Holistay E-Book

Regina Toedter

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 184

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Forget stressful holiday planning, the hassle of packing, endless flights, traffic jams and jet lag. No more disappointing hotel rooms, well-trodden paths and searching for paradise on the other side of the world... With Holistay, your holiday starts in your own backyard. Are you ready for the trip of a lifetime?

Leseprobe

Holistay - How I travel at home to always be on holiday

Content

Foreword

Holistay instead of far away

Where does the desire to travel all the time come from?

Brief scientific background

Places that you must have seen

Holistay Rules

My journey: Four Walls, Four Directions & Me

Holiday feeling in everyday life

My little holiday home

Your own flat - a fabulous place for holidays

Only the favourite clothes

Digital or analogue?

Naturally at home and naturally relaxing

Grounded and holistically refreshed

Sunny spots everywhere you look

To the balcony ares

Four directions - where to go?

Bird's-eye view with Google Earth

In good balance: Do something or better let it be

Forgo the alarm clock and sleep in

At least nine hours of sleep

Clean & comfortable

Places where the soul travels

Put away the camera, bring on the pens!

Sleeping in broad daylight

Water makes you thirsty for holidays

Reading a philosophical book

Places where body and mind can truly rest

A massage for your ears

Culture and nature - right in front of the door

Solo and in good company

Learning new languages with Tandem

Animals as friends

Outdoor sports

Discover the world with children's eyes

Gold, Silver, Bronze

Was a great time - that can be again

Culinary expedition

The early bird... goes to market

I'll be in Asia for a moment

Eating fit and healthy

Literary expedition

The world in books

Across Germany

France

Spain

Russia

South East Asia

East Asia

Australia

South and North America

Around the world (and to yourself)

Slow, Holy and Tiny

Excursion? S-l-o-o-o-o-o-w travel

HolyStay – Local Abbey Tours

Alternative places to stay

Addresses for vacations in the Tiny House

Conclusion

More book recommendations

About the author

Foreword

I don't have to go far to travel. I don't even have to pack my suitcase to experience an adventure. Often it is enough to step outside the door and I am immersed in an exciting experience. Life itself is a source of pure joy, I am firmly convinced of that! Every day there is something new to discover. You just have to look more closely.

Travelling is not only about experiences that we proudly report and fondly remember later, but above all about having time for yourself. Time to switch off, relax and finally have a good night's sleep. Holidays are about doing things we hardly find time for otherwise: Meeting friends, doing sports, being creative or simply putting our feet up. So holidays are often a contrast to the otherwise so routine, sometimes hectic and stressful everyday life. People who like to travel are often interested in foreign cultures, languages and traditions. The encounter with the foreign can enrich, sensitise and expand knowledge. Fortunately, this experience does not depend on the distance of a journey. Further does not equal better.

All the longings, desires and dreams that we seek to realise on our journeys can be fulfilled in any form of being on the road. A (physical) journey is ultimately always a journey to oneself. Unforgettable encounters, great adventures, deep relaxation, the feeling of freedom, the "paradise on earth" can be goals of a long-distance journey, but they can also be found where you are, at home.

So if we do it right, we don't have to fill our holiday coffers, wait for our annual leave, pack our bags, get on the plane and leave the country. Our holiday starts now - Holistay!

The term "Holistay" is a creative English word combination of "Holiday" and "Stay" and means something like "to holiday at home" or "travelling at home". A similar term is "staycation", which is a combination of "stay" and "holiday". Both terms were probably coined during the economic crisis in the USA to encourage people to spend their next holiday at home.

Let's not misunderstand each other: I love to travel! Especially my homelands, which I explore on foot, by bike, bus and train, and above all at a pleasantly slow pace. Of course, I have also been to foreign countries and to the other side of the globe. I also travel all over Germany for work. But long journeys are exhausting and often everything happens much too fast. There is a folk belief of the ancient Native Americans that at the speed we travel today, the soul often doesn't keep up. That's how I feel sometimes too! Over the years I have even developed a kind of fear of flying, which I would rather call flight antipathy.

