The Importance of Getting Away

Recently, my partner and I went up to Perthshire in Scotland. It was kind of a spontaneous trip that was triggered by a specific bakery we wanted to visit.

I know, traveling hundreds of miles for a bakery might seem extreme, but we like bakeries! We were lucky with the weather and what could have been a cold and wet trip north, turned out to be a crisp and bright break in one of the most beautiful places either of us has ever been.

Getting away with your special person

Gold, red and russet leaves cascaded over hills, parted by fast-flowing rivers and waterfalls. Tiny red squirrels made themselves busy and the last of the bright purple heather flowered on the sides of Munros.

We walked until our feet hurt, just soaking up the beauty we really hadn't even considered we'd find there, basking in the glory.

The reason I'm writing about this is that something unusual happened while we were there, specifically with my partner and her endometriosis symptoms.

Not a full day passed before she remarked on how well she felt. How she felt more energized than she had done in years.

How she felt sharp, alive, and, well, happy.

There could be a number of reasons for this. Perhaps the fresh highland air gave her a new vitality, like some Victorian doctor's prescription.

Perhaps there's something in the food or the water in Scotland we're missing down south. Or perhaps it was just getting away from our house and all the fatigue and stress and pain associated with it; to get lost, if only briefly, in a dream landscape.

Taking a break from endo life

Whatever it was, I was just struck by how maybe we had become so preoccupied with getting better, and such prisoners to the symptoms, that she wasn't really resting and recovering when we thought she was.

We can stay in bed and sleep in, watch movies, paint nails, etc. but without time to really escape and get away from our lives, was it really doing anything? How did a short trip away without consciously considering endometriosis in any way, do more for my partner's well-being than a host of supplements and lifestyle changes?

Was it switching off from endometriosis? Is time away just as important as time spent learning how to manage the symptoms?

We work a lot, and we don't holiday much. That's just self-employed life for a lot of people, but now that we've felt how healing just a short trip away can be, perhaps we need to make it more of a priority.

I'm not sure if beautiful vistas will provide all the answers, but what's the harm in trying?