The ever-increasing pace of life has made it even more stressful to make a living nowadays. The problems and pressures of holding a job while maintaining a healthy personal life is relatively harder now and this can eventually take a toll on our health. Indeed, keeping-up with the rat-race is more grueling than ever. A record number of people have been applying for welfare cards and folks have been hocking their extra stuff for extra money. In fact, pawnshops in the U.S. are one of the few businesses doing brisk business right now.

Indeed, people have been forced to make a few lifestyle changes to cope with financial hardship. One of these adaptations to modern life is learning to cut-back on the usage of fuel and the decreased demand has let the price of crude oil fall back down to almost normal levels. If you’re one of those overworked folks that have been seeing too much of your cubicle and desperately need a break then this is wonderful news.

The price of aviation fuel fell with the lowering of crude oil and airline tickets aren’t at ridiculous rates anymore. As such, it’s not too early to start planning that long overdue vacation your overworked soul so desperately needs. Going out to see the world is the best way to release all that pent-up stress and pressure you culled toiling away in the office.

Soaking up the sun and playing around in the surf in some distant, exotic locale is the ultimate vacation for most people. Sure, there may be local beaches accessible by car, but not having to share your breathing space and the ambiance with noisy, obnoxious drunks makes paying extra for air fare to travel to an isolated tropical paradise is well worth the money.

Renting a private villa in the Algarve located on the southern tip of the beautiful and historical country of Portugal sounds like something that will set you back half a year’s worth of pay, but prices for the smaller-sized ones are quite reasonable considering they offer you a stunning view of one of the Iberian Peninsula’s most breathtaking panoramas.

The Algarve, like the rest of Portugal is rich in history. Christians and Moors have been wresting it from each other’s grasps during the olden times and its name actually came from the Muslim word Al-Gharb, which means “the West”. The region has a gauntlet of beaches with good quality food, fresh fish, and produce at inexpensive prices. This has made the Algarve a favorite vacation spot for British tourists since the 60’s. The safety and pleasant Mediterranean weather and Portugal’s membership in the European Union has also made it a current vacation and retirement place for Northern Europeans like Germans, Scandinavians and Dutch who own most of the luxury villas in the Algarve.

The region is chock-full of hills and valleys with limestone caves, isles and inlets which provide the picturesque view from any of the private villas nestled on the lush, green hillsides. If you get bored of sitting around taking in all the majestic splendor of the Portuguese landscape, you can venture out of your luxury villa and visit any of the several municipalities there. Play a round of golf in the network of golf courses, or ride a small boat and get material for your blog or Facebook account by picture-taking amongst the limestone grottos and the exotic birds which make a 170 sq-km lagoon and nature reserve their playground in the Algarve. Sunlight there per year averages 3,000 hours, so you can play under the glorious Portuguese sun until you drop.

When it’s time to call it a day, don’t worry about coming home to a hermit’s lair. Private villa rental doesn’t mean you’re going to be cut-off from the world when you’re in your luxurious, landscaped hideaway. Villas (which cost $600-$1,000 per week depending on the size) have all the modern amenities like satellite TV and other appliances you may need. Remember, most of these are owned by wealthy Europeans, so comfort is of importance.