There's a certain kind of holiday that leaves you needing another holiday to recover. Dawn starts, a checklist of sights, a different bed every second night. The alternative — an easygoing trip that genuinely rests you — takes surprisingly little planning, and mostly comes down to the discipline of doing less.
Pick fewer places
The single biggest change is to slow the itinerary down. Two bases in ten days beats five; a week in one spot beats a whirlwind. Fewer moves mean fewer logistics, more time to actually settle in, and the room to have a lazy day without feeling you're missing out. A good starting point is a solid overview from somewhere like Rough Guides before you commit to a route.
Book the anchors, leave the rest
Lock in the flights and the places you'll sleep, and then resist the urge to schedule every day. Leaving space for weather, mood and happy accidents is what makes a trip feel like a break rather than a project. The best days are usually the unplanned ones.
Build in nothing
Deliberately leave a few days with no plan at all. A morning by the pool, an aimless wander, a long lunch that becomes the afternoon — this is where holidays do their restorative work. Plan the easygoing trip lightly, and it gives far more back than the packed one ever could.
