Away on Vacation: Fact or Myth

By Jenni Hammitt

September 22, 2009

I remember going on vacation when I was young and even in high school. You didn’t call your friends on the road. You might write them a letter or send a postcard, but that was it. When we went to France, I didn’t call home once. I went for 21 days without talking to anyone on the home front. It didn’t seem weird, it was just how things were. If you were on vacation, you were not in communication. That is no longer the case.

Are we ever really on vacation? We have become so digitally acclimated that it seems like even when we are “out of town” we aren’t really out of reach. Honestly, unless we go somewhere completely isolated (and even then if we are willing to pay for access we can sometimes get it)we have the access to keep up with our friends, e-mail and work.

Six years ago we were already heading that way. I could only afford to go on vacation because I was staying in a hostel. I couldn’t afford a laptop, or a hotel that had internet access, but I had my brick of a cell phone and access to internet cafes. It wasn’t ideal, and I usually wasn’t online for long, but it was still a way to connect with home. However, I wasn’t going to spend the money on extra time to check my work e-mail. Now it is a whole new ball game.

Many of us have laptops. Aircards are becoming more and more common place. Heck wireless providers are selling netbooks with their wifi system already built in (you have to also purchase the internet package). Yes, many hotels and resorts charge out the nose for internet access, but most of us can find free access pretty easily. I know I discovered at recent conference there was a fee for wifi, but you could waive it if you were an AT&T customer. They had process in place similar to Starbucks and other AT&T hotspots. Just enter your user name and password and you were connected. Working for a DJ/Karaoke company, I have learned many bars (just like coffee shops) also have free access. It is just a matter of keeping your eyes open and in some cases just checking it out yourself.

Even if I didn’t have a laptop or a netbook, I could still check my personal e-mail, P3 e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo Messenger (which I only use for work) from my phone. I have a Blackberry, but even people without smart phones can get in on the action. Even my mom (who I love but is behind the curve on technology) can get e-mail on her cell phone. Twitter and Facebook (ok and Myspace…but really who uses that anymore) have mobile options. Even if you do not have a data plan, you can use text messages for both Twitter (which started as a text service)and Facebook and Yahoo messenger. Not to mention, if your boss (or anyone) has your cell phone number, they can reach you by phone or text.

I’m all about being connected. I like that if something goes wrong, I have the option of getting a hold of someone quickly and cost effectively. However, I also see my vacation time as my me time. I want to be able to relax and just be off the clock for few days.

I leave for vacation in less than ten hours. I will be taking my netbook with me, but I am not paying for wifi. I’m mainly taking it to do write ups and if we want to look something up we can waddle on over to a hot spot and check it there. I will not be checking my work e-mail. I refuse to do it. I will send updates on Twitter and Facebook on my phone, but I am not connecting to work. When I was on my cruise, I didn’t pay for wifi, turned off my phone’s data and turned the thing off. I have international coverage on it, but I didn’t want the extra texting fees or long distance charges that came with that plan. If I needed the phone, I had it. Otherwise it was a paper weight.

I chose to (for better or worse) make that boundary. If I didn’t I would most likely end up working from my vacation destination. I know how tempting it is just to check the e-mail, check in on the office, or just look at some data one last time. Maybe I’m just weak, but I see this as a trend. Ina world where we are always connected, how do we keep our work and our personal time apart?