The Difference Between Escape and Intentional Pause

Feb 18, 2026

Have you been living for your vacation, or thinking that "my vacation should be restful, but I need a vacation from my vacation"? Then there's a chance that you are not resting. You're just taking your stress somewhere sunny


You need to know the difference between escape and intentional pause.

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In the moment you are reading this, I'm in sunny Nuevo Vallarta: sitting by a pool, reading a book, chatting with my friend, listening to some great music.


I share this for two reasons: 1) it’s what sparked this topic, and 2) I want your vacations to be a time for intentional pause, not just escape from the day-to-day grind.


You may be wondering if I am sitting by a pool; did I write it by the pool, or did I leave to work in my room? Neither. Before I go away, I pre-record my content as a video, then my Virtual Assistants take my video, put it on YouTube, publish it as a Podcast, and write my blog from the transcript. I do this so that I can go away and be chill. I'm going to talk about that tactic in a little bit.


(Side note: I completely understand that I'm very privileged to be able to go away. And grateful I have business support and my husband’s support. Even though my husband has the financial means to go, he's not fully free in his schedule because he works for a company and has limitations on his vacation time.)


I’m writing this because I want all women to have better vacations, more restful vacations, and to share how to reintegrate when you come back so that you feel even more rested.


The Assumption High-Achieving Women Make


Something I see all the time with high-achieving women is the assumption, “If I go away, I will feel better.”


The truth is, you can change locations and still bring the same pressure with you.


I have been on many a vacation, or even to masterminds, where the person I am with or the people I am with are still spending a few hours by the pool or still in the room answering emails, working on a project, in meetings and not able to fully relax because they are needed and when they aren’t they're wondering, "Did that thing get done properly?"


This could be for someone in a career or running their own business, and I don't want you to have the same pressure when you're trying to take that pause.


​The Big Distinction


There's a big distinction here:


Escape: I'm running from something. I'm trying to get away from it.


Intentional Pause: Creating space to realign and recharge, or to be re-excited about things.


Every vacation, every trip, every time away doesn’t have to be an escape. Instead, the shift is to make it an intentional pause.


Vacations don't automatically equal rest, but they can.


I know people close to me who are living for their vacations. They work so hard. It's so stressful. They hate their boss, or something about it, and all they want to do is escape. They just want to get away.


When you escape, you go on vacation, but you can't fully get away from it.

What Escape Looks Like


  • Constant distraction: You can't just sit by the pool and chill. Instead, you're planning things, you're on your phone, you're maybe drinking, you're scrolling. You need to fill that void with something. You can't just sit and relax.
  • You need the trip to “fix” how you feel, but you're still thinking about work nonstop, so you don't actually get a rest
  • You’re still thinking about work nonstop
  • You’re avoiding the hard questions that maybe a little voice inside is asking you
  • You’re dreading going home when you’ve just arrived: That's the issue with just a two-day weekend: Friday night, you're so excited for the weekend. Saturday, you enjoy it. Sunday, you're dreading Monday


I definitely don't want you to just change the venue where you're still working super hard while you're away.


I can remember being by the pool with a friend who was stressing about a proposal that she had to put together as a presentation. It was thrown at her at the last minute, so she wasn't able to prepare in advance of our trip. I said, "Hey, do you want someone on my team to just make that PowerPoint presentation for you?" She's like, "Really, that can happen?"


Having someone else take care of things or help you get ahead when things pop up while you're away is really handy.


What Intentional Pause Looks Like


Intentional pause looks like:


  • Spaciousness, even boredom, to allow time to process, be creative. ​


People say to me, "Oh, I could never sit by a pool for a week." Well, I'm not just sitting by the pool. I am:


  • People watching
  • Listening to music
  • Swimming
  • Enjoying great food
  • Doing the aquasize class
  • Thinking creatively, journaling and praying