Many European cities and popular holiday destinations are massively overcrowded anyway. Cities like Venice, Barcelona, Lisbon, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Vienna, New York and Athens are bursting at the seams. But Croatia, Iceland, Majorca, Hungary, Denmark and Singapore are also virtually flooded with tourists. The country and its people suffer. The traveller doesn't have much fun either, I think. But I don't want to debate too much about overtourism or trace ecological footprints now, I'd rather focus on my own footprints on the ground and take it all at a pleasantly slow pace.

A brief history of travel

Since time immemorial, man has been on the move. He is constantly on the move, so to speak, even if the motives have changed greatly over time.

Originally, humans explored new habitats for reasons of necessity - the search for food, water, safety - but also out of curiosity about what lay beyond the horizon. About 300,000 years ago, Homo sapiens left Africa in search of new resources, as archaeological finds in Morocco show. It was not until about 10,000 years ago that humans settled down, practised agriculture and animal husbandry and built villages and cities. At the same time, planned travel for economic and religious reasons also began: Pilgrimages, slave trade and messenger services caused people to leave their homes and travel. Thus, travelling became an important part of the history of human development.

Middle Ages

A journey in the Middle Ages (6th-15th centuries) was primarily religious or commercially motivated. Pilgrims (monks) or merchants usually set out on foot or horseback, but there were neither roads nor bridges. Even maps could not be relied upon. The Italian merchant Marco Polo (13th century) is said to have travelled China overland for the first time via the famous Silk Road. Such a journey was of course very arduous and not infrequently life-threatening. The travellers were attacked by wild animals, but also by robbers, and sometimes it took half a lifetime. The conquest of the seas

In the late Middle Ages (15th century), the seas and with them new continents such as Asia, Africa and America were finally opened up by ship. Today, however, it is assumed that seafaring is much older. The first boats for fishing were built as early as the Stone Age. With the help of these boats, even the coasts of East Asia are said to have been reached in 40,000 BC. This would at least explain how people reached South America via Alaska and the continent. Officially, the first ships were built around 7,000 BC in Greece and the Canary Islands. Detailed depictions of ships on papyrus scrolls of the ancient Egyptians (5,000 BC) and on pottery shards in South Korea bear witness to this.

Migration and crusades

Time and again there were so-called migratory movements, i.e. groups of people who set out to settle new lands (often by fighting, war and conquest). A great migration of peoples took place between the 4th and 6th centuries. During this time, various Germanic tribes advanced south, west and east, especially from the north. At the same time, the Slavs spread further and further west, which probably led to the gradual disintegration of the Roman Empire that ruled at the time.

The Christian-motivated crusades took place mainly in the 11th and 13th centuries. So-called crusaders went east in the name of Christianity to spread and defend their faith and to fight against increasing Islamisation. The Crusades have gone down in history as bloody and cost many lives.

The Grand Tour of the Nobility

In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was mainly aristocrats who went on journeys. This form of educational and pleasure travel was called a "Grand Tour". The aristocratic elite became acquainted with foreign languages and arts, made valuable contacts and at the same time enjoyed the pleasure and entertainment programme in the flourishing cities. The most important centres were Italy, England and France. But the Alps, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea were also popular destinations. This century contributed to the fact that the longing for "unspoiltness", "originality" and "freedom" was increasingly projected onto distant destinations.

Written fixation of travel

The printing press in particular (around 1440 AD) made it possible to make travel literature and thus access to foreign worlds accessible to a broad public through writing. Matthäus Merian is considered a pioneer of travel literature (17th century). Karl Baedeker founded the first German publishing house for travel guides. For the first time, travellers could now prepare for their upcoming trip with tips and information. Such a travel guide quickly became a guide suitable for the masses. Hotels were categorised, places were classified as "important", sights were named and tourist flows were systematically directed - until today.

Industrialisation and the emergence of the package holiday

A little later, the first travel agencies were founded in England under the name Thomas Cook. Organised travel groups of the upper middle classes explored the world for the first time (19th century) and tried to escape the pressure to perform at the time. Egypt in particular was popular as a holiday destination. With industrialisation, travel finally became suitable for the masses. After the First World War, holidays were made legally possible for the working classes for the first time. Sea travel became more and more popular and technical development and the expansion of rail and road transport, and since the 1970s also air transport, made holiday travel to faraway countries possible.

