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by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

I am just back from a week long holiday in the hills, and the break has, for me been good enough to wax eloquent about the spectacular natural beauty of India in general and its hill stations in particular. Just being able to break away from a daily routine with nothing to do but please myself was wonderful and recharged my batteries to go!

The holiday gave me time to enjoy almost forgotten indulgences like taking long tub baths, go for long walks to see the sunrise, simply sit and listen to music with a stunning vista of mountains with their heads shrouded in clouds! I always buy books when on holiday because being able to read for hours is a special holiday treat and those books are what I remember my holidays by. Inscribed in many of my books are names of exotic locations and the date when I visited them.

A holiday is also a time when you can take the time to concentrate on your spouse or partner. Our every day is scheduled to the point that we often don’t have time for those important, intimate moments that make a relationship special. We had the time go for walks, boating on the lake, chat, or just sit together in companiable silence, doing nothing. We often underestimate the importance of doing nothing; it is wonderful to just do nothing every now and again!

Since we drove there and back, the stunning scenery on the way both delighted us and awed us. We drove thru a tiger reserve on the way and were lucky enough to see wild elephants, bison and deer just by the road, really not minding us at all. Since we both enjoy driving, that was another thing that we could do and appreciate doing together.

We also had a time to be kids with our kids. Just kicking a ball around or riding together on a swing is such fun! Bundled up together in a warm shawl against the cold mountain air telling my four year old an oft told story; that is the sort of thing happy memories are made of!