change of pace

an addition of some variety in one's life, routine, or abode. Going to the beach on the weekend will be a change of pace. The doctor says I need a change of pace from this cold climate.

A shift in normal routine, a variation in usual activities or pattern, as in She's smiling in that one photo, just for a change of pace, or After six hours at my desk I need a change of pace, so I'm going for a swim. This term originated in a number of sports where strategy can involve altering the speed of, for example, a pitched or struck ball or a horse's gait. By the mid-1900s it was being transferred to other enterprises.