What do people look forward to, at a vacation resort?

To find out more, we reached out to a group of professionals who are roughly between 30 and 40 years old – these are people who are active on the travel and vacation front. And as we mentioned in our previous interview, this demographic is useful to us – and relevant, in terms of vacation interests and feedback. (Where they go, what they do, and what they look for at a vacation resort.)

(Here’s one young professional we spoke to.) For us, a swimming pool comes first at a vacation resort. We’re not club members in the city that we live in, and do look forward to just hanging around in a pool setting. All resorts have pools these days, and many of them also have a junior pool which is extremely useful, according to me. The little ones can be reasonably safe out here.

I must add here that the pool needs to be safe to swim in when it comes to water quality. Some of them overdose on chlorine, which is not exactly desirable. We also look forward to clean changing rooms, shower heads that work, and a good supply of well-laundered towels and accessories.

What else? Resort pools these days don’t have a lifeguard at the pool location, and I wonder if this is too much to ask because it gives you some reassurance. Even if a guest in the pool can do a rescue job, you need someone from the assigned pool staff to know and administer first aid procedures.

There’s more on this story at this link > World of Airda / September 2022

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Mina Tilakraj takes us to the Taj

You can sit for hours, watching the Taj change its moods with every change of complexion in the skies. Interestingly, the vision of the Taj is framed differently from each window of the fort across the river Yamuna. And from what I have experienced, something magical happens when you come within sighting distance of the Taj. You see a landscape of greenery, with the river around leading you gently towards a point where the Taj rises majestically into the frame.

The magic starts even before you get there, with eager anticipation. As we are nearing it, crowds and long lines of visitors build up momentum. And when you enter the big gate, the monument stands majestically before you. The first glimpse of a demure, ivory-white dome set against the blue skies is a sight to behold. It beckons the visitor to go closer and closer, and get a view of the Taj in all its glory.

And when you get closer, you rub your eyes in disbelief and say to yourself: am I really in front of the Taj, or is this a dream?

There’s more on this story at this link > World of Travel / September 2022

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The science of vacation: Ian Cole at TEDxOrlando

(Text from the notes featured at this link.) While many know the health benefits of vacation, many still don’t take the steps necessary to reap the benefits. In this talk, Ian Cole discusses the scientific research behind vacations and provides a formula to increase the stress relief from your vacations.

This is an old video, but has the logic and depth to help you understand why taking that vacation is so important to work-life balance.

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