There is a lot of literature on the benefits of a weekend getaway. The merits of getting away for a few days can be enormous on your body and mental state.
Here at the Firefly at Madison, pretty B&B not far from Atlanta (Click this link to visit), we do know a thing or two about people trying to rejuvenate with a weekend trip. We have some suggestions as to how to make your weekend getaway a more enriching experience.
We are experts on the topic of backroad travel, by the way, and are published authors on the Bed and Breakfast Life, and would love to inspire you. This is a wonderful area for a road trip, and there are events all over the area.
Get into the Spirit
You would think this would go without saying. Part of the reason you are traveling is to see something different. This can be done anywhere outside your neighborhood. Therefore It is important that you adjust your frame of mind to accept new things that you don’t see every day.
For example, at the Firefly we have chickens, a big front porch, and a relaxing breakfast. It is quite likely that you have none of these three things at your regular place. You might even call animal control if this happens.
But in the highly likely event that you see a chicken at the Firefly walking around in the front yard, looking for bugs, while you are eating your breakfast, that is a good thing, and fun. You are here because your brain wants to have that experience. If that exact thing happened at the local ritzy resort, you might not think it is fun.
Another example: While wandering around the village of Madison, the Best Small Town in Georgia,
you may see something unusual to you. It is not at all uncommon for two people who have not seen each other to stop their cars in the middle of the street and have a conversation. Sixty miles west of here, rolling down the window and talking to someone stopped on the street going the opposite direction is considered threatening somehow. This is because usually it is, and it is called road rage.
Around here, it is not unusual. Road love? Maybe. The next time it happens I will take a picture. This may be a bit of a local thing to the rural South. Adjust your expectations wherever your weekend getaway will take you.
Disconnect Social Media
Do I need to tell you that excessive social media is psychologically damaging? This recent article is one of several that suggests that social media is especially damaging to young people.
Apparently, Facebook specifically has been suggested as being physically harmful (Click link here for an article from Forbes). According to this article it appears that your use of Facebook could have demonstrable physical health effects. The main reasons cited for this type of damage: It paints an unrealistic and carefully edited image of life that someone else is living that it appears you are not, and increases stress which has physical components.
So your weekend getaway, particularly if you unplug from social media, can have an actual physical benefit. We at the Firefly have noticed that this place attracts “healing” and “healers” somehow and it is possible that this is part of the equation.
In our extensive experience with weekend travelers, the chickens, cats, and big stupid dogs are just as entertaining. You may find some other good place for just such a “social media detox.” The same may go for TV as well. We are still having some introspection about whether to unplug the box with the exception of a few DVD’s. (Click our article on our process of trying to decide whether to encourage TV watching in the rooms. Also click if you like Winnie the Pooh)
Try Something Out-Of-The-Box
Taking any kind of class encourages the same kind of mental plasticity that we talked about above. Art classes seem to be particularly good for
Art therapy allows you to slow down, use some creative thinking, and focus on something external to you. This form of creativity improves the mental health of people who are dealing with addictions, anxiety, attention disorders, grief and loss.
The quirky little city of Madison has an active artist community, and art classes may be found at the Madison Artists Guild, among other places . We can recommend several other places for artists, crafts people, and DIY’ers and special classes can be arranged for individuals or groups.
By the way, our place is surrounded by edible landscaping, of the type you don’t usually think about. We would be happy to share some of our place with you. We’ve been thinking about a “permaculture” open house, so you can see all of the ways we are trying to live thoughtfully and in a positive way.
Deepen your Trust
Cross cultural experiences increase your faith in humanity. Travelers tend to be smarter, healthier, and longer living than the non-travelers. There is even evidence that travelers have stronger immune systems. They may have a bigger range of antibodies.
In the realm of cross-cultural experiences, we have done very well. We’ve had visitors from four continents already, plus Alabama if you wish to count it separately.
They like it here because we are genuine, and that is part of the experience.
Forget the Excuses
Lifehack.com has posted a list of 10 lame excuses not to travel. Most of these are “too” words, where you are “too” something to do this. There are places like the Firefly, pretty little B&B about an hour from the Atlanta airport where these “too words” do not apply. It’s close, not expensive, age is not an issue on either end, kid friendly, and a weekend stay can be really refreshing.
The greatest limitations are from within. Maybe that’s the difference between the travelers and non-travelers. PS: We have chocolate cake here. You don’t have to rough it.
Links and References
Dangers of Social Media
Losing Faith in Humanity
Lame Excuses for Avoiding Travel
Madison Artists Guild
(link to Madison Artists Guild)
Art Classes
(Click for article on this topic).
