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Window Seat or Aisle Seat: Warm-Weather Winter Vacations

Locations in this article:  New York City, NY

Did you know that today is National Escape day? In honor of this January day, why not plan a winter escape from the cold?  Kerri Zane’s Window Seat or Aisle Seat column has advice and deals for planning your first vacation of the year.

Winter can be the perfect time for a mental health holiday. My family and I really enjoy the rush of the Christmas season, but it is the time after the holidays that we relish for rest and relaxation. No family dynamics to negotiate, no colleagues or neighbors to entertain, no one to please or disappoint, no time schedules, and no expectations. NO KIDDING!

Clinical psychologist Carl Hindy suggests making your first winter vacation one of “stimulus deprivation,” or as close as you can come to “cocooning yourself away” for a time of recovery.

Jonathan Alpert, a Manhattan-based psychotherapist and author of Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days, encourages his patients to take a winter mini-vacation. “[During the holidays] we try so hard to please others and tend to neglect ourselves, [now] it’s time to hit the reset button and reevaluate goals for the coming year.”

An ideal destination is away from any family/friends/obligations, peaceful with not a lot of stimuli. Fortunately there are plenty of warm and inviting locations that fit the bill as well as some great deals.

Unplugging Vacations

If you’re looking for a heaping dose of absolute peace and quietude. The Kalahari Safari of Silence in the saltpans of Northern Botswana is the answer. Specifically designed with mature couples in mind, Expert Africa has a range of retreats that focus on reading, spiritual activities or wilderness getaways. All of the options are free of TV, Internet, computers, cell phones and other electronic devices. Plus the parks visited on these multi-destination excursions focus on calming isolation. Think no pollution, no glaring streetlights, or city noise. Instead, image clear night skies lit up by millions of milky way stars and the sounds of a desolate African landscape. For more information, visit them online or call + 44 20 8232 9777

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