Vacation

Following a PGA Championship last week that didn’t turn out like probably anyone other than perhaps Jason Duffner himself expected, this week takes us o the Wyndham Championship and a special tournament that offers fans and spectators lots of Wyndham vacation fun.

Sponsored by Wyndham Worldwide, this tournament is significant to the world of professional golf, in that it is the last PGA Tour event of the regular season before the playoffs begin. For any Tour player who is short on points at this time of year, the Wyndham Championship is a “must-play-well” event in order to earn needed points before the FedEx Cup.

Originally called the Greater Greensboro Open, this historic tournament has been contested on the rolling greens of North Carolina golf courses since 1938. That year, along with in 1946, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1960, and 1965, the tournament winner was the legendary golfer Sam Snead.

Who this year’s tournament winner will be is probably anyone’s guess with a wide-open field and many players jockeying to improve their standing late in the season. But counted as “winners” will certainly be the many charities the tournament supports, along with all the fans who enjoy an “Escape to the Wyndham” with its enhanced tournament week experience.

Escape to the Wyndham for Wyndham Vacation Fun

Each year the Wyndham Championship attracts over 80,000 fans to the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. Fans can enjoy a week watching golf’s top contenders, along with opportunities to win prizes and enter daily vacation giveaways and other special activities. Guest activities include:

• Key to Wyn, a specially designed expo tent designed like a resort lobby, where guests can keep tabs of the contests and giveaways.
• Margaritaville at The Wyndham boardwalk, a complimentary hospitality hub themed like a seaside retreat and featuring live entertainment, concessions and other vacation-inspired activities.
• A 3D vacation-themed sidewalk art display for photo opportunities.
• The Wyndham Adventure Zone designed just for the kids, featuring bounce houses and a rock-climbing wall.
• Onsite caricature artist.
• And, onsite golf-swing analysis.

As Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and chief executive officer, Wyndham Worldwide, explains, “We are incredibly proud to be a part of the rich history and tradition of the championship in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad. As a family-oriented company, Wyndham Worldwide is committed to creating great experiences for our guests and customers of all ages, and we have created an outstanding vacation atmosphere at the Wyndham Championship.”

Related News from The Timeshare Authority blog:

• PGA TOUR Tournament is Wyndham Worldwide and Wyndham Timeshare Winner

It’s Friday… whose life have you changed this week? This  simple question often sends us back to the drawing board to rethink how we can use the last 48 hours or so that remain before a new week rolls around. That is, if we have even left enough time to rethink anything. And when our answers fall short, it’s too often because we haven’t taken enough time for ourselves first. We haven’t left ourselves enough bandwidth to lay a plan that includes enriching the lives of others because we don’t take the time to vacation, relax, and restore ourselves.

Yes, we work hard so that our children have braces on their teeth and go to soccer camp. And yes, we do our part in our jobs so that others aren’t having to pick up our slack. Although these acts are important, they reflect baseline performance.

What about the actions that we take, which can be either large or small, but that impact others in meaningful and positive ways? We know we are living our lives fully when our days are not only rich and full but when they allow us to bless and enhance the lives of others.

Are we shrugging off our intrinsic need to help and serve others because we are too overloaded to have the clarity of thought we need in order to see beyond the baseline?

Here are 5 questions to ask when Friday rolls around:

1. Have I left myself time to reflect on goals, plans, my needs, and the needs of others? Or have I been a hamster on a wheel all week long?
2. What have I learned and what have I taught this week?
3. How many times did I tell my children to “hurry up” or promise them I would do something “later”?
4. How many times did I force myself to “hurry up” or promise myself I would do something “later”?
5. Do a have  vacation time planned for the near future? …even if it is only one or two day? Is there personal restoration time on my horizon?

The greatest rewards in our lives are often what we have done to serve or bless others. But that level of self-fulfillment can’t happen if we haven’t addressed our own physical, mental, and spiritual needs first. When the oxygen mask on the plane drops down, the instructions are very clear. You must put the mask on your own face first.

