Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that if a vacation isn't in the
Speaker 1: cards right now, try a relocation. Sometimes just changing your
Speaker 1: scenery for a while can be enough to give you
Speaker 1: a lift. Many a parent has noted that when you
Speaker 1: have kids, going on a vacation isn't really a vacation
Speaker 1: in the sense of being relaxing. Going to the beach
Speaker 1: or Disney World or a relative's house is mostly just
Speaker 1: a relocation. You are still responsible for getting everybody fed
Speaker 1: and dressed and in bed at the right times, and
Speaker 1: keeping everybody safe and happy. Even when you're away from home.
Speaker 1: It is not exactly my ties on the sand and
Speaker 1: sleeping until noon. But you know what, as long as
Speaker 1: you realize that, then your relocations can still be enjoyable.
Speaker 1: You can have fun and create memories through the sheer
Speaker 1: novelty of the experience. A similar logic holds even if
Speaker 1: you don't have toddlers. There may be responsibilities that you
Speaker 1: can't take a vacation from right now, whether that's your
Speaker 1: own work or supervising your older kids remote learning. But
Speaker 1: Even if you can't take a full vacation, consider a relocation.
Speaker 1: You can take your responsibilities with you while you enjoy
Speaker 1: being in a new place. I hear from a lot
Speaker 1: of people that they are tired of staring at the
Speaker 1: same four walls all day. Well, you know what, maybe
Speaker 1: you don't have to. This past summer, my family spent
Speaker 1: three weeks at the beach. The kids camps had all
Speaker 1: been canceled, and my husband and I were figuring out
Speaker 1: that we'd both be working from home for the foreseeable future,
Speaker 1: so we relocated to the Jersey Shore for a while.
Speaker 1: Both of us did several hours of work per day. Indeed,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how many people we work with even
Speaker 1: knew that we were somewhere else. But the kids got
Speaker 1: a new place to play and could walk to a
Speaker 1: nearby ice cream parlor every night. I could see the
Speaker 1: ocean from the desk where I put my laptop. It
Speaker 1: felt enough different after several months of not leaving the
Speaker 1: house to be rejuvenating, even if there were still five
Speaker 1: kids to deal with. So if I have piqued your
Speaker 1: interest in a relocation, here are some possibilities to consider.
Speaker 1: Perhaps you could go to the mountains or the beach
Speaker 1: or a lake. Soaking in natural beauty is uplifting and relaxing,
Speaker 1: and you're not at much more risk of catching or
Speaker 1: spreading COVID than you would be at home. Maybe you
Speaker 1: could move in with close family or friends for a while,
Speaker 1: or rent an arabianb near loved ones. You could use
Speaker 1: your time near them as a chance to reconnect. You
Speaker 1: might find yourself getting help with child care too, especially
Speaker 1: as people are getting vaccinated these days, and as rapid
Speaker 1: testing is becoming more available. You might be able to
Speaker 1: do this more comfortably than at any other point. In
Speaker 1: the last year, lots of people who are working from
Speaker 1: home are realizing that they could move somewhere else if
Speaker 1: they wanted to. If you are considering moving to a
Speaker 1: new city or town, or if you've always wondered what
Speaker 1: it would be like to live someplace else, well try
Speaker 1: it out for a month or so. You could rent
Speaker 1: a house or apartment in a place you're interested in,
Speaker 1: or to a house swap with people with a similar
Speaker 1: family configuration in a different city. You live in their
Speaker 1: house and they live in your house for a while.
Speaker 1: When work in school are remote, you don't have to
Speaker 1: be as tied to home as usual, So consider whether
Speaker 1: you might be able to get a change of scenery
Speaker 1: even if you can't let go of your ongoing responsibilities.
Speaker 1: When you're already working remotely, there is no reason to
Speaker 1: feel that you are stuck at home until the next
Speaker 1: time you take vacation days or your kids have a
Speaker 1: school break. Consider whether you might be able to work
Speaker 1: in a slightly more remote location for a little while.
Speaker 1: I know we already have sometime booked at the beach
Speaker 1: for next summer, even if I do hope that more
Speaker 1: travel will be available to in the meantime. This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's b the number four then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com
Speaker 1: that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For
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