13 signs you’re in need of a serious vacation

Ugh. I think we’ve all been there. The stresses of work, school, adulting in general; it can be a lot to handle sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my job and get home every night proud of the things I accomplished, the students I helped to inspire and motivate (I’m a librarian so I get the added bonus of being surrounded by books all day plus being able to work with a great group of eager young minds). However even the most amazing of all jobs comes with the headaches, the frustrations, the worries, and the early (early!!) mornings and late (late!!) nights. After a while, your brain starts to go on autopilot, you almost accidentally use pimple cream as toothpaste (I’ve heard of using toothpaste to get rid of zits but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work the other way around) and you start having daydreams of doing just all of the nothing on the regular. Here’s how to tell when you are in need of a serious vacay from life: 1. You clicked on this post because you’re trying desperately to avoid any actual work/homework/adulting. 2. You have fantasies of drop-kicking your alarm clock out the window (or if you’re like me and use your phone to get you up in the early AM, deleting the twothree five alarm settings you have set). Ahhh. To just wake up when you’re ready (and by ready I mean when your stomach starts yelling at your for some Frosted Flakes and bacon). 3. You freezer is chock-full of the three main food groups: frozen pizza, frozen waffles, and ice cream. Cooking at this point requires energy that you simply don’t have—attempting anything other than the defrost on your microwave might very well be the thing that sends you over the edge. 4. You start to be jealous of kids. Like, weirdly jealous. Jealous of kids who don’t have to hit their snooze button oncetwice five times in the mornings, kids who are just running around, playing Uno and eating homemade chocolate chip cookies, no bills to pay or worries to worry about. “YOU’VE GOT IT GOOD!” you internally (and maybe accidentally outwardly) shout as you pass the playground on your way back from your lunch hour where you shoveled down three Eggos. “YOU’VE GOT IT SO GOOD!” 5. Phone calls seriously stress you out. Whenever you hear the “Spice Up Your Life” ringtone belting from your pocket you momentarily think about throwing it in the ocean. Or lake. Or kitchen sink. 6. You’ve Googled any combination of the following: “Can humans hibernate?” and “Staycation.” 7. Whenever Netflix says, “Are you still watching?” you’re mildly irritated. YES. YES I AM. OKAY?????!!!!!

8. Your motto isn’t so much “rise and grind” as it is “rise and if I don’t get my freshly ground extra, extra, extra large coffee with a side of coffee in two seconds I will hurt someone!” 9. You wake up exxxxxhhaaauusssstteed. 10. That is, until you actually go to bed. Then you can’t fall asleep. 11. You’ve seriously questioned if you can add “Excellent Napper” as one of your skills on LinkedIn. 12. You spend hours upon hours researching fun cities you could temporarily escape to, creating exciting road trip itineraries and looking up prices of cheap flights. Some day, one day has become a bit of a mantra for you lately. 13. But seriously, you’re an AMAZING napper. If you or anyone you know has experienced any of the above, don’t worry. There are things you can do to clear your head, relax your body and save your sanity. Taking an actual vacation can be a great way to recharge your batteries and enjoy a little breather from the everyday monotony. It doesn’t have to be a fancy getaway or even an exotic location; plan a long weekend to visit friends or take a Saturday drive and explore parts of your state you haven’t been before. Besides taking an actual vacay, some other great ideas to “get away” include getting dressed up and hitting the town with your besties, treating yourself to a movie and dinner, jamming out to some T-Swift, reading a good book that takes place in a far-off location and even a bubble bath. Never underestimate the power of a bubble bath. We all have stresses in our life, but if we take time to take care of ourselves, we will be able to tackle those stresses much easier. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with a book, some bubbles and the biggest tub of Ben & Jerry’s I can find. Image via