Back to Work from a Working Vacation
I recently returned from my annual vacation to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. During the past week, I had a chance to snowboard, which is pretty much my favorite activity, for several days in great conditions, ate great food in excellent restaurants and enjoyed the winter weather.
Oh, and I also had my Blackberry and laptop computer going every day. I checked e-mail a couple of times a day, responded to client inquiries, made calls to experts and even drafted several documents. So in some ways, I never really left work.
A lot of folks often chide me for never really going on vacation and leaving work behind. My problem, which I believe is shared by many, is that I worry. I worry about things falling apart when I’m gone. I worry that I need to stay in touch to ensure that I don’t miss anything on my files. Perhaps most pragmatically, I worry that the workload will pile up and be overwhelming when I come back unless I do some work daily.
So the drawback, of course, is that I don’t fully “get away.” I don’t really mind, though, as I think I would be in much worse state if I didn’t have work access while away and was nervous about what was going on. It’s like being away from your cell phone for a day.
Regardless, for those of you who need the “Crackberry” even when sunning themselves beachside and for those who spend time in a hotel’s business center to print out work e-mails, I sympathize. I for one think it’s perfectly rational. But if someone sets up a support group for us, please keep me informed.
I use my BB hooked up to our Exchange Server via a Hosted Exchange Mobile Service (http://www.123together.com). Frankly, I could not take a vacation without that support. It is a bit of a pest while on holiday – but its better than being stuck going several times a day to an internet cafe or dragging my laptop around.