As soon as I type the period at the end of this sentence, my vacation will be officially over.

Crap.

The view from my in-laws' balcony. Close to heaven.

You see, I was one of those workhorses who didn’t think vacations were important. And besides, even if they were important, who had time to take one? I kept up that attitude for six long, fruitful, stressful, hectic and chaotic years.

And I will never, ever make that mistake again.

Vacation was wonderful! I spent eight days without checking my email for work, writing a paragraph that didn’t end with “Wish you were here, suckers!” or speaking one word on the phone. In other words, I took real time off. And so should you.

Recently writer Sara Altshul wrote in Health Magazine about a scientific study that found “engaging in enjoyable leisure activities can lower stress hormones and blood pressure, make you feel better all over, and reduce your waist circumference and body mass index.” I’m here to tell you that it’s all true. My jeans even fit better after vacation – probably because I was waking up and taking the time to leisurely inspect each finger nail and thoroughly apply my moisturizer every morning instead of rolling out of bed and logging on. And my vacation didn’t stop at only pampering myself. I saw my husband’s home country, drove over a magically terrifying rain forested mountain with no seatbelt, and met and got to know my in-laws for the first time. And I did all this without having to excuse myself to meet a deadline or take a call.

Sound like something you want to try? I highly recommend it. And the first step to getting started, in my humble opinion, is subscribing to Alex Fayle’s Freelancer Vacation Clinic. I subscribed to the clinic back over the summer when I thought that a vacation was just a fantasy. But with the Freelancer Vacation Clinic’s help, and my own motivation to visit South America, I was able to take Alex’s (infrequent, motivational, non-annoying) emails to heart and manage my vacation like a dream.

If vacation seems like a pipe dream to you right now, do yourself a favor and subscribe to the clinic. If I managed it – and I’m the most ornery, cantankerous, workaholic-y, non-tropical person in existence – then you too can enjoy all the benefits of vacation.

(FTC, I’m not getting paid to advertise the Freelancer Vacation Clinic. I’m a subscriber and it worked, baby.)