities you love and enjoy, indulging in some of life's luxuries or pleasures more than you ordinarily do. Vacations typically only happen a few times per year, if we're lucky. We save up PTO and extra funds to really enjoy ourselves for a week away. And then we dread when it's over and we have to return to our every day lives.

Why do we limit vacationing to only those few times per year? Why don't we seek to fill our lives with that vacation mindset and mentality more often? Or every single day?

Why don't we take a daily vacation?

Hear me out here.

Not all vacations need to be extravagant or to some foreign land. The very definition of vacation is "a period of leisure or recreation." What if we redefined the way we thought of vacation to mean "prioritizing things that bring one happiness or pleasure"....because isn't that what we normally seek to find on vacation? Happiness in the form of doing the things we enjoy with no other care in the world?

A daily vacation can take many forms. Maybe it is taking ten minutes to do nothing but watch the sunset. It could be stopping for a glass of wine on your commute home from work instead of rushing to beat traffic. After a long day, it might mean lighting a candle and filling a bath and reading your favorite book. How about a quick walk to a beautiful park in your neighborhood? Cooking one of your favorite meals. Recreating a cocktail you had on a beach in Barcelona. It could even be driving to a nearby city and treating yourself to lunch and a stroll through the streets.

And from time to time, maybe you actually are on a real vacation, flitting about Europe, drinking coffee in cafes with strangers and seeing the sites.

The takeaway is this: a daily vacation will look different to every single one of us. The amount of time we dedicate will vary from day to day. It can be as simple or as extravagant as we wish. As long as we are proactively trying to incorporate what brings joy into our life, we are succeeding.

And not for nothing - making an effort to do things you enjoy on a regular basis leads to a more positive well being. Cultures and countries who regularly practice these concepts and prioritize life's little pleasures consistently rank higher in levels of overall happiness and quality of life.