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Ryan Healy graduated Penn State University in the Spring of 2006. He recently left his consulting position to start 
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Vacation days are a benefit. We are allowed 10 or 15 days of vacation per year so we can completely relax and forget about work. I have full intentions of forgetting about my job for the six days I am in California. I might check my e-mail once or twice, and I am available by cell phone, but unless there is an extreme emergency I have no plans of working. Vacation is great, I’m relaxed, I’m enjoying my family, and I don’t have to deal with that pesky thing called work.
However, right now I am sitting in an ice cream shop in Napa Valley,
My brother, Dan, runs SloopyMenus.com, an online food ordering business at Ohio State University. As I write this, he is sitting directly across from me on his laptop emailing restaurant and bar owners, setting up meetings to talk about advertising and tracking his website statistics for use in his sales pitches. He has already taken three or four business calls and has spoken with his partner once a day. He also wouldn’t have it any other way.
Does this mean that we are not actually on vacation? Or does this mean that his business and my website aren’t actually work?
The way I look at it, they are both definitely considered work, and we are both definitely on vacation. Spending an hour or two per day doing a little work on vacation is just fine in my book. I completely understand why people want to escape their jobs and not even worry about it on vacation. However, if you need to run and hide for a week at a time, it can only mean one of two things. You either dislike your job or you work way too hard. (Read more at The Brazen Careerist)
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When I take a vacation, I take it away from everything work related. I don’t want to see an email or hear from my office, I just want peace and quite. A few weeks ago I took a vacation with a buddy of mine, and he spent an hour or so each day working. I gave him a little grief about this, but then he informed me that he was actually “in the office” and not on vacation.
Now this is genius! Working from the beach and not taking a vacation day. Save those days for another time.
Interesting approach. Two questions: a) Did he seem to get enough done that no on noticed, and b) Does anyone feel that his approach is dishonest?
It’s funny that someone brings this up. A friend of mine is “in the office” right now too. Which really means he is down the shore.
I’m not sure if it is dishonest. If he’s keeping up with his responsibilities, why not have the ocean outside his door? Summer months can be painfully slow. It’s tough to stick around when you know a days work can be completed with a few e-mails. It would be nice if you could be honest about giving yourself a little extra slack around this season, but with the current state of what’s acceptible, I guess a little white lie is an alright substitution.
-Paugh
“However, if you need to run and hide for a week at a time, it can only mean one of two things. You either dislike your job or you work way too hard. ”
I’m going to have to disagree there. I think there are two types of vacations. At the end of this month I’m taking a week vacation to climb a mountain. I have no intention, nor desire, to do anything work related on this trip. My work can deal with me being out for a week. I’ll have my phone, and they’ll be able to call me for an emergency, and I’d gladly do what I could, but as I’ve been planning around this for awhile, there should be no reason.
But I’m actually given 4 weeks vacation. (Everyone told me this was impossible in your first corporate job.) So when I’m taking a couple days to visit friends somewhere, or going out of town for a wedding for a couple days, I have no problem at all taking an hour or so, responding to emails, and attending to the important things that shouldn’t have to wait until I get back. I consider this part of the package deal, and as you said, I’d have it no other way.
So I think there is a distinct difference between the “get away from job” vacation, which everyone should try to take a few of each year, and the “I’m going out of town to visit people” (or similar) type vacation, which are also recommended. I think everyone needs a nice mix of both.
“In the office” at the ocean is dishonest if your boss expects you somewhere else. You may get the same amount of work done, but a lie by omission is still a lie. Even if it’s just a little white lie.
I think it would be better to just build an appropriate relationship with your boss and company. I work for a nonprofit and there are many times when the weather has been too nice for me to want to come into the office. I simply call or email my boss and tell him that I am planning to work outside at my favorite coffeeshop. He tells me, “Okay, just have the coffee guy sign your time card.” We both laugh and I enjoy my day. If you’ve proven yourself and have built a mutual respect between you and your boss then this isn’t an issue.
