Vacation Quotes to Inspire Your Travel Spirit

It doesn’t have to be luxurious, because these vacation quotes will remind you that taking time for yourself is all that matters.

Read our awesome quotes about going on vacation to inspire you to treat yourself and get away!

A vacation is an opportunity to recharge and restore your body and mind.

Vacations give us a change of scenery, provide us with adventure, and help us relieve stress and boredom.

Just like eating well and getting exercise, vacations are necessary for a well-balanced and healthy life.

Some people might consider them luxury but they do matter if you want to lead a happier and more fulfilling life.

With all the ups and downs in life, we all need a vacation once in a while.

You need to take a break from work to relax, refresh and recharge.

To enjoy time with your loved ones and see the world.

To inspire your travel spirit, below is our collection of beautiful, inspirational, and humorous vacation quotes, vacation sayings, and vacation proverbs, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

Also, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily wisdom. 

See the rest of our quote database for even more inspirational ideas and thoughts.

Vacation quotes to inspire your travel spirit

1. “An upcoming vacation gives us something to eagerly anticipate.” – Jaime Kurtz

You will also enjoy our article on happy holidays quotes.

2. “On vacation, I totally unplug. I don’t bring a laptop with me.” – Will Wright

3. “Read a lot when you’re on vacation, but nothing that has to do with your business.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr

4. “A vacation spot out of season always has a very special magic.” – Max von Sydow

5. “Travel brings power and love back into your life.”– Rumi

6. “No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.” – Elbert Hubbard

7. “After a while, just staying alive becomes a full-time job. No wonder we need a vacation.” ― Michael Zadoorian

8. “Life’s short. Eat dessert first, work less and vacation MORE!!” ― Lea Mishell

9. “Neglecting vacation is neglecting success because every success needs an accumulated positive energy!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

10. “No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell.” – Jewish Proverb

If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of travel quotes to inspire exploration and learning from others.

Vacation quotes to help make your dream trip happen

11. “Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.  Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” ― Maya Angelou

12. “The vacation we often need is freedom from our own mind.” –Jack Adam Weber

13. “A vacation helps to relieve stress and boredom, gives us a change of scenery, provides us with adventure, and helps to bring us closer to the people in our lives.” – E. S. Woods

14. “When people went on vacation, they shed their home skins, thought they could be a new person.” ― Aimee Friedman

15. “The world is a book, and those who don’t travel only read one page.”– Augustine of Hippo

16. “Travelling unveils new dimensions of this world not known to the naked eye.” ― Wayne Chirisa

17. “Take a vacation from your stressful thoughts by changing your thoughts.” ― Debasish Mridha

18. “No one wants to die with vacation time on the books.” ― Andrea Goeglein

19. “Vacation is that time when you wish you had something to do while doing nothing.” –Frank Tyger

20. “Isn’t it amazing how much stuff we get done the day before vacation?” – Zig Ziglar

Also read these inspirational outdoor quotes that will make you plan your next trip.

Vacation quotes to inspire you to take a break

21. “Take those vacations and do not take your laptop or iphone or blackberry – you are on vacation and that means having a real break and not just going to a different location and doing much of the same thing.” – Byron Pulsifer

22. “My best vacation is somewhere I could hide, somewhere warm and not a lot of people around.” – Derek Jeter

23. “A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.” – Robert Orben

24. “In matters of healing the body or the mind, vacation is a true genius!” 
― Mehmet Murat ildan

25. “The journey itself is my home.”– Matsuo Basho

26. “People should look for accessible vacation destinations the same way they look for any other vacation destination – based on their own personal tastes and preferences.” – Candy B Harrington

27. “Don’t wait for a vacation to enjoy life. Start to enjoy it now, today, wherever you are.” ― Debasish Mridha

28. “A wise man travels to discover himself.” –James Russell Lowell

29. “We need to develop a ‘vacation attitude’ every day by being focused on what we need to accomplish by the end of each day.” – Catherine Pulsifer

30. “When you go on vacation with people, you learn a lot about them.” –Sarah Mlynowski

Vacation quotes to awaken your exploratory instincts

31. “One of the biggest challenges about going on vacation is planning the trip.” – Paul Brodie

32. “A good vacation is over when you begin to yearn for your work.” – Morris Fishbein

33. “Here’s to a vacation of no regrets!” ― Joan Rylen

34. “Reaching the top requires taking a good break every time you need it! On the way up, you must never hesitate to stop for a while!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

35. “When all else fails, take a vacation.” ― Betty Williams

36. “All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those who wander are lost.”– J.R.R. Tolkien

