We all tend to get in a rut now and then, losing our sense of joy in life. Travel is a great way to get it back!

When you go on your next business trip, add some joy to your travel by exploring new places, seeing things from different perspectives and, hopefully, enjoying a bit of free time. I know only too well how tiring business trips can be, so I try to find ways to make them more fun – people watching, reading a great book on the plane instead of working on my computer, bubble bath after a long day, … At the end of one particularly grueling two-city trip with truly no free time and very little sleep, I had my taxi driver give me a tour of the city’s tourist sites on the way to the airport, which made me feel that at least I had a taste of the city to take home with me. Subsequently, I went back to this city on vacation and saw those sites at my leisure!

Vacations, by their nature, ought to be all about joy, but that doesn’t always happen if we take any negative attitudes with us from our rut. To avoid this pitfall, spend some time each day a couple of weeks before your journey envisioning yourself experiencing joie de vivre on your vacation. See yourself enjoying even the smallest things. Put on some music that helps you be there in your dreams before you are actually there. And, LEAVE YOUR WORRIES at home – “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”

While traveling, one important decision that can impact your joy is whether or not to stay connected to the world - cell phone, email, etc. For some great perspective on this topic, check out “Joy of travel is ability to drop off the grid” by John Flinn, San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/15/TRSO114MDM.DTL

Caution! Don’t let the travel planning process take the joy away – let it be part of the fun. Browse travel books, http://keplers.booksense.com/NASApp/store/Search;jsessionid=acbvBCqm-Q2n38S4xy5Wr and
online sites, www.hutsontravel.com, to whet your appetite as you plan your journey.

Please share your vacation stories and photos on the 50+Fabulous Community forum, http://www.50fabulous.com/forum/.

Happy Travels!
Susan