Value of Vacations

I’m not a fan of the European summer vacation, with everyone trying to take the same time away from work. I had to deal with a software issue only to be told that a major support office was closed for two weeks. It was a serious issue, requiring a search for the technicians who could solve the problem. 

Staggering vacations always seemed more reasonable to me, especially if you provide an essential service. In this case, it was a software module for point-of-sale processing. Without the update working, online vendors could not process orders. The Internet does not take vacations, so someone had to fix the problem. 

For me, the two weeks of travel and family time during the summer are as important as any paycheck. I have told my students, always negotiate vacation time as you move up within an organization. If you are self-employed, make sure you eventually have a way to take personal time without fearing the business will collapse. 

There’s a myth that capitalism is all about work and profit, but that misunderstands the concepts of value and resources. Time is a resource and so is human capital. Conflating capital with money, and only money, is a mistake. We should value our well-being, too.

The best part of my travels: little news and only fun social media posts. 

It was wonderful to realize that my daily life wasn’t changed, and was probably improved, by not hearing about the latest Donald Trump Twitter rants. My only social posts were Facebook updates on where we were and what we were enjoying. The posts had far more likes and shares than any serious posts I share on social media.

People took the time to read and share my posts about Disneyland and the Central Coast of California. There was far more engagement with those posts, too. People shared their own memories of the theme parks and beaches. People were connecting, across any differences they might have, to recall how great a day at the coast can be. I was reminded that people don’t argue constantly and do, generally, appreciate the same things: family, friends, food, and fun. 

When you work in and around the media, as I do for my various gigs, you start to believe that debate is a constant and that people are always arguing about something.

Maybe that’s the value of the European vacations: everyone gets out and away from the political, at least for a few days. People see each other with friends and family, having a good time. Flying a kite or building a sandcastle, nobody cares how you voted or even what you do for a living. What people see is a father playing with his daughters.

Taking breaks from the media reminds me that life isn’t polls and data. 

I know many people are obsessed with Trump and all things political. I understand that we need to be engaged and active, but I also recognize that time away from the political was a healthy break for my mind. I needed to reset and prepare for the academic year ahead. I needed to take some deep breaths and enjoy my family. 

We don’t need to shut down the United States for a month in summer, but we do need to consider the benefits of time away from the political world.