What's Ailing You? A Vacation Can Cure It

Long hours at the office. Restless nights. Stressful deadlines. Struggling relationships. Intense training sessions. Overwhelming obligations. The list of our daily ailments goes on and on, and at times it feels like there is no end to the turmoil, no cure.

But there is!

A vacation!

There have been studies---yes, scientific proof--that travel has a positive effect on health, education, relationships, and overall quality of life. Sadly, this fact escapes most people--especially Americans--and they are left suffering through their troubles with no relief.

A new national awareness campaign is hoping to change that, showing people the benefits travel has on life, business and community. The campaign tries to help people understand the impact traval has by conveying research findings that support the claims. The reseach looks at the effect travel has on relationships and how it creates lasting memories for families, couples and friends. It will even display state and district data providing travel impact measurements--and who could argue with that?

And if the personal effects of travel are not enough to convince people to take a vacation, how about the economical impacts? Travel supports 14.4 million jobs in the U.S. and $1.9 trillion in output. Therefore, the more people who travel equates to more money being pumped into our economy.

You can find all the facts here.

So, now that you know a vacation will help, what kind should you take? Enter Hilton Hotels' new website that lets users diagnose their vacation needs and get a customized prescription to cure what ails them. The website is called "Hilton Urgent Vacation Care Center," and it asks visitors to take a quiz to get their diagnosis. Hilton collaborated with satirical newspaper, The Onion, on the site, which features humorous cartoons that represent ailments that afflict workers. The cartoons illustrate teh 14 symptoms of "vacationitis," and visitors are encouraged to stop it before it spreads by sharing the cartoons via social media.

The remedies are vacations of various lengths and types, based on the severity of "vacationitis." There is also a "global vacation alert level" on the site, which features an interactive map that showing levels of need for vacations in different countries, as well as research from Hilton dating back to 1989. Of course, since it is tied to a hotel, all diagnoses and suggested treatments are accompanied by links to Hilton Hotels and Resorts' online booking form. (FYI, Hilton is running a contest through Feb. 28, offering 15 weekend getaways to those who visit the new website and fill out the questionnaire.) (Also, throughout the year, 550 Hilton locations are participating in a sale, called Any Weekend, Anywhere, with discounts up to 40%.)

The fact that many people--especially Americans--are starved for vacation time is nothing new. In fact, annual studies are performedto gauge how vacation-deprived we are, and trying to get people to take more vacations is something many other businesses have done before. Still, looking at it as an ailment is a little different, and the cartoons are certainly humorous.

So if you are in need of a long vacation or just a quick break, check out the website to receive your diagnosis and suggested prescription.

Onion Article Touches on Travel Truth

I was flipping through The Onion the other day as I waited for the train, and I came across an article about how colleges are encouraging students to go abroad and "dick around." A quote from the article states:

According to a report published this week by the U.S. Department of Education, an increasing number of universities now offer dick-around abroad programs that give students the chance to hang out and do jack shit in another country.

 As anyone who reads the newspaper knows, the stories are completely fabricated and contain no real names or facts. But this article got me thinking about the time I spent abroad in Rome during my junior year of college. Yes, I had classes to attend, homework to do, tests to take, but in reality, I didn't work nearly as hard as I did when I was back in the U.S. I would skim through chapters, spend only an hour studying rather than my usual four and I never spent a Saturday sitting in the library writing a paper--except for that one final essay due for my Italian Literature class, but whose counting? Europe turned me into a bit of a slacker, or at least as much of one as I could possibly be. Then I really thought about it...I went out a lot, partied until the wee hours of the morning, drank way too much wine for my own good and met some interesting people along the way. And I was not alone in my escapades, my classmates were right by my side. Perhaps The Onion is on to something.

While the article takes it to the next level with statements like, "The chance to spend every night partying in pretty much the same way they would have at home is an experience they'll never forget," and "many students won't even apply to a school that doesn't provide programs that allow them to take bong hits in major world cities for academic credit," there is a hint of truth in their satirical wit. Students traveling abroad have the luxury of a more laid-back schedule. Many programs do not offer classes on Fridays, so students can have more time to travel around the country, or venture over to other countries, a privilege their colleges at home would never think of giving them. For many students, classes only count for credit, the grade does not affect their GPA; so as long as they pass, that's all that matters. This takes a lot of pressure off students to perform well, so they can spend less time studying and more time exploring--or partying.

The article exaggerates the point that students are wasting their time abroad, spending all their free time doing absolutely nothing of consequence. (Obviously, I know the writers do not actually believe that, but for the sake of argument...) I disagree. I would say all of my activities abroad were very worthwhile, even the nights out at the bars. I got to explore an ancient city, visit gorgeous monuments, learn about Rome's bloodied past and witness true works of art. A day walking around the city was not a waste, but an eye opening experience to another culture. The free time I was granted gave me the chance to do things I never thought I'd be able to do: take a tapas tour in Barcelona, shop in the streets of Vienna, ride a gondola in Venice, go skydiving in Switzerland. I would not say any of those experiences were moments of "dicking around."

The classes that I took over there educated me to a certain degree in the areas of literature and philosophy, but it's the stuff I learned outside the classroom that really stayed with me over the years. So I will proudly tell all those college students out there to go ahead and sign up for one of these dick-around-and-do-nothing study abroad programs...it will truly be one of the best things you ever do.