two week european vacation
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two week european vacation
Sure, vacations can be hazardous to your health: Beachgoers get sunburned, campers get poison ivy, air travelers get headaches. But stay home, as record numbers may be doing this summer, and your health could suffer much more.
“Vacation deprivation,” as it has been dubbed by Expedia.com, has been spreading for years as Americans’ vacations get shorter or are skipped entirely. But this year’s high travel costs, flying hassles and spooky economy may be creating a “perfect storm” that keeps people hunkered down as never before, says Geoffrey Godbey, professor emeritus in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management at Pennsylvania State University.
(Even before the summer of $4-a-gallon gas arrived, a record-low 39% of Americans said in April that they planned a vacation trip in the next six months, says the non-profit Conference Board.)
The possible health toll:
•More heart disease and death. Middle-aged men who were at high risk of heart disease were 20% less likely to die of any ca use and 50% less likely to die of a heart attack over nine years if they took frequent vacations, a study published in 2000 in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine found.
•Poorer sleep. People not only sleep better during vacations, but they also keep sleeping=2 0better afterward, some studies show.
•More tension, depression, fatigue and marital strain, at least for women, according to one study of 1,500 women in rural Wisconsin, published in 2005 by researchers from the Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic.
“Vacation is not a frill,” says Joe Robinson, a life coach and author who founded Work to Live, a group that advocates for more leisure time.
But one in four American workers get no paid holidays or vacation time, a 2007 study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research showed. The average worker gets 14 paid days off but works three of those days, an Expedia survey found. That survey found Europeans also give up a few vacation days but have more to squander: 26 in Great Britain, 33 in Italy and 37 in France.
The vacation gap has been proposed as one reason Americans are not as healthy as Europeans.
Why vacation might have that power is not clear. But studies do show “people walk more, they watch TV less, they read more and they talk to each other more” while on a trip, Godbey says. Some eat better, too. And vacationers literally slow down: They stroll along the golf course instead of racing through it; they stop and taste the berries at a fruit stand instead of rushing through a supermarket.
Studies have to yet to show how long a vacation must be to boost=2 0health. Also unknown: the benefits of a “staycation,” in which people take time off at home. “The idea makes me cringe,” Robinson says. “If you stay home, it’s not a vacation.”
Cathy McCarty, the researcher who led the study of rural Wisconsin women, isn’t so sure. One friend, she says, takes off one week each summer just to garden. “That’s absolutely a vacation for him.” She is more worried about the 20% of women in her study who had no vacation in six years.
Godbey says he just hopes people with tight budgets will consider low-cost options — such as Tours to Africa or Mexico to beat the high euro— before staying home this summer: “The people who need a vacation most may be most likely to cancel.”
Have a travel question or story? E-mail robert@lojtravel.com Please include your name, city and phone number. Selected questions will be answered and stories published online.
READERS: When was the last time you took a vacation? Do you think time off is a matter of physical or mental health? Share your views and experiences below.
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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Vacations : Recuperation Vs. Exhaustion
Holidays in Europe for two ..?
I'm going on vacation with my girlfriend, we intend to backpacking across the continent for two weeks or so … I was hoping someone could give me a rough estimate of the cost for two weeks vacation. Or atleast tell me if 5 is large enough to a person with tickets, food, housing / hotels, and everything you might need.
It is not really possible to give a decent estimate of the costs not knowing when you're coming, what to do and eat while you're here, where you go. I what makes the difference "or what" means too. The range of possibilities is too large. However, you should be able to have a pretty good trip for a couple of weeks per person in 5000 dollars if it is even better if you talking in euro or pounds. Here are some resources that might be useful to check your budget when you have an idea of a route and you can always ask questions more specific here: Trains: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml – this is good time for planning across Europe. Will the other sites domestic prices to find and book. http://www.seat61.com/ – an excellent comprehensive site on how to use trains to get here. There are also detailed pages on rail passes and how to determine whether a pass or individual tickets are best for your trip. Cheap Flights: http://www.skyscanner.net http://www.whichbudget.com/en/ and hostels: http://www.hostels.com/europe.html, http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/?&ef_id=1773:3:s_f5a1be419371dddeb533bcdb7070e02f_987092121:SpknDtBbriYAAA9oJ90AAAPA:20090829130310 backpack in Europe: http://www.backpackeurope.com/tips/solo/ world festivals and events: http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=home
While I was Away
