I know some people who haven’t taken a vacation in years. The excuses come in all shapes and sizes. For me, I think that does much more harm than good. I know this for a fact because I used to be one of those people. I used to think that I didn’t deserve a break. “I’m not there yet”, is what I’d say. I skipped vacations with my family and encouraged them to go without me. I’ve regretted those decisions ever since.
Over the past 5 years I’ve made it a point to get away regularly. I’ve written about it the benefits before and I feel more strongly about this than ever. Even if you take a week off where you just stick your computer in the closet and make it more of a staycation, that works too. It’s important to be self-aware. I know myself enough that I do not have the discipline to stay away from my computer if I’m home. I like my work. I know I’ll jump on and check out some charts. I can’t help myself. So I need to go away completely to accomplish my goal of ‘getting away’.
Usually I’ll get out for 5-7 days at the most about twice a year. Once in the summer and once during ski season. It helps clear my mind and come back refreshed. Those of you who have known me for a long time know that I don’t care if stocks double or get cut in half. Gold can go to zero tomorrow and it won’t matter to me. I’m not a permabull or permabear in any asset. Those are fools. I’m convinced that regularly getting away and starting from scratch when I return helps me keep an open mind. The best example I can think of is when I went to Mexico 3 years ago (June 2016) thinking U.S. stocks were about to roll over and then came back a week later buying every stock on earth. It was a quite the change of heart that I can only credit my vacation and getting away to come back with an open mind. Stocks all over the world ripped from there and never looked back! [Read more…]