I know that I have it better than most, but I have also had many discussions with my boss centered around this issue. He claims I take advantage of a flexible schedule and the opportunity to “work from home,” or work remotely, more than anyone else, but I return with the fact that this is how I am most effective (and I have the deliverables to prove it), and if others wanted to do this, they should be more proactive. The point is that we talk about it, don’t always agree, but are always open and honest. Ethical standards are improtant and it matters to your personal responsiblity and reputation to live up to them. Besides, it is just easier to tell the truth and then knock ‘em dead with how great you are.
And one more thing to employers- because of the arrangement I have to work remotely, I don’t feel the need to take a “real vacation” as often since I am more energized by my day to day.
I’m definitely not encouraging dishonest behaviors. Ethics are in fact very important to me. But if nobody’s asking where you’re getting your work done (and you are in fact getting it done) why even bring it up? I probably shouldn’t have even called it a lie. It’s more about keeping your private life private. Why do you need to know where my work is getting done if I’m getting it done well?
Of course, like Rebecca points out, if your boss expects you to be somewhere, and you’re not, that’s another issue. But we’re all adults, we can figure that out right?
I really appreciate the slant of this post. When I go on vacation I usually work an hour or so each morning. It allows me to truly relax for the rest of the day. There are exceptions…I was in Mexico two weeks ago and only did a couple of hours of work over the entire week. Great post!
Thanks for the comments. As you can see from my late response, I am on vacation and have been relaxing all day.
Rebecca- there is no reason to lie about where you are working, but if it’s not “acceptable” to work from the beach then I see no problem not mentioning the fact that you are sipping a pina colada and listening to jimmy buffet. However, why shouldn’t it be acceptable if you get your job done?
Also, of course there are vacations like climbing a mountain where you won’t be connected and that is fine. But Im sure in a few years connectivity won’t be an issue anywhere.
Cheers from California,
-Ryan
The very idea that people work for the weekend and “stick it out” to a vacation should be repugnant to people. You spend over 100,000 hours in your life working if you’re a 40 a week kind of person. If you don’t enjoy that job, those vacation days are a paltry consolation prise compared to the amount of your life you’re suffering through.
Who’s with me, people?
To clarify, I can do math–I tend to include travel to and from as well as preparation for and lunch at work as part of your job. It’s time you wouldn’t otherwise be spending in that way.
Ryan’s,
I would like to suggest to your readers a great book, “The 4 hour workweek” by Timothy Ferriss. He talks about how to work smarter than harder, therefore shortening your workweek. He has some great ideas and tips.
Other than it being on the Bestsellers list, it’s also one of my favorite books.
I think you’ve got the right idea, Chris: Read this Book!: “The Four Hour Workweekâ€? by Timothy Ferriss
Devin,
Thanks for bringing that back. I must have missed it the first time around.
I find it interesting that the question of ethics comes up when someone is working from the beach, but nothing has been said about corporate integrity (or your boss’ integrity) in demanding 50 and 60 hours of work in a week for a 40 hour paycheck. Without a doubt, the lines between personal and private life have blurred, but ethics and integrity go both ways. I suspect that there is a strong correlation between those who feel they need to (and are justified) conceal the fact that they are working away from their office with those same individuals who have a boss who just piles the work on and doesn’t have any regard for the fact that the individual has a life beyond work.
Can’t it also be argued that you (should) understand the jobs demands before you sign on?
In other words, when I go to work for a public accounting firm I realize that I’m going to work some long hours. I signed up for a 60 hour paycheck, right?
A lot of people have that predisposition that they’re going to have to work overtime and that’s okay if you know your limits. Sometimes you make that sacrifice to be a team player. But if you’re working off of a salary that’s based upon the standard 40-hour workweek, than those extra 20 hours on a constant basis are not what you signed up for.
I understand what Devin is saying though - don’t play in the mud if you’re not prepared to get dirty.
One thing that might affect how you ‘vacation’ is this: Family.
If you are vacationing alone, then what you do is your business. If you are vacationing with your spouse, then you have more of an obligation to spend time with them instead of working. If you have children, then that obligation increases.
Since I am married and have a 4 yr old son, I definitely “run and hide” on my vacations. I do this because I need to spend the large , uninterrupted, quality time with my son and wife that I don’t necessarily get the rest of the year (or only get in small chunks).