Sometimes we feel like a day of doing nothing is extremely unproductive and we almost feel guilty for wasting a day in your life. This is a feeling all to close to home for people that are always trying to push ahead and use every day they have on this earth. What I’ve found over the years is some of my best days and best days of just thinking, are those met with silence and literally doing nothing. 

As an American we have this mind set that we have to be go go go! As I continue to travel and experience other cultures, it’s surprising on the vastly different mentality they have. When I travel with my partner, we are on the go from the minute we get off the plane and want to fit in every attraction that the city has to offer. We’ve gotten better with fitting days of relaxation into the mix. Walking through a city like a local often gives you a much needed change of perspective in comparison to your must see list of tourism.

I’m reminded of a conversation that I had coming home from our first trip to Europe with a woman traveling to Canada on the same plane. As we passed through security we began to chat and we talked about where each other was headed for holiday. I spoke of the long itinerary that my partner and I had just finished with a smile of accomplishment. She looked at me with a stare of disbelief and the first thing she said was, “typical American”! I paused as her words stung a bit. Me a typical American? We just accomplished a beautiful trip to London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, fitting every possible site in with even time to spare! As I thought about her words, they sank in a bit more. She her and spouse were traveling to Canada for several months and they had a very small itinerary in front of them.

Sometimes when we feel we’ve accomplished a lot, we’ve accomplished very little. Yet setting aside time for literally nothing, can be some the most accomplished tasks you can add to your day. I might not possess the strongest notion of this statement at all times, but it still beats hard within my heart. Take time to just be. It’s ok to travel and set time to just experience a day of nothing in another culture. Sometimes you’ll surprise yourself with what you can mentally obtain.