When I tell someone where I’m going next, statements follow such as, “How fun!” and “I wish I got a vacation!”. The trouble with these sentiments is maybe they don’t know how I have to travel, not necessarily how I want to travel. I arrive to a new place and immediately feel guilty if I waste a minute napping or hanging out in the hotel. I have to get busy sightseeing, tweeting or snapping photographs. I am forever mindful of the story I am there for, the one I need to keep afloat. Travel for me is not unplugged, leaving my home and work life behind. It is much more chaotic, hurried and stressful than any vacation. I want to be able to never say, “I have work to do” while exploring new lands.
Candice of Candice Does The World recently wrote about a trip to the Dominican Republic. She was on the island for a friend’s wedding. While trying to explain to the bride-to-be she would have to work a few hours in the morning, she was met with puzzlement. In the end, Candice shuts down her traveling work life just to enjoy being on a true vacation.
I envied her ability to let it all go, to write all the world and say do not disturb. I’m on vacation. I wish I could do that. There are certain limitations in making travel your job. While you get the chance to see amazing places and people, you aren’t always experiencing the place with open, non-tweeting or pinning arms.
A few summer’s ago, I was down in Puglia, Italy, the heel region of the country. In Alberobello, the homes are called trulli, ancient conical roofed structures with thick walls. I had rented a trullo for the night, only to find no Internet connection. When I hear the words, “no WiFi”, I become a crazy person, one I don’t want to be. I panicked. I had work to do. I rushed out to a cellphone store to buy a portable Internet stick. Little did I know, the signal would not emit from the thick stone walls of a trullo. And so, I spent my early evening not roaming this new Italian city but in the middle of a neighborhood street on my laptop, fervently typing away to meet some deadline. Locals stared at me, probably thinking this girl needs to be more Italian. I should have been living “la dolce vita”. Instead, I was living the sweet life of a work obsessed travel writer, one many think is just a life of vacations.
I can’t remember my last vacation, the last time I merely enjoyed a place without having to work at the same time. This isn’t my sob story, but rather I know one many of us, like Candice, are living. We bring our work and home lives with us in our suitcases. We spend time talking with friends and family back home when a whole new world is beyond the Skype screen. Travel doesn’t become an escape, but rather a continuation of life. While I don’t think travel should be all puppies and lollipops, I do believe it should be enjoyed at times without agenda, without worry and without any sort of email checking or cell phone monitoring.
I don’t know what it feels like anymore to truly go on a break, to have nothing but that place on your mind. I am always worried about deadlines and articles past due. In this age of social saturation, I think it’s all time we promise each other to truly take a vacation. I am going to challenge myself and resist procrastination. I always strive to get all of my work completed before going somewhere, but that never occurs. I want to change this pattern. I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night to check a pinging email inbox. I want to let it all go and truly take a vacation.
On the next plane ride I take, I promise to be committed to my destination. Rather than romancing an Internet connection and my computer, I want the place to take me, sweep me off my feet and tell me to always go unplugged, at least on occasion, when I travel. We only have so much time to see the world.
In search of my next vacation
Do you find it hard to unplug when you travel? When is the last time you truly took a vacation?
Excellent article Suzy. I work as a freelancer and find this to be absolutely true for me. I cannot remember the last time I unplugged completely while traveling. In fact, if there are times when I haven’t checked my e-mail for a few hours or am out of any sort of Internet contact, I start to stress out that I am missing some sort of work. I must say though, it is a fair trade to be so attached as a freelance that in turn allows me to be able to travel more than I normally would at a “normal” job. 🙂
Yeah sometimes I really have a problem unplugging too. I just don’t want to fall behind and lose momentum with my blog. The harder part for me is convincing people around me that I’m actually doing something productive on my laptop, not just “surfing the net”.
Suzy, you said it well. I totally relate to your post! We need to slow down and enjoy the details.
Oh, I totally agree! Well written! Even when I take a blogging break, I am still thinking about the blogs I will write about my trip when I get home or how my readership numbers will dwindle after the break. But recently when I went back to Australia to visit family for 3 weeks I made the decision to just switch off. And man was it liberating!! I hope you can take a real break on your next holiday, you won’t regret it!
That’s interesting. Actually, I have to disagree. (Yep, I know, I’m in the minority.) But I started travel writing precisely because I wasn’t paying enough attention to the places I was seeing. I lamented that. I wasn’t learning enough and drinking in more of the experience until I started writing and photographing the places I visited. Only then did I start to get a larger appreciation for where I was. But hey, that’s just my two cents. 🙂
Good luck unplugging! I am usually pretty connected to email and definitely keep future blog posts in mind while exploring and taking pictures, although I don’t tend to post from the road. But a long weekend in Torres del Paine, where even my BlackBerry didn’t have signal, was really refreshing and makes me want to take time to disconnect on future trips as well.
I don’t think I’ve been anywhere for years without having to hole away in my hotel room at some point to work. Sounds incredible…
Excellent post, Suzy. I think so many of us who are working and traveling have the same sentiments. Travel is also a part of our job, so it’s extremely difficult to separate the two. As glamorous as it sounds to be traveling and writing, others don’t always understand the hardships it entails. You need to make time to turn off the computer and just enjoy the place that you’re in. It’s always easier said then done, but everyone needs to unplug occasionally.