Our Vacation Adventures

Leisure guilt - do you feel guilty while you’re on vacation?

An interesting phenomenom has overtaken some travellers. People are now experiencing leisure guilt, and are unable to enjoy their vacations. The problem isn’t new, but it’s getting worse:

“Leisure guilt is not a new phenomenon,” says Dr. Raymond Folen,
associate professor of psychology at Argosy University/Hawai’i in Honolulu.
“For decades, white collar workaholics have packed reports and office
correspondence right next to the bathing suits in the suitcase. In the
past, though, what helped put some boundaries on this behavior was the fact
that taking a vacation made one much less accessible to those back at the
work place.”

The reason for the increase in guilty feelings? Because technology has made it so that people are more in-touch than ever before with their work and office. Blackberry handhelds and other email devices mean you’re constantly aware of your work obligations.

There’s plenty of ways to get over this fear, and in fact you need to. To never take a vacation, or to not enjoy it when you do, could almost assuredly relate to health problems due to stress. In the upcoming weeks, we’ll take a look at methods of alleviating your leisure guilt.