Sometimes we all need a vacation. And sometimes, our hair needs a vacation too. A friend of mine just got back from a two-week trip to Europe. During that time, she saw plays, hiked across countrysides, dined in posh restaurants and provincial pubs, shopped in high-end boutiques and independent handicraft stores, and boarded planes, trains, and automobiles. In all of her photos, she looks radiant and refreshed. And throughout all of these activities, she was without her usual beauty weapons: the hair-dryer and flatiron. Usually, my friend doesn’t leave the house unless she’s dried, ironed, and otherwise perfectly coiffed, which usually means beating her natural waves into pin-straight submission. But on this trip, thanks to crazy European outlets, her hair appliances were basically useless dead weight in the suitcase, which meant she had to either experience all of the trip in ponytailed shame, looking sheepish in photographs as if apologizing for her hair’s natural state, or she could embrace her unruly waves. Thankfully she opted for the latter, and she had a great trip.

When she returned home and regaled me with stories of her adventures over coffee in our favorite haunt, she briefly bemoaned the outlet situation and told me to expect to see some crazy hair in her pictures. However, all I saw in those pictures were broad smiles and beautiful scenery, and I was inspired to embrace more of myself in my natural state. What makes each of us beautiful is enjoying the moment and accepting ourselves, in whatever form we may naturally appear. Our crazy curls, wacky waves, or straight strands may never live up to our unrealistic expectations for them, but if we just leave our hair alone and enjoy ourselves, we may find that bad hair days become fewer and father between as we discover the beauty of the world around us. And that is as refreshing as any vacation, hair or otherwise.

(Just a hint—For no stress tresses, try your hand a knitting this sweet headscarf pictured here. You’ll find the instructions in our iKnit Gotta Get Accessories book.)