Travel Tips From the Seven Dwarfs: Happy

Whether on vacation or just hanging out around your home, it feels good to laugh and be joyous.


Regardless of how amazing your life may seem to the outside world, as a living being you should want to be happy at your core.

The Seal of Approval for Happiness at Dunvegan Castle, Scotland

Just as Happy goes to work in the same mine as the other Dwarfs in the movie, we all show up in our lives as who we are.  The spirit that we are speaks so loudly that frequently others can't hear our words. 

We know we love being around people like Happy.  These people make us feel happier ouselves by simply being in their presence.  We find ourselves laughing uncontrollably over the dumbest joke with them despite being stuck in an annoying traffic jam or working on a weekend.

ZZ Not

However, some professions seem to suck happiness right out of people.  Those unlucky souls go to work every day to hammer and be pounded in a metaphorical room full of jackhammers, or at least that is their perception.  That's not to say the job isn't rewarding both financially and psychically (assuming you get in more good hits than the other guys), but sooner or later you're battered and need a chance to recover. 

Some think an expensive foreign car will help them escape the grind, so they hit the freeways in their teutonic luxury sports coupe and cut off suckers who leave a small gap in front of them, checking their GPS every twelve seconds to be sure traffic conditions outside their immediate view haven't altered, so that if conditions have changed they can have something they haven't encountered yet further frustrate their commutes.



Jay and Amy on Matterhorn Bobsled at Disneyland

They go on to reward themselves with  two distinguished Scotches, a bottle of fine wine and an expensive meal at a nice restaurant while ignoring loved ones at the table to check messages and news on smart phones  so that they don't miss a moment's action in the arena or in world events over which they have no control.

Finally turning in, they lay down between expensive tight-knit Egyptian sheets in their beautiful multi-million-dollar homes to stew about how that Prius they'll never see again dared to cut them off on the freeway or how that other jackhammer hit that big rock they thought should have been their's to smash.

It makes me stressed just thinking about it.

Bond Girls Having Fun?

A cruise vacation could be the perfect escape from this madness.  For a week or two, you can let someone else literally drive the ship.  Without worrying, you'll still arrive at enticing ports, which you can explore on your own or with an organized shore excursion.  On sea days, you'll have time to relax and unwind by the pool or get as active as you like on your impressive floating resort.  Great meals, of course, are included for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a few other treats each day, and world class entertainment is always just a short walk away.

Once you've booked your cruise through a knowledgeable travel agent, you can simply surrender yourself to the pleasure of your sojourn. 



Gina and Daddy, Happy to Be at Grandma Mary's House

Making that transition from battles and regimentation to freedom may not be as easy for some people as it should be.

How often have you seen someone on vacation so worried about everything being precisely as they imagined it would be when they had marked it in their calendar that they spend prime hours angry instead of Happy?

How frequently do people on vacation still hunch over their iPhones furiously checking for the latest update so they can know what they should be upset about rather than enjoying the present moment?



Happy

If what you think you want is to control everything, forcing it to bend to your iron will, by threat or whip, then you need a vacation more than anyone.

And by vacation, I don't mean a checklist of places to see and things to do that will keep every second occupied, any variance from which requires re-consulting your schedule frantically to see how it can be recalculated while lashing out at anyone in your presence to whom you can attribute blame, justified or not.

A great vacation includes room to breathe, time to let the spontaneous unfold into serendipitous pleasure.  When every minute is scheduled and absolutely has to unfold exactly as planned or someone must be held responsible, that's just turning a vacation into a grueling job.  The difference between work and leisure, after all, is frequently a matter of attitude. 

Maybe you think you need to be a gladiator at work.  Maybe you enjoy being the toughest, meanest SOB anyone has ever encountered on the job.  But you've met very successful people who seem to be Happy, right?  You can be that too. 

Whether you want to be Happy at your job or not, when you go on vacation, be Happy.  Just maybe you'll find some element of joy that you can bring back with you.  Your fellow travelers will appreciate it, and the real YOU will love it!