How To Feel Like You’re On Holiday When You Aren’t

If you’re reading this, you probably aren’t on holiday — at least I hope you don’t read Lifehacker posts while hiking or investigating new cafes. How do you inject a little bit of holiday into your regular life?

For me it’s Thai iced tea; as long as the weather’s warm enough, that takes me way closer to feeling like I’m poolside than it rationally should. For Lifehacker’s food editor Claire, it’s packing the fridge with charcuterie and cheese and “pickled things”. For writer Josh it’s piña coladas, or any frozen drink.

It doesn’t have to be food and drink. For senior video producer Joel, it’s “fancy tiny toiletries”, fresh sheets and wearing a robe. “Robe = luxury,” he says. I think Joel wants to live in a hotel.

Finance writer Lisa feels a release when she puts her phone on Do Not Disturb and turns to her pile of unread magazines. Health editor Beth likes to literally lounge around. “Ideally in a place you don’t usually lounge. Bring a chair into the shade somewhere, or be like my kids and set up a picnic blanket on the floor.”

Shifting locations inside your own home, or even office, is a weirdly effective way to feel more relaxed. I wrote this post on a work-from-home day — the ultimate in fake holidays. There’s something about taking the laptop to the kitchen and setting it on the countertop while I drink my morning coffee that feels terribly carefree yet adult.

So if you can’t get the day off, but you’re lucky enough for the chance to work remotely, take it.

And if you’re stuck at work, take every indulgence you can: Splurge for the better coffee, get something spicy for lunch, walk in the nearest park, play your lazy-Sunday music, sneak a few minutes with a book.

Hell, I got through a summer of fast-food shifts by making myself the same turkey cheddar sandwich on a croissant every day, and diving into a paperback of A Clockwork Orange. Weirdly, it felt a tiny bit like a holiday.

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