I recently spent 3 nights in Puerto Rico celebrating a friend’s wedding. At some point during the celebrating a conversation bubbled up on other places we had been and I mentioned that of all the places my husband and I had traveled to, Hawaii was the only place I cried when we left.
A few days later, the jet taking us home sped down the runway and as we caught air, I cried. Weird, I thought. I’ve been to Puerto Rico other times and had what I would have classified as richer experiences. On other trips we’ve explored old San Juan, hiked the jungle to beautiful water falls, done night kayak trips through the bioluminescent bay. This isn’t even the first wedding we’ve traveled to Puerto Rico for.
This trip was incredibly simple by comparison to our usual journeys out of town. We took a ride share to the hotel and (with the exception of one wedding related dinner) we didn’t leave the hotel until our ride share back to the airport. I read 3 books, drank a few fruity frozen things by the pool, walked along the short private beach, took naps, did my best to befriend an iguana poolside, danced, laughed, shared stories and otherwise connected with my spouse and friends. In short – rested in ways that aligned with not just being physically rested but the 7 types of rest as laid out by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith’s research.
Side note – I found Dr. Dalton-Smith and this topic from her 2019 TEDx talk on rest which is here, her webpage is here if you want more info on her and her book and offerings, and as I searched for it I was delighted so see it’s been published just about everywhere so if you want Harvard Health’s write up on the 7 kinds of rest, you can read it here. Now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast.
That access to rest is what this trip had in common with the trip to Hawaii that I cried after. We only went to Honolulu. My husband was on a work trip and as his plus one I had very chill days while he worked. I read books, took naps, took long walks. We did some very cool things as it was a 10 day trip, but we didn’t try to see everything there was to see. Nothing was crammed in, we didn’t fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day.
Do not get me wrong – I love those trips too. I love exploring, rising early and returning late with oodles of new memories. And yet. This time in Puerto Rico I felt something different, a bit of something that I will consider as the difference between traveling and vacationing. Great news, the internet at large agrees that I have just discovered something many others have already codified – a reminder that while definitions and ideas might be out there, we can’t really know them until it’s our time to learn them. I have a very strong suspicion that leaving a place and time where I deeply rested is (apparently) a very rare occurrence, and it makes me cry.
Leaving a place I found ease makes me cry, although as I read that back, maybe the rareness of that feeling is a good reason to cry as well.
What do I do with this new understanding? I’m wildly looking forward to our next few trips (which are already booked). BUT. I went back to those itineraries and plans and added days that have something close to nothing on them. I’m not going to fill those days. I’m working on letting go of the idea that I have to fill every minute of every day with magic, and remembering there is magic in just being a bit still.
Addendum: As I wrote this I realized I’ve also been applying this idea in my daily life since we got back without realizing it. I spoke to it in a different way in my April 2026 newsletter, which you can read here if you wish. If you don’t get my newsletter, I highly recommend signing up or checking in on this part of my webpage where I post links to them all for those who don’t want more email.
Journal Prompt: If rest is more than just naps, who are the people that fill you up – that you feel energized after being with. Write about the last time you spent time with them and how you felt after (in both body and mind)
Physical Prompt: Find 10 minutes to call or otherwise connect with at least one of those people.
All content I share here, elsewhere on my websites and in social media is created by me, Alison Gurevich – and not AI or other sources unless otherwise specifically attributed. This includes all photographs, writing, and ideas. All rights reserved by Alison Gurevich. “Vacation vs. Travel” was originally published to www.breathtomotion.com on April 20, 2026. When you find typos or grammar errors, celebrate humanity and enjoy a little song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3wKzyIN1yk (Human by Rag N Bone Man).