Are you having second thoughts about traveling now?

Due to influenza AH1N1, some travelers had to postpone their trip or convert their international trips into local travel. People worry about the virus spreading fast with air travel.

Meanwhile, a Miami Herald business columnist says, “It’s going to be an interesting summer in the US.” Cindy Goodman says, “People are worried that a temporary vacation could lead to permanent time off.”

But Americans had a difficult time taking vacations even before the slump of the economy.  For 2009, online travel reservation company, Expedia.com, showed that about 34 percent of Americans don’t take all the vacation time they earn each year. In contrast, 22 percent of French and 24 percent of Germans don’t use up all of their vacation leave. Japanese workers are the least interested with 92 percent of workforce not taking all of their vacation days.

The cost to the individual for such a prodigious work ethic is job stress and burnout. When you let go of a vacation leave, you also let go of an opportunity to refresh and recharge, increase your productivity, and create a healthy work/life balance.

A recent study by the British Medical Journal linked chronic stress to the development of heart disease and diabetes.

CNN reported that a study in the March 3 issue of the Journal of American Cardiology may provide new insight into a link between mental stress and sudden cardiac arrest, a leading cause of death.

Workers are not the only ones who suffer, businesses suffer too when workplaces are full of exhausted employees.

Consider also these startling statistics from Mental Health America: 1 million employees miss work annually due to work stress, more than other leading causes like illness or injury.

The cost in lost worker productivity is $44 billion.

So how can you take the time off without the guilt, and the worries of not just getting “sick and tired” but really getting sick?

How about taking a vacation in your pajamas?

Stay put in your home and you’ll get the same relaxing benefits as that of going on a trip.

Turn off your “working mode.” That includes turning off your mobile phone and laptop if you will use these gadgets for the purpose of working. As if you’re going to some deserted island, inform your business colleagues that you cannot be reached.

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of “The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time in Our 24/7 World,” says even when Americans manage to take vacations, they still don’t completely leave their office, because of technology. They continue communicating with their clients. They reason out that work will pile up when they get back. With this setup, you wonder whether people really rest while on their vacation or do they still work but “virtually” from a different location. 

To put yourself in that “relaxed mode,” cozy up in your pajamas. Try any of these to relax at home or at a nearby place.

1. Meditate or do yoga.

2. Soak in the bath alone or with your partner, sipping your favorite glass of wine and listening to a relaxing music. Fill up your tub with hot water, which can relax tension in your muscles. Use nice-smelling shampoos and conditioners coupled with Lush’s Karma bubble bath for a great aromatherapy.

3. Dry yourself using freshly washed fluffy towels.

4. Use scented candles, bunches of fresh flowers, essential oils, potpourri, or incense in your bedroom with relaxing scents that will put you in that proper mood, like: lavender, bergamot, sandalwood, vanilla or cinnamon. Take in the atmosphere and let it relax you.

5. Sleep in freshly laundered sheets. In Prison Break Series I, brothers Lincoln Burrows and Michael Scoffield were talking about what they wanted to do when they get out of prison. The list included sleeping in a crisp, clean hotel sheet. Who wouldn’t want that?

6. Another on that list was a cold bottle of beer.

7. After a bottle or two, you can start singing your thoughts away in your favorite couch.

8. Still in that couch, watch a movie or reruns of your favorite movies with popcorn.

9. Can you paint a canvass other than your face? Go paint!

10. Has it been a while since you’ve kept a journal? Perhaps you possess the poetic license to write poems. If not, simply write your thoughts in free verse.

11. Catch up on your reading. This is no time for speed reading, read a magazine or book at a leisurely pace.

12. Do scrapbook

13. Go through old photo albums. This never fails to make me smile or laugh, especially the fashion and hairstyles of the past and the before and after looks.

14. Go for a walk or jog around your subdivision. Exercise is a good way to clear your head and prepare mentally for the next day’s challenges.

15. Eat chocolates.

16. Do gardening. Feel the earth with bare hands as you pull weeds and trim bushes. This can be relaxing and visually gratifying.

17. Practice your backstroke or butterfly if you have a pool in your subdivision or condo building.

18. Get a good tan without getting sunburned in the poolside.    

19. Try something new to you and your friends like cooking class, wine tasting, even sushi making. You can host it in your home for this week and rotate hosting among your friends.
You don’t have to isolate yourself within the four walls of your home; you can cover some distance to distress.  

20. Meet up with friends at a salon for foot spa, massage, or beauty treatment. Wear that soothing eye mask. You may also do this at home using natural facial scrub ingredients. Give and get a massage from your partner.  

21. Go to a coffee shop. Read a book in solitude or chat with friends.

22. Have a pajama party. Pick a reason to celebrate. You can play dress up and invite your friends to sleepover wearing their funkiest or flirtiest wear. Going back to tip #8, you and your guests can watch movie in your home wearing a costume. It can be a thematic evening based on the movie.   

23. Practice photography. There are informative sites like DIY (Do-It-Yourself) which will teach you the basics.

24. Use the plants in your garden as objects of your lenses or you can explore interesting places in your town, which you may have overlooked as you set sights on some far exotic places.

25. Check in a nice but affordable hotel. It’s like you’re on vacation. You’ll enjoy a change in your routine and a change in location.  

26. Sip decaf peppermint tea before going to bed.

There are so many ways to relax without spending much and going far. It’s just a matter of finding ways and time. You can even get a vacation in your pajamas. If your health matters to your wealth, then invest time on what matters more. No Leave, No Life.