The Value of Vacation

I am getting ready to go on vacation this week and, in the process of wrapping up work and finishing all my household duties (laundry, cleaning out the fridge, taking out the trash), I started thinking about vacations and what they mean to me. I was not always a fully engaged person in my life around me and often took work on vacation with me, logging onto my computer to check email or spend some time on my latest project. It was a standard expectation by friends and family that I would have my computer and work with me and I missed out on some important things because I "just couldn't get away from work". And then, I lost someone important to me unexpectedly and had the chance to go with his wife and daughter on a trip to Italy. No computer, no phone, just a chance to travel and experience my first vacation overseas. When I came back after two weeks, I had more than 400 emails in my work inbox - talk about overwhelming! And then, my boss said "just delete them all" and after a minor reaction of "you've got to be kidding me!!!" I did it. Wow, was that a liberating feeling! At that moment, I made the decision that to be the best person at work and at home, I had to make time for me and learn to put work away.

Fast forward to today - I have a personal cell phone so I can leave the work phone at home, the computer is not even an option in my packing plan and my goal is to be fully engaged in whatever I am doing, whether it is laying on the beach, playing in the ocean, biking around the island or hanging with family and friends. To quote my boss, "I work to live, not live to work" and so I am off to do just that...live!