REAL Vacations

Last weekend I got back from a weeklong trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico (just south of Cancun).  This was a huge milestone in my career because it was my first REAL Vacation, ever. I did not take my cell phone, I do not have a blackberry, and I did not bring my RSA Token so there was no way for me to connect back to work. I planned it all in advance. I planned to not work and hoping to not think about work for the week and funny thing was that I dreaded it. I had anxiety about unconnectedness (the lack of being electronically connected), the lack of not being able to help someone for a whole week, the lack of not being needed to help. We are Help Desk people right, that is what we do, we help those in need. I felt like I was abandoning those that needed me. AHHHHH!!!

Well, at the end of it all... IT WAS AWESOME! I did not have any escalations, requests for reports, complaints, or people wanting more that we were capable of offering.  For an entire week I was FREE!

But hey, I am a Help Desk person so I could not avoid helping someone. I helped myself! I relaxed. I reconnected with my beautiful fiancé who has spent the last 3 months carring for our new baby girl; I overcame some fears and zip-lined at 45MPH over the Mexican jungle, snorkeled in a cave, and repelled down a cliff. I visited Mayan ruins in Tulum. I slept in. I got a killer tan. I, Dan Wilson, took a REAL vacation and LOVED every minute of it.

OK now it is your turn… Tell us your joys of a REAL vacation. And for those that are not brave enough to take one, let’s try to offer support on how you overcame the fear of "unconnectedness".

Comments

[Rich]

Dan: That zip line looks like a blast! Balance in life is so important. The blessing and curse of technology is the never ending connectedness. When people are calling the Support Center because they can't "connect", maybe we can suggest they get re-connected with themsleves! Nicely of course! Great post since it made me disconnect from work for a moment!
Rich

[Phil Gerbyshak]

Wow Dan, that is AWESOME! Sounds like you had one heckuva a great time.

My vacations haven't been as much fun as you had, but I'm working on that. So far, I've tried to DISconnect on vacation, to varying success. I'll keep trying! You're an inspiration.

[Brandon Caudle]

Dan, you brought up such a key point. We work in a 24x7 industry, yet we rarely take time to really get away from it. It sounds (and looks) like you had a great time - good for you! and we would all do well to follow your lead. Zip Line anyone?