A Few Reasons to Get Up Early When Traveling

Sunrise, Montego Bay, Jamaica – A benefit of rising early!

How do you feel about getting up early?

Are you naturally an early riser? Would you like to be?

Or, are you interested in sleeping all you can, especially when traveling or on vacation?

Jennifer and I are both naturally early risers (which is a good thing considering we’re parents of three youngish children).

We like to get up early even when we’re on vacation…especially when we’re on vacation.

Why?

Partly, it’s just routine.

That glorious routine that once seemed so hum drum and now seems so freeing. Doing the same things over and over liberate you from having to make decisions, especially over small things like morning routines. This tends to feed creativity for me, because it frees me from having to make decisions about what to do next.

I can concentrate on what’s important.

There’s your first reason to get up early while on vacation…it creates routine and fosters creativity!

Leigh Powell Hines spoke recently about her need to start the day early with coffee or tea, even when on vacation. That first cup of tea or coffee is indeed a whole lot better when looking over the ocean than when staring at a computer screen at 5:00am.

Early morning tea at the Inlet Inn in Beaufort, NC

Don’t miss it.

Some of my most perfect travel moments have come early in the morning.

Full moonsets are one such moment.

Moonsets?

You know of our love for Beaufort, North Carolina. Carteret County’s odd coastline makes for some amazing sunsets, but it also makes for some just as awe-inspiring moonsets, especially when the moon is full.

Full moonset from the boardwalk in Beaufort, NC

The spring full moons are especially dramatic.

Late sleepers miss them.

There’s your second reason to get up early while on vacation…catching a full moonset!

As much as I would like for travel and vacationing to be done purely for the joy if it, purely for the glory of leisure, our vacationing is often times – at least partly – a recharging for the world of work.

I was listening to chess master Josh Waitzkin speak about the habits and rituals of high performers recently. He relayed a story about a professional skier who would ask folks what were the three most important turns on a mountain. Answers were typical and centered somewhere on the slope. He insisted that the most important turns on a ski run were the last few turns before getting on the lift to go up the mountain.

What?

If those easy turns are perfect then you begin the run channeling great performance. If you practice bad form with those first simple moves you’re channeling bad form from the beginning.

Maintain a good routine on vacation for the same reasons.

Now this is not to say that you can’t or should dial things back a little on vacation, but practicing some good habits – if you nail those turns just before the lift – you might just be setting yourself up for some creative, productive times when you return home.

There’s your third reason to get up early while on vacation…channeling good habits so that you can bring them back home!

Sunrise at Wrightsville Beach, NC

Vacation might even be a great time to experiment with the practice of getting up early. Check out these tips for getting up early.

Give it a shot this summer.

Don’t miss that sunrise, or that chance to enjoy a cup of tea while looking out over the ocean. And don’t forget to:

Relax…you CAN get there from here!