Fog of Travel

The countdown till take off is now in single digits (if you want a postcard, the postcard challenge is still open). This weekend I'll be thinking of getting the last few checks on my to-do list: travel medical insurance, museum tickets (I'm thinking Reina Sofia in Madrid, Picasso museum in Barcelona, and Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam... thoughts? Recommendations?), exchanging my dollars into euros. But I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something...

I've felt that my thoughts at work these last couple weeks leading up to my vacation have been a bit foggy. I'm not sure if it's staring at a computer so long, or that I've got a lot of my mind, including general work and life stresses in the back of my mind. I've also been getting low-grade headaches. When I notice my brain getting on the fritz, I try to escape for a quick walk around the block. I'm hoping that this is just a sign that my vacation is much needed and that picnicking and lounging in parks and at the beach will be enough to reset me. A recently published study suggests that visiting parks allows the "deeper thinking part of the brain" to relax, something it doesn't get to do in an urban setting.