People just can’t seem to leave their jobs anymore. And it’s costing them.

“Working Americans average a little over two weeks of vacation a year, while Western Europeans average five to six weeks,” says Alison Tilley, founder and CEO of www.TropicalLiving.com.

What this means is our relationships outside of work are suffering.

“As people get busier, they often neglect some of the most important aspects of being alive,” says Tilley, whose luxury travel and tropical homeware company offers practical solutions for a happier, healthier, more balanced life. Marriages and relationships can suffer because couples do not invest the time necessary to nurture each other and stay connected. It takes time to stay connected.”

The heightened pace of North American life gets much of the blame. The Internet. Email. Text messaging. Even when we are with family, rushing a child from school to soccer practice, say, we are—ironically—disconnected from them, because they are connected to someone or something else. It’s tough to connect with a child who is sitting in the car’s backseat carrying on a text conversation with a friend.

There just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day. But there is a solution. Island, spa and tropical lifestyle expert Alison Tilley calls it “Tropical Living.”

Tropical Living is a state of wellness that can lead to a happier, healthier, more balanced life. Enjoying a tropical lifestyle can truly change, shift and rebalance lives. It inspires people to slow down and reconnect to themselves and loved ones. “Tropical Living is about deepening the level of what matters most in life: our relationships with ourselves, each other and nature,” said Tilley.

Tilley found that when many North Americans finally do take a vacation, many often choose locations that add to their already taxed state of stress. They travel to the very thing they need to get away from: over-stimulation.

“Many people are so overworked and stressed out that they often don’t take the necessary time to truly evaluate their vacation decisions,” said Tilley, who sailed the Caribbean as a child with her parents and has since traveled around the world 10 times. “Consequently, they check into crowded hotels that are jam-packed with stressed out people. Their escape turns out to be a small, stuffy, one windowed room with the television blasting next door. It is no wonder people often return home saying they need a vacation from their vacation.”

Enter Alison Tilley’s Tropical Living, an unusual tropical travel, homeware and lifestyle company that advocates slowing down, reconnecting and enjoying more “Leisure in Luxury.”

“I have experienced first-hand and with others how 10 to 14 days on certain tropical islands can actually transform and rebalance lives in the most wonderful of ways,” said Tilley. “It’s the natural beauty of tropical islands, yes, but it’s more. Islands carry the pulse of a much slower, gentler pace and a relaxed lifestyle.”

Tilley encourages people to celebrate milestones in life, honor turning points and reconnect with those you love through travel to tropical islands and luxurious tropical spas.

“With my lifelong years of travel to tropical islands, I realized how I could help people slow down and see life through new eyes,” said Tilley who has sold 250,000 copies of a book on travel tips to travel agents and has made appearances as a travel expert on numerous television and radio shows.

As Tropical Living's way of saying “thank you,” whenever someone buys an island or rents one of their properties for a week or longer, Tropical Living will purchase a livestock animal from Heifer International for a family in need. It could be a cow, a goat, a llama or a flock of geese, chickens or ducks. Heifer International’s goal is to help end world hunger and poverty through the gift of livestock and training.

Alison Tilley’s Tropical Living rents luxury tropical spas and private villas on some of the most extraordinary islands in the world, from the South Pacific to Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean and beyond. The company also sells and rents islands and offers an international collection of tropical homeware. Visit Tropical Living on the World Wide Web at www.TropicalLiving.com.

“Tropical Living can rejuvenate, refresh and recharge,” said Tilley.

Having traveled the world 10 times over searching for the most spectacular tropical islands and spas on earth—from Bora Bora to Bali, Thailand to Fiji—Alison Tilley is an island, spa and tropical lifestyle expert and is available for interviews and appearances.

Tropical Living is an unusual tropical travel, homeware and lifestyle company that advocates slowing down, reconnecting and enjoying more “Leisure in Luxury.”

Combining luxury tropical travel, homeware, philosophy and philanthropy has never been done like this before.

Tropical Living–An Oasis Online. It’s Upscale that’s Uplifting.