For the better part of the past 6 years or so, I’ve been working on this side hustle internet business thing. My family and my day job have always been higher up on the priority list – but early mornings and as much as I can on weekends, I’ve worked to build up my various streams of internet income. I’ve taken several vacations with my family throughout this time period – but I’ve never really unplugged for the entire vacation. I’ve thought about it. But with the convenience of technology – smart phones and laptop computers, I always find myself doing at least a little bit of ‘work’ during my vacations.
I’ve been able to easily justify ‘working’ during vacation because I really enjoy working on my websites and trying to figure out new ways to extract money out of the internet. It really is a lot of fun for me. Who doesn’t like to have fun on their vacation?
Relaxing on Vacation
Having fun and relaxing aren’t always the same thing though. Sometimes you just need to take a break and get away from it all. Really relaxing on vacation means removing yourself from your typical day-to-day responsibilities. And who are we kidding – when you are running an internet business (or businesses), you absolutely have those types of responsibilities and commitments.
Even those of us who are creating ‘passive income’ streams. Yes, the goal is to have the money roll in day after day, whether you work that day or not. And I know that plenty of money will roll in while I am on vacation. But there are always things that need to be done. Email being one of the biggest responsibilities. It’s very difficult to get away from – especially with emails being sent directly to my phone that is with me at almost all times. Well… as I sit and write this post early on a Saturday morning, my family and I are about to embark on a week long vacation. And this time around – I want to relax!!
Going to a Remote Location
One strategy to completely unplug for a week is to visit a remote location where phone and internet access is limited or even non-existent. We are renting a cottage for the week on a small island off of Michigan’s upper peninsula. I’ve heard from others who have been there that cell reception and cellular internet are terrible. Yes!! This could be my saving grace. Even if I want to work – I might not be able to!
But what about you? What if you’re going on vacation and you’re not traveling to a remote location? How can you relax, as an entrepreneur, when it’s so tempting to work on your internet business?
The timing was perfect yesterday when I randomly came across this infographic, which was posted by somebody that recently followed me on Twitter (and I followed them back). The infographic was posted on a hubspot page and is titled, A Workaholic’s Guide to Relaxing on Vacation. There are some really great tips and advice and I plan to implement most of them on this vacation that I am about to venture in to. Check it out!
Boom – I’m Outta Here!
Signing off now… It’s 8am as I write this and my family is about to awake. We have about a 5 hour drive ahead of us. Then a little boat ride. Then we have to find our destination. As a trucker who loves being out on the road, the 5 hour drive is one of the things I’m looking most forward to. I’m also planning on diving into a good old-fashioned book. A printed on paper (not Kindle or Audible) book. Going to do lots of exploring with the family. Will probably cast a few lines and see if the fish are biting. Might rent a boat and explore some of the other nearby islands.
I’m going to attempt to unplug for the better part of the upcoming week. I keep telling myself, and my kids, that we’re going to vacation like I did when I was a kid back in the 80’s. We’ll play board games and play cards. We’ll sit around campfires and enjoy the outdoors. We’ll take in the scenery and patronize some of the local (small town) restaurants and businesses.
Time to load up the ole station wagon and hit the road!!
Good Day!
Matthew Allen
Image Credits
Infographic – originally seen on this hubspot page
[Clark Griswold’s Station Wagon] “1979 Wagon Queen Family Truckster” by dfirecop via Flickr
Matthew Allen
You and yours have a wonderful time and don’t worry, we will be here when you return. Safe trip.
Matt… enjoy it! As a fellow workaholic, I know how hard it is to de-plug sometimes. As a good boss of mine said one day, Todd… the job was here before you and it’ll be here after your leave, take a vacation! What we truly feel is important is more often than not. Enjoy the time with the family! Oh, love the family car too!
Have a great one, Matt!
I do know how hard it is to unplug yourself from the working life alas.
With such a great plan, you will definitely succeed 🙂
As of me, I relax in-between my working sessions. At work, I do yoga twice a week during lunchtime. I cycle back home from work, then jog – if weather permits. On a weekend, I also jog and take naps, it helps me to relax without spending too much time.
Sounds like a wonderful vacation for you as a couple, but especially your kids. They will remember, I bet, the Dad cared enough to unplug in order to make baca a special one.
Blessings,
The How-to Guru
Thank You! Had a great time on vacation and glad to see that the internet is still intact upon my return!
Todd – I was wondering how many people would recognize that car. Lol. Un-plugging while on vacation wasn’t as hard as I thought – mostly because internet was terrible at the cottage we rented and I was really glad about it! 4G internet would come and go and when we got 3G it was extremely slow… Made for a great getaway… but I can hardly imagine living in a place where phone reception and internet is so terrible. Definitely reminded me of vacationing in the 80’s!
Thanks Nadya. We have returned to reality and the vacation was excellent! I am definitely well rested. So well rested, in fact, that I don’t know how I am going to get up at 5am tomorrow after sleeping in this entire past week!
Sounds like you have some great ideas for getting in some rest and relaxation during the work week. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks! This was definitely (probably) our best family vacation so far! We all had an absolutely wonderful time. Cottage life was SO great. I think I have a new goal to work towards now… We need to buy a cottage someday!