The benefits arising from a summer jaunt, with its release from the
cares of business, are of inestimable value. “Work and worry” are
killing hundreds who might be saved to long life and happiness could
they but break away from their toil for a trip to the mountains or
seaside, or some other place where business could for the time be
forgotten. Though the respite be only a brief one, a break in the
monotony of a busy life will sometimes relieve the tension which if too
long continued snaps asunder the strings which need relaxation to
preserve their strength.
The man who esteems his life work too important to admit of vacations
sometimes learns, when too late for remedy, that unremitting application
to his task has totally disqualified him for its continuance, and long
before the period when he ought to be in his prime, he is compelled to
relinquish to others the work he so fondly hoped to finish himself. A
little relaxation now and then might have saved him from a collapse, but
“he couldn’t afford the time.”
Happily for the American business world, the infection of “summer
travel” grows more and more contagious as its benefits become better
understood. Year by year the tide increases in volume, and the
facilities of travel are multiplied to meet the demand. If these pages
shall serve to assist the tourist in the choice of his route, or, the
choice being made, in rendering his journey more enjoyable, their
purpose will be fully met.
[Illustration: CHICAGO TO THE SEA.]