In short, we work hard and we play hard, but we don’t always know how to relax.

By its very nature, reading is slow and requires you to be still and give it all your attention. Some of the best books are exciting and engaging, but reading will always be a slow, relaxing pastime. Many people gather together a list of books to read over the year and then struggle to get through the first couple on the list because they wait until bedtime to read. Reading can be incredibly rewarding for your mental health, your intelligence, your ability to empathize with others, and even in preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. So, being on holiday is the perfect time to read during the day as you’re not working or expending your energy on other activities. Make sure you bring enough books as running out of books you want to read could drive you to make an impulse buy a book you’re not really interested in.

If you’re not sure what you might want to read after you finish your first book, you might want to bring an e-reader, such as a Kindle as you’ll be able to connect to your hotel’s WiFi when it’s time to buy your next book and select exactly what you’re in the mood for. If you’re reading in the sun, make sure you wear enough sun cream and to regularly change your sitting position so that you don’t overexpose one area of skin. It’s also important to protect your eyes from the sun. If you require reading glasses, you can combine the two with sun readers from specialists like Foster Grant or just a good pair of prescription sunglasses.

We often put pressure on ourselves to see all the sights of whichever beautiful city or country we’re visiting. By all means, see the sights, but it’s never conducive to relaxation to beat yourself up because you didn’t see everything while you were away. There are different ways of taking pressure off to see everything and you have to find the right strategy for your personality. You may like to make a list of say two or three things you have to see that will be easy enough to manage. Or perhaps you’d find it easier to eschew lists altogether and go with the flow. Whatever you do, take off the pressure; you’re on holiday, relax.

Another source of anxiety whilst we’re on holiday relates to food and drink. Some of us worry about the calories from all of the indulgent food and drink, and some of us worry about the dent these indulgences have on our bank balances. If you know what you’re spending each day you won’t be stressed about whether you’ve just decimated your bank balance. If you need a hand keeping an eye on this, Trail Wallet is an app that lets you effortlessly set your budget each day and to update it easily. It’s not looking at the balance that stresses you out, it’s not knowing how low it will be when you do look. Everyday life is waiting for you when you come home, so it’s okay to order that extra piña colada or to go back to that stunning restaurant you discovered on the first night of your holiday.

If relaxation is your goal, then it’s important to eat and drink what you want and to manage all of the usual money worries and body-image issues. As far as alcohol is concerned, however, just be careful that indulgence doesn’t lead to overindulgence, as nothing ruins your chill as much as a horrible hangover in a hot country. If mismanaged, there’s nothing quite as stressful as the logistics, tickets, departure times, bus schedules, and all of the other minutiae involved with getting from your home to your hotel. There’s no point in planning a restful, relaxing holiday if getting to it drives you to the cusp of a breakdown.

The best way to avoid travel stress is to give yourself a lot of spare time. Leave the house ridiculously early to give yourself enough time to get to the airport. If you leave early enough it’s okay if you miss a bus or train because you’ll still get there if you catch the next train or bus. The worst that can happen with this strategy is that you’re waiting around in the airport and get a little bored. But if you’ve followed the earlier advice in this article, this is the perfect time to get stuck into your first-holiday read. It’s also a good idea to only book flights that leave at respectable times of the day. Don’t book a flight that means you have to wake up at 3 am. Not only will lose sleep stress you out, but the unsociable hours will make getting to the airport even harder.

Take a taxi from the airport to your hotel. One of the most stressful things about traveling is often the journey from the airport to your hotel. As soon as we’re off the plane we’re struggling to find a bus terminal or access to the underground. Then we have to negotiate the language and probably worry about whether we’re going to miss our stop. You can even Google how much the taxi will cost beforehand as often the stress comes from worrying about what the damage will be. It’s also a bad idea to make plans for your first day. Ultimately, holidays mean different things to different people. Some people want adventure and culture, others want to meet people and have fun. But most people admit that they’re a little overworked and that they really just need to recharge their batteries