There are plenty of rules for travelling, and not all of them falls squarely with each of our personality. If you are not attuned in following any rule, just take it up perhaps as a challenge, and you’ll thank me later.
I call it the one day-off rule. The one day off is not a work-related rule for me; it is like a mantra for my travels, although it is really more imperative and thus obligatory in its nature; hence there are consequences at stake (I swear).
The one day off rule simply means that in creating a one-week itinerary, leave one day blank, open to anything you’d like to do. Even if it means staying in your bed the whole day, it’s all up to you. Take note that this should not be interchanged as your errand day, like doing laundry, editing photos and videos, or even checking up emails for work. It is a day off, so treat it as if it’s your last.
As much as I would like to apply it to all of my vacations, this is not applicable to 2- or 3-days vacation though, this suits well with long periods of travelling. If you are travelling for a month or more, I suggest you do this weekly, but if your schedule is really packed with adventures, maybe once every two weeks is fine. Just make sure you logically place the one day-off in your week, it can be in the middle of the week or before the weekend.
Now you may ask, why is it important? Believe me or not, when I was younger, and in my twenties, I never really enjoyed travelling, I hated it. I felt like it was a chore that I can’t muster up. So I dreaded every invite or the idea of such, I thought it was a waste of time.
All of that changed when I was dragged by my friend to go to the beach without any plans. It made me realise that it is not travelling that I hate; it’s the itinerary laid down to me. From then on, whenever I travel, I don’t have a full list of an itinerary, and I leave one day for myself, it was sure as hell blissful.
However, I still get caught up in the same pitfall when I want to cover a lot of activities in one go. I remember getting sick whenever I try to do a whole week in full blast of adrenaline-pumping activities. That’s the crazy part of being an adrenaline junkie; you’ll never know that you’re tired until the adrenaline trigger has stopped. One day I’d be whining about how my legs hurt from trekking and walking long hours, and the next thing you’ll see me running uphill to see a better view, completely forgetting about the jiggly sore legs.
We all have simple rules in our everyday lives, like washing your hair with shampoo every other day, or as simple as wetting your toothbrush before putting on the toothpaste – well yeah, I am that kind of person. Some are unique and, to its extent, crazy but, whatever type of rule you may have, if it makes you feel good, just go with it! (As long as its legal of course.)
Now, if you happen to be the kind of person who doesn’t have a rule – oh, you rebel you! – maybe you want to take note of this one rule; it might come handy someday.
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt
The Uneven Pavement 