If you’re like me and you work from home, its way too easy to just go to work and feel productive all the time. The commute is short and work is always right there, ready and waiting for you to dig in and get shit done. It’s easy to not feel like you need to take a break from work. Duh, it’s because you are never really away from work.
The home office is just so damn handy, I tell ya.
So yeah, I confess, I’m terribly guilty of not taking a vacation. I have a huge bank of PTO that I rarely take the opportunity to use.
How pathetic is that? Very…
Laughter is an instant vacation. – Milton Berle
It’s pathetic, and very old school, I say. Old school because I was raised seeing that you didn’t take off and go places whenever the whim hit ya.
Vacations were planned, you took them on a scheduled basis, with the money you saved just for that purpose. It was ingrained in me not to waste the value of the PTO and money you spent on a vacation.
As you grow older, you learn a few things. One of them is to actually take the time you’ve allotted for vacation. – John Battelle
Growing up, my family didn’t have a lot of extra money, so a vacation away from earning more money was a luxury. The result of my upbringing is that in order for me to take time off, I feel the need to plan something like, um…move a kid…or take a short weekend to visit a kid…or work on one of our apartments…or complete a project at home…all those practical kind of vacations are a necessity and not a waste of PTO or money.
Meanwhile, all my jet-setting friends are out there having fun somewhere and I’m at work holding down the fort of Shelley is always here. At least that’s what social media posts tell me is happening. Okay, now that’s pathetic of me to say. I know my friends or bosses don’t mind if I take time off, they encourage it and model it, so it’s my problem, not theirs.
Time well spent results in more money to spend, more money to save, and more time to vacation. – Zig Ziglar
Sigh…it hasn’t been that long, has it?
I don’t know, let me guess…other than a couple of days here and there during the holidays, or a doctor’s appointment, but those days don’t count, dammit, I guess it has been a while.
Wait…a year ago, we took time off to move our youngest back home. Does that count?
NO!
Doing the math, it has been 3 years since our family took an actual vacation together.
So we do have a big vacation planned for next spring, at the 4-year mark. Until then, I’ll just take a random day or two just to take a break and have a something out of the ordinary kind of day and some fun.
Too much work, too much vacation, too much of any one thing is unsound. – Walter Annenberg
Now that we’re empty nesters, with all sorts of time on our hands (wink, wink), I’m feeling like crap for not taking some time off for myself and the Mr.
- Why shouldn’t I take time off?
- Why shouldn’t I get to experience fun like other people do?
- Why shouldn’t I?
Oh, what the hell…I should get to, too! So there! Here goes an attempt at being a rebel without a vacation cause.
I slip from workaholic to bum real easy. – Matthew Broderick
Yep…that’s right! I’m taking a whopping day and 1/2 off from work. And you know what I’m going to do? Part of the time I’m going to visit a girlfriend and just hang out and chat – we call it the lost art of loafing around. And, today, I am going fishing with the Mr. and my in-laws who have been teasing us that we never go fishing.
We do go…really we do…well…it has been a while I guess.
It’s been 11 months…ELEVEN months since we went fishing. That day, one of the biggest fish I had ever caught, bit MY bait, and I hauled him in. Yes, I did! It was a big a** smallmouth bass to be exact. I wrote about it here, just to prove it really happened.
Today…will it happen again? …Will I catch a big fish? I don’t know, but I sure hope the fish will be biting. Mr. has prepared the boat, and checked the forecast, so systems are a go.
And I’m fricken’ excited…
I can hardly wait to get to work so I can punch out at 12:00 and go fishing!
It sure looks like a beautiful morning, the sunrise is glowing and since this picture was taken, the clouds are clearing…
I know, I know, “Red in the morning, sailors, take warning…” But this is more of a pinkish color, not red, so we shall be off to cast away and catch a fish or two.
And, there you have it, I am finally taking a break to recharge my workaholic soul. Stay tuned…
PS – Are you the type to frequently use up your PTO kind of person? Or do you save your PTO for practical vacations? Or are you a jet-setter…and how the hell do you pay for it?
Post Inspiration – Found on Cee’s List Page – I chose this prompt for fun today – Nurturing Thursday
AWWWW!!!!! I am excited for you! I agree, working from home is Heaven and very convenient. I feel productive if I can just get a 500 word blog written while my 4 year old is running around. I really wish that I could have done this writing thing from home as I was just getting started out in the job force. But, I’ 45 now, and finally pursuing my dreams to write, in attempt to be an example to my kids that you are never too old to follow your dreams! I don’t take vacations per say, but when my little one and I go out on relaxing ventures, there’s always a story lurking somewhere in there, so to me, that is like a vacation. I like the term “staycation” since I can’t afford to actually go anywhere! Have a fantastic day loafing around Shelley!
Thank you, Jennavive! Congrats on finding a way to pursue your dreams. That’s a great lesson to teach your little one – following a dream is never a bad thing to do! And yes, there’s always a story lurking somewhere. I’ve got my camera packed and ready for the next thing to spark some writing thoughts! Enjoy your day and writing moments, too!
There is never money. They love camping, me not so much. That’s something wr/they can manage. I miss them horribly when they go without me and simultaneously enjoy my completely free week to do whatever I want without any kind of schedule or thought process about what they need.
Wish we could do a road trip maybe, I’d be into that…. we’ll see.
So true, never enough money! A roadtrip…mixed in with something you like and something they like might just be the ticket. Plus you get to use your most excellent packing skills! 😉 Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
Lol…yes, packing the van will be….a lesson for those of mine. 😏
I am now getting error message 404 on your posts Shelley and none of my comments lately are appearing? Do you moderate EVERY comment or class previous commenters as OK? Maybe I’m blocked! Or maybe you won’t even see this!?
No, there was some really weird stuff happening to my blog today! I have no idea what was going on, but I now see your comment. I do moderate each one, but normally it isn’t so damn frustrating! LOL!
Why moderate, except for someone’s first ever post to your blog?
You silly guy…you keep forgetting that I’m still trying to figure out how this bugger of a thing works! I do know that my blog is a .org one and not the .com one like yours, so I have issues that you don’t on your blog. I appreciate your attempts to get me on the right track!
Taking lots of mini vacations is healthy. I tried to do that in my old office job. But I still had a lot of vacation time left they paid me for when I retired. I also had a ridiculously huge amount of sick time left they did not pay me for. I wish I’d taken more “mental health” days.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Joanna. I had 6 weeks of PTO available when my previous employer closed business. I was thankful to have that for the interim between jobs. I do hope to take more mental health days…soon!