It’s not a vacation we need - it’s a change of lifestyle.

This week marks my fourth spring break as a college student, and I have a strong feeling that it is going to provide my most relaxing and rejuvenating break yet. Interesting thing is, I’m not on an island in warm weather drinking and having naked orgies, although that does sound most enjoyable.

This week marks the culmination in a slow change of lifestyle that I have been making over the last several months. It started with the decision to change majors, followed by the goal of actual physical activity as a means to losing weight and getting in shape. Since making these changes, entering the blogosphere, and the introduction of a slew of other mind and body techniques, my life seems more fulfilled and me more content than I have been, well maybe ever.

What I have learned since altering my approach to life is that the idea of vacations, or breaks as most collegiate students are more familiar with, is really just a week or more stretch of breaking completely lose to only recall how much disdain you have for your true daily routine. Here are a few techniques to introduce into your routine to make vacations less needed, and the majority of your life more enjoyable.

Explore the mundane - let the meaning find you.

As I write this, I am sitting on a train from Boston to New York, on the way home from spending St. Patrick’s Day with friends and visiting Boston for the first time. I could have easily drove or flown and cut the time of transit down significantly. But I enjoy easy mass transit, watching the world through a window on a human scale, and the ability to actively engage in mindless activities. Reading and writing on a five hour train ride fit the bill perfectly.

Key Point: Doing the things that are easy and accessible on a daily basis allows for downtime and provides large amounts of food for thought for whatever you are going to have to get done when you return. Take a bus ride instead of driving, ride the train instead of flying. Sit on a park bench instead of in front of your computer instant messaging your friends what’s up, what r u doing, and ttyl. However long you engage in these activities doesn’t matter, it’s the break the mind receives from the constantly moving world we are a product of that will provide a daily mini-vacation.

Find what pleasures you easily with the least amount of work.

Call me old fashioned, but for me it’s drinking a cup of tea while reading the daily paper in a dimly lit coffeehouse with light music playing in the background. This perhaps is one of the most relaxing activities I engage in on a regular basis. It simultaneously provides a relaxing beverage, an environment to reflect in, and a place to learn about the world - whether through people watching or reading the paper-the personal development in the awareness of the world around you is incredible.

Key Point: Find an activity that could take as little as fifteen minutes to a few hours a day (use time-management wisely) that provides immeasurable amounts of down-time that fosters a relationship between relaxation, continual mental growth and self reflection. Reading a book, listening to light music, sitting in a hot tub, exploring a museum, or walking through a park are all great activities that meet the goals of this technique.

Break your addictions slowly and with respect to your needs.

I need to sit in front of a computer. I don’t care what I am doing on it. As of late most of the time is blindly spent searching the web, especially other blogs. In the beginning it was necessary, as it provided material to write about, and participated in me grasping a better understanding of what the world of blogging was and how to utilize it. But as with any addiction, it started as a guilty pleasure and ended as habitual.

Breaking the habit become admittedly more and less easy to break when my desktop hard drive crashed last month and I purchased a laptop for the first time. Now there are plenty of times when I travel to a destination other than my house with free internet access and my new best friend the laptop, but I am much more efficient and productive with my computer without the internet connection. I now don’t check ahead with my destination to ensure free wi-fi and I end up productive half the time, and in my standard blind searching the other half. Either way you look at it I am 50% more productive.

Key Point: Figure out what is absolutely necessary in your life, and what is just secondary time-wasting material. Then make the distinction between the secondary material that you enjoy, and the secondary material which you partake in because it has become a bad habit. You’ll know what to get rid of.

The goal of each step is to experience a mini-vacation on a daily basis, making the yearly ten day blow-out less necessary, and even more rewarding. Everything mentioned can be done on as little time as a lunch break. Who knows, you might even end up back at school or work after lunch with a smile on your face.

For more ideas on mini-vacations and introducing relaxation into your life on a more consistent level read Step IV: L is for Liberation in Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Work Week and on his companion website and blog.