Take Mental Health Time Even When You Travel

Travel … whether in country or around the world … requires constant coordination of your driving or flying plans, your meals each day, your lodging each night, and is anyone else involved in any or each of the needs, such as meeting someone at a specific time and place. While we look to travel often for relaxation, it isn’t always that way. The unexpected travel delay may be an airline cancellation, a broken windshield or flat tire on your vehicle needing immediate attention. The travel day can be long … hours not sitting in a comfortable chair, your body not properly hydrated for fear you’ll not find a restroom when you need it, the available food options sub-par. Travel bloggers often write of their need every 10 days or so to have a relaxed, no stress day. Being on the go, while fun and rewarding, can be tiring. So what do you do when you are traveling for weeks on end and don’t want to hit that wall?

The no stress day is mental health time. Maybe you need it more often than every 10 days. Or maybe you’re good with every two weeks. Your reality is what works for you … so you are not snapping at others in your impatience, or not tired while driving your vehicle, or getting the appropriate amount of physical exercise your body needs. When we travel we do not want to hit a wall where we are pushing through a day or an activity. Travel is to be enjoyable. To enjoy the moments our personal pace needs to respond to what we honestly need … and sometimes that is a no stress day. Our head and body will be happier for it! So take mental health time even when you travel! For some people, they actually schedule it on their travel plan.

What do you do to de-stress while traveling? How often do you take a stress-free day? Caregivers and people working in high stressful jobs also monitor and meet their needs as they usually already know stress kills. Take the time your head and body needs so you can travel longer in your life! 

Squirrel looking at me. I’m looking at him. My head & body love my outdoor time.

Bicycling the Path … an Issue

We are fortunate to have at least 131 miles of dedicated bike path available to us Tucson,AZ bicyclists. Why are we fortunate? It is so much safer to maneuver around other bicyclists, runners, walkers, roller bladers, and anyone else out on this dedicated path than to be on a roadway.

We have a beautiful, smooth bike path with appropriate signage and I feel safe cycling on it. (The farther I can be away from automobiles the better.) Yes, I hear people complain about speeding cyclists and working around walkers, but in the overall scheme of things this is all pretty great.

YET… my annoyance is when someone comes along and writes political messages in chalk on the pathway. I do not care what the message is, it should not be done! First off, I call that graffiti on a public space … I do not like it and would say a person should be found and fined. Secondly, we are all outdoors for exercise and a space to relax, not needing any prompts to piss us off!

Please keep your messages/gripes/political views to yourself and off our bike paths. Yup I was annoyed, so all I could do was squirt some of my water from my water bottle on those messages. Which annoyed me all the more since it was hot here and I did not want to be wasting my drinking water on graffiti. Geez don’t you know, water is precious here in the desert!

Bike path separate from autos.
People enjoy a graffiti-free, smooth and very long path.