After the Second World War, more and more people could afford a holiday trip. Suddenly, mail-order companies like Neckermann and Quelle as well as the ADAC also got involved in the tourism industry and offered holiday trips at affordable prices. Since the 1960s, the tourism industry has been booming in modern industrialised countries and it is hard to imagine the calendar without (package) holidays. Popular destinations were above all Majorca, South Tyrol, Southern France and the Spanish mainland.

Alternative travel

But not everyone is satisfied with the "massification of travel", the complete organisation and standardisation of holidays. A counter-movement with a non-binding character is developing. This alternative form of travel takes place, for example, via Interrail, by hitchhiking or by caravan. The so-called hippie trail emerges and leads from Europe to South Asia - often via country roads and with backpacks. Popular destinations included Ibiza, Formentera, Morocco, Afghanistan, Nepal and India. Musicians like Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles also contributed to the popularity of these places as enthusiasts and lovers.

It was at a rickety kitchen table in a hostel somewhere in Singapore that the first Lonely Planet, entitled "Across Asia on the Cheap", was finally written by Tony and Maureen Wheeler, two young backpackers from England. The Lonely Planet differs from other travel literature in that it promises individual and independent travel tips away from the tourist crowds and typical sights.

But this form of travel has also changed. Digitalisation is not only giving travel agencies a hard time, but will probably soon replace the last printed travel guide under the arm with smartphone apps.

Where does the desire to travel all the time come from?

No matter how far we travel, our own four walls are still the most beautiful place of retreat. Here we can find peace, relax and find ourselves. Of course, this requires that we feel completely comfortable and secure in our home.

That is why it is important to ask ourselves: How do I actually live? Do I feel comfortable? Do I like my home? Because the more we feel disturbed or uncomfortable within our own four walls, the louder the call for distance and change. So it is worthwhile to observe one's surroundings closely, listen to one's inner self and think about what small changes we can make in the here and now to make every evening at work truly relaxing.

An example of this is my good friend who works in industry and has a good income. She has afforded herself a spacious, bright 2-room flat with a balcony in a central location near her parents' house. She has furnished the flat with great attention to detail; the generous corner couch and the impressively large flat-screen TV in the living room are particularly striking.

She has also acquired a considerable wine collection, which she uses almost daily to ring in the end of the day with friends or during spontaneous visits from her parents. The premium gym, of which she is of course a member, is just around the corner and the city centre is only a ten-minute walk away. At first glance, everything seems perfect. But despite all these conveniences, she hardly has any time for herself. The daily commute to her workplace alone, which she can only reach by car, takes at least two hours. Overtime is not uncommon in her job. In addition, she has decided to continue her education on the side to improve her career opportunities. This means additional stress after work and at weekends.

When I visit, I am also always struck by the many photos taken in different places around the world: Northern Lights in Scandinavia, the breathtaking Napali Coast in Hawaii, the majestic Machu Picchu in Peru, the fascinating Angkor Wat in Cambodia and much more. She loves to travel and has taken more and more opportunities to do so in recent years. Every holiday day is already planned for the next unknown destination. She hardly spends any time in her beautifully furnished flat.

One evening I realised why this is so: when it gets quiet in the flat, sounds from the neighbouring flats suddenly reach her. Not only can she follow the news on TV, but she can also hear the old pensioner talking to himself during the programme. And involuntarily, she also hears the neighbours' marital quarrel every evening, as I myself have to witness. All this triggers unease in me. I feel less and less at ease. Now I also understand why she prefers to go to her parents to study rather than stay in her own flat.

When I ask her about it, she is a little surprised. She has never consciously noticed or thought about the noises from the neighbouring flats. Her urge to just be away and explore the wide world is simply there for her. Where this constant wanderlust comes from, she can't explain exactly. I guess it's a kind of escape from everyday life. Instead of moving or reducing her working hours, she seems to compensate for the discomfort in her own four walls (and perhaps also the additional pressure in her career) by travelling.