Tips to Balance Work and Travel for a Great Vacation

We all love to travel. Humans love to meet others from different states, countries, and even continents. Traveling with loved ones is especially rewarding, as you get to build memories through exciting experiences with your kids, partner, or friends.

Often, especially when traveling with young ones, you’ll need to be out of the house for longer than your vacation days offer. Luckily, we have the internet pretty much everywhere in the 21st century. This allows us to research, look at predictions today, and work from wherever we are.

Although it’s nice to be able to work from anywhere in the world, people usually have a tough time finding a good balance between work and relaxation when they’re on their trips. Here are a few tips that will help you enjoy your vacation while maintaining your productivity. 

Select A Time For Emails

Setting a specific time to check your work email is extremely important. This ensures that you are still maintaining communication with your company and clients, but stops you from going overboard. It’s great for the clients too, as they’ll know exactly when you see their message and won’t bother you for a response all day.

When you’re figuring out a good time to set, make sure to put your own schedule first. If there’s a time difference, let your boss and clients know that you may be checking your email at a different time than they’re used to, so they’re not caught off guard by a 5 am or 7 pm message in their inbox. Also, stop yourself from checking any messages outside of your set time so that you can sit back and enjoy your trip.

Stop The Business Talk

Don’t talk about work outside of when you’re working. Your partner and/or family want to spend time with you, not with your job. When you’ve finished working for the day, put away anything that might remind you of work. Of course, if something is really stressing you out, it’s fine to mention it to your partner, but don’t waste all the time you have relaxing with work talk.

A great way to stop yourself from talking about your job is by focusing on being present. Talk to your travel buddies about the sights around you, or the experiences you’re looking forward to. Play games, ask questions and try to live in the moment that you’ve been working so hard for. 

Create a Light Task List

Don’t agree to more work than you can handle throughout the trip. If you know that you only want to work 3-4 hours per day, don’t agree to take on a new project right before you leave. Even if you think you can handle it, this always leads to a lot more time on the computer and away from your vacation. 

Instead, communicate with your supervisor and let them know what tasks you’re willing to take on. Either arrange for larger tasks to begin after you arrive back home, or make an outline to help your boss understand when you’ll get them done. Lighter work is perfect for vacation because it lightens your workload for when you get back while also allowing you to spend time sightseeing.

Set Boundaries in Stone

Set parameters with your co-workers before you leave. The word “before” is key here – if your coworkers don’t know any better, they might call you often while you’re out. This may lead to you becoming annoyed and responding in an unkind way, or your coworkers might think that you’re neglecting your duties and letting them carry the weight of a project.

To ensure that none of those things occur, be clear with the people that you work with. Let them know when you will be leaving, the exact times you’ll be in contact, a timeline of what you expect to complete while you’re gone, and when you’ll be back. Be very firm in your statements, and kindly let them know that you will not answer any calls or messages outside of the schedule you’ve set.