37. “A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.”- Earl Wilson

38. “The average vacation is one-tenth playing—nine-tenths paying.” –Arnold Glasow

39. “Enjoy the vacation without going; enjoy the conversation without talking.” ― Debasish Mridha

40. “Extend your vacation whenever possible.” ― A.D. Posey

Vacation quotes to inspire you to take some time off

41. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”– Marcel Proust

42. Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not. – William James

43. “Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation.” – Leo Tolstoy

44. “Vacations mean a change of pace, a gentleness with ourselves, a time of rest and renewal, and a time to stretch ourselves and encounter new people, new lands, new ways, and new options.” – Anne Wilson Schaef

45. “The only time that love takes a holiday is when we go on vacation together.” ― Anthony T.Hincks

46. “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.”– Seneca

47. “My favorite place to vacation is anyplace by the ocean.” – Nina Arianda

48. “Don’t feel guilty about vacationing. What are you truly living and working for anyways? Death is all too real.” ― Richie Norton

49. “The paradox of relaxation is the renewal of mind; rekindle of spirit and revitalize of strength.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

50. “What shall you do all your vacation?’, asked Amy. “I shall lie abed and do nothing”, replied Meg.” ― Louisa May Alcott

Vacation quotes for when you need a break

51. “Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” ― Michael Palin

52. “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal” ― Paulo Coelho

53. “If I’m going on vacation, I just work ahead.” – Mort Walker

54. “Travelling in the company of those we love is home in motion” – Leigh Hunt

55. “As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was about to happen.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

56. “To travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Anderson

57. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

58. “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

59. “People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.” ― Edmund Hillary

60. “Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

61. “People don’t take trips; trips take people.” – John Steinbeck

62. “Taking a vacation can actually increase the likelihood of getting a raise or a promotion.” – Shawn Achor

63. “Only the traveling is good which reveals to me the value of home and enables me to enjoy it better.” – Henry David Thoreau

64. “When in doubt, go on vacation!” – Unknown

65. “I would like to spend my whole life traveling, if I could borrow another life to spend at home.” – William Hazlitt
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of home quotes that will make you appreciate where you lay your head.

Vacation quotes to inspire your next trip

66. “The gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” —Sir Richard Burton

67. “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai

68. “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller

69. “We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfilment.” — Hilaire Belloc

70. “A travel adventure has no substitute. It is the ultimate experience, your one big opportunity for flair.” —Rosalind Massow

71. “If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.” – Rachel Wolchin

72. “To get away from one’s working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one’s self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.” –Charles Horton Cooley

73. “Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.” – Jamie Lyn Beatty Thi

74. “Life is meant for good friends and great adventures.” – Anonymous

75. “Do you really want to look back on your life and see how wonderful it could have been had you not been afraid to live it?” – Caroline Myss

Vacation quotes to elevate your mind

76. “Investment in travel is an investment in yourself.” —Matthew Karsten

77. “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” – Chief Seattle

78. “If you have lost your clarity and purpose, a vacation is a great way to find it again.” —David Fuller

79. “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

80. “A vacation is necessary.” –Unknown

81. “I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen, how much I’m not going to see, and how much I still need to see.” – Carew Papritz

82. “A one day holiday can at times be better than a one-week vacation if you totally unplug for that one day!” ―Catherine Pulsifer
If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of relaxing weekend quotes to power your workweek.

83. “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

84. “Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before.” –Dalai Lama

85. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” ― Jack Kerouac

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of The Office quotes from the iconic hit show.

Beautiful vacation quotes to inspire you

86. “I love places that make you realize how tiny you and your problems are.” — Anonymous

87. “As you grow older, you learn a few things. One of them is to actually take the time you’ve allotted for vacation.” – John Battelle

88. “It isn’t how much time you spend somewhere that makes it memorable: it’s how you spend the time.” — David Brenner

89. “Take vacations, and go as many places as you can. You can always make money, but you can’t always make memories.” – Unknown

90. “Adventure is worthwhile.” — Aesop

91. “Few vacations are as gratifying as those devoted to personal growth.” – Pat Koch Thaler

92. “The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” — Sydney J. Harris

93. “Vacations are necessities, not luxuries.” – Linda Bloom

94. “Travel not to find yourself but to remember who you’ve been all along.” — Anonymous

95. “He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.” – Chinese Proverb

More vacation quotes and sayings

96. “After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.” – Kenneth Grahame

97. “There can’t possibly be anything more beautiful than Seaside Beach at sunset.” – Bryn McCarren

98. “If you live where you want to go on vacation, you will always be on vacation.” – Matt Fox