Taking care of ourselves first is counterintuitive for most of us. Whether it is in our DNA or it is conditioned, for some reason, we often put the needs of others ahead of our own needs. And as admirable as this may seem, it probably deprives others of receiving the best we have to offer.

We can’t truly help others if we aren’t first attending to our own needs for rest, relaxation, a change of pace and venue, and time to restore and recharge. For the sake of everyone who matters to you, carve out vacation time for yourself.

Your summer vacation may be just a great memory at this point, but don’t file those vacation pictures away just yet. Here’s an option to win a fabulous 7-night Wyndham timeshare vacation, if your summer holiday photos wins the most votes on Facebook.

Here’s how the contest works: Wyndham Extra Holidays, a subsidiary of Wyndham Vacation Ownership is inviting you to share your best summer vacation photo on their Facebook page: Wyndham Extra Holidays on Facebook.

First “Like” the page, then follow the instructions you’ll find there for submitting your vacation photo. Tell everyone you know about the contest so your friends, family and co-workers can go to Facebook and vote on the Wyndham Extra Holidays page for your picture. The easiest way to do this is to “share” your picture on Facebook.

The Grand Price Winner of the contest will receive a 7-night timeshare resort vacation. Second and third place prizes will also be awarded, with the second prize being a 5-night vacation, and the third being a 2-night vacation.

Winners can choose a one-bedroom timeshare from more than 100 resorts across the US. As Paul Carney, vice president of resort operations and rentals, Wyndham Extra Holidays, explains, “We are thrilled that we can salute this year’s summer vacation memories with the Wyndham Extra Holidays Snapshots of Summer Photo Contest. With more than 100 resorts across the U.S., a memorable vacation with Wyndham Extra Holidays is just a click away during any season.”

(View Official Rules for complete entry and voting details here.)

You’d think we would all just recognize that a we need to take time off, to plan a family vacation and reconnect. But the truth is, our daily demands blur our vision and cloud our decision making when it comes to finding the work-life balance we all crave.

First, let’s start with the fact that the “balance” everyone talks about doesn’t really exist. You will never have your personal life and your work life in a state of equilibrium. And trying to do so adds one more source of pressure to your life.

Your work life and your personal life are too multi-faceted and often even interwoven making the idea of segmenting them and then balancing them as challenging as that guy who spins plates around on long poles at the amusement park. You know him, he frantically runs from pole to pole to pole trying to ensure that each plate is spinning at the optimum rate and fully balanced. He hopes and prays his act ends before the plates, which slow and wobble, tumble to the pavement.

Forget balance. Look for a satisfying ebb and flow. Work hard today. Play hard tomorrow. Relax well the next day. Do whatever rhythm works in your life that doesn’t turn into a balancing act.

Nevertheless, even when you are living in the flow, you can get so distracted that you miss the warning signs of family vacation deprivation  Here are 5 ways to know that at your house, a family vacation is overdue:

1. You can’t remember the last time you took one. This warning sign is obvious. If you ask your children (or your spouse) about your last family vacation and no one remembers when or if you took one, then you are clearly in the red zone for needing another one.
2. Your back hurts. Okay, it may not be your back, perhaps it is your neck, your head, or even your left knee. Your spouse has similar complaints and the kids are drippy with yet another cold or holding their stomachs with a mystery tummy ache. You and your family aren’t sick. Your bodies are just flashing warning signs that they are in need of some down time.
3. You, or any other member of your family, struggle to fall asleep. Perhaps you put the kids to bed, over and over and over again at night. Or you go to bed, only to find yourself awake with your mind still buzzing. This is not “flow.”
4. The things that used to be fun, aren’t so much anymore. Your children now bicker when doing things they once looked forward to, whether its activities, sports, or family routines.
5. You realize that other people’s vacations annoy you. This not only applies to all your friends and relatives who are sharing details about their great family vacation, but to strangers. The Travel Channel starts to irritate you; Jimmy Buffet songs make you grouchy; or simply walking past the luggage store at the mall makes you cranky and resentful.

Do not wait until you show all five signs—you’ll be in the danger zone of vacation deprivation by then. Instead, find a way, to ensure that a fun, relaxing, and restorative family vacation becomes part of the natural flow in your life.