I want to get away! I want to fly away!
You can thank this guy for the title of this post.
I thought a lot about the value of vacation on vacation. I know it’s a bit redundant, but thinking is occasionally a specialty of mine. (Like the time I thought it would be a good idea to take a newspaper stand with my friend Dave, put it in the car, and take it to my apartment-well maybe not that time)
In all this thinking, I began to realize the incredible value of getting away. Not for a day or an evening, but for a good solid week or two. To be removed from ones every day surroundings is actually quite a blessing. Like the child or teen who goes away to camp, there’s something about removing yourself from what you’re always doing and always thinking and being with the people you’re always with that makes you appreciate what you always do, think, or who you’re with.
I can even help you to realize when you need a change in your situation. You come away from vacation saying thinks like:
“I need to do better”
“I need to make that change” (not unlike M.J.’s “Man in the Mirror” mantra)
or even
“I need to get out of Dodge.”
However or whatever you might do on vacation, a week or two during specific times of the year can be a huge improvement to your life. More than that can make you lazy. Less than that can transform you into Dickens most prized antagonist ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’. And it doesn’t have to be in the lap of luxury…
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What was a real eye-opener for me was when I got promoted to tax manager at Ernst & Young back in the mid-1990s. A manager was assigned a “book of business” for which he was responsible… all the way from mining new engagements from that book, to servicing it, to billing and collecting on the work that was done. And there was an expectation that managers would check in on a daily basis… voice mail for sure, and preferably both voicemail and e-mail. I never could enjoy a vacay as long as I worked there… and I was there until mid-2001, having been promoted to principal. In fact, I found vacation to be more stressful than being at work to put out all the fires… those fires were my responsibility whether I was there to extinguish them or not, and all things considered, it was so much easier to service that book of business while being in the office than being on the beach. Definitely not a position for a Type B personality (and anyone can attest I’m Type A all the way).
UR. Thanks for this bit of insight, and also thanks for not writing anything sketchy during my inability to edit. I could only read your comments, and when I received your last one on my phone, I laughed out loud. And then wondered, “crap, what if he decides to play a funny joke. I’ve since learned that I can shut off comments if I’m away. Oh well.
I think writing as a man with no children, then yes, a week away feels better than a day or night away from everything because you can already have a day/night away together whenever you want! But I would take an evening out with just me and my husband over a stressful week of vacation with 3 small children any day! That is so much more relaxing and I appreciate that time so much more since it doesn’t happen very often.
So although I might agree with you Tina, I suppose the reason I can’t is because I didn’t agree with this either, until a man with four young boys taught me this principle. I never took more than 5 days away from my job, until he taught me that it was a necessary must. So I don’t know how he did it, but he certainly taught me how necessary it was.