99. “Resurrection, rebirth, reincarnation, resprout, revive! All these words can be summarised only in one word: Vacation!” – Mehmet Murat ildan

100. “What paradise and vacation have in common is that you have to pay for both, and the coin is your previous life.” – Joseph Brodsky

101. “Every travel is a blessed adventure.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

102. “A vacation is three times more work without the payment.” – Debasish Mridha

103. “Vacation time is something we all accrue, but only the wisest of us recognize its importance.” – Andrea Goeglein

104. “After all, the function of a vacation is regenerative, not luxurious. It’s to restore our equipment so that we can live our ordinary lives better.” – Malcolm Bradbury

105. “In order for a holiday to be a great holiday, it must somehow involve water-related activity, because water is a magician who relaxes our soul and body!” – Mehmet Murat ildan

Vacation quotes to feed your wanderlust

106. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I’m always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary.”― Anthony Bourdain

107. “I think people need hope when times are tough. I think they also need escape and adventure and fantasy. Books are like cheap mini vacations.” ― Michelle M. Pillow

108. “Seven a.m. on the first day of summer vacation was, to her mind, a dangerous time to be awake. Even God had to be sleeping in.” ― Victoria Kahler

109. “Today was about chasing sun-rays, beach waves, & sunsets. All things beautiful that give you peace are worth chasing. Everything else isn’t.” ― April Mae Monterrosa

110. “In every voyage, be fully present.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

111. “To reach the goals of your life, you need discipline, you need luck and you need something as important as these two: Vacations!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

112. “A little piece of everywhere I go becomes a big part of everything I do.” ― Richie Norton

113. “How you feel about home after holiday says a lot about home.” ― Joyce Rachelle

114. “If you live where you want to go on vacation, you will always be on vacation.” ― Matt Fox

115. “Find the exotic where you are.” ― Adrienne Posey

Vacation Quotes To Relax From The Norm

116. “I go on vacation strictly to relax – to kick back with a good book and do nothing else but read, sleep and eat.” ― Morgan Freeman

117. “I never want to travel while I’m on vacation anymore. The only vacations I want to take now are ones where I just go and sit somewhere.” ― Hamilton Leithauser

118. “The entire art system urgently needs a vacation.” ― Isa Genzken

119. “The difference nowadays is that when I go on vacation I work some of the time rather than all of the time.” ― Nick Saban

120. “My idea of a vacation is to rest quietly in the shade of a blond.” ― Dick Powell

121. “When I go on vacation I just like to do nothing – just hang out at the beach, go eat the best restaurants, and do nothing.” ― Georges St-Pierre

122. “Laughter is therapy-an instant vacation.” ― Bob Hope

123. “There’s something wonderful about entertaining people on vacation. Everyone is there to have a good time.” ― Jennifer Hudson

124. “Being home is like a vacation to me, so I’m trying to get my home together.” ― Zoe Kravitz

125. “I take a lot of vacation because I get a lot of vacation.” ― Jim Rome

Vacation Quotes To Take a Break from Normality

126. “Never take money in lieu of vacation time. Money will never give you what taking a break will give you.” — Catherine Pulsifer

127. “Laughter is an instant vacation.” — Milton Berle

128. “Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” — Seth Godin

129. “The purpose of a vacation is to have the time to rest. But many of us, even when we go on vacation, don’t know how to rest. We may even come back more tired than before we left.” — Nhat Hanh

130. “Moderation in exercise, eating and amusement is the best guarantee of a beneficial vacation.” — Ollie Reeves

131. “When I was on a two-week vacation I noticed something. The vacation lasted a good long time then suddenly it was over. Life is like that also.” — Fr. Cedric Pisegna CP

132. “Think about it; how do you feel when you are planning a vacation? You feel excited and happy. Your stress level is diminished, and this also affects your work in a positive way.” — John Morgan

133. “Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money.” — Jonathan Clements

134. “A one day holiday can at times be better than a one week vacation if you totally unplug for that one day!” — Catherine Pulsifer

135. “Trips and vacations are so much more. These experiences show you what’s possible and challenge you to examine the paths you’ll take in the future.” — Blake Mycoskie

Which of these vacation quotes was your favorite?

Vacations are an opportunity to take a break from work, travel the world and enjoy time with our loved ones.

We all need a vacation once in a while.

They allow us to relax, refresh, and recharge so we can live our best lives.

Hopefully, the above quotes have inspired you to make yourself a priority and take some time off.

What were your favorite vacation quotes on this list?

Do you have any other favorite quotes to add?

Tell us in the comment section below. We would love to hear all about it.

By

Norbert Juma, Lead Editor

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire.

December 14, 2022 5:00 AM EST