Those who know me well probably just fell out of their chairs seeing “vacation” in this post’s title. “Vacation” and “Meryl” don’t go together. I know. That’s pitiful, not a thing to brag about. Anyway, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been getting harsh reminders why I don’t like to travel often. The packing, the preparation, the clients. The stress of ensuring I have what I need and I make it to the airport on time without being too early.
As organized and proactive as I am, I run into bumps as the trip nears. It gives me an excuse to write a blog post before I go and check off another item on my list of things to do before I step outside the great state of Texas.
- Notify clients at least one week before departure. The tricky part is which clients to notify. I’m not active with all of my clients at all times. On the other hand, it’s an excuse to touch base with the ones you haven’t talked to in a while.
- Delete emails liberally. For the past two weeks, I deleted a lot of email newsletters and regular messages without reading them. I needed to finish client work first. Plus, I don’t want to leave town with a bunch of unread email messages. I’ll have enough waiting for me. Oh, I’ll be checking emails while I’m out, but it helps to minimize email.
- Move up tasks due dates. Rather than rushing to do everything at the last minute, move it up and spread them out.
- Limit appointments and commitments. This depends on how much advance notice you have before vacation. But reschedule whatever appointments you can so you have one less thing on your mind.
- Start packing early. A few days before, I took out the stuff I would need to take that I would not be using until the trip. The things I still use, I put them out together.
- Remember you can buy what you forget. OK, this may be hard to do when you go camping. At least, it’s something to ease your mind knowing this. Although I would not want to go shopping for a dress on my trip as that’s time consuming and expensive.
- Schedule posts and tweets. I posted couple of tweets and spread them out. I’ll have fewer tweets, but at least my presence will be there. You know what, it’s OK to forget this one altogether. I almost didn’t write this post, but I felt I needed to.
I was so rushed and determined to do a post that I should’ve looked up 10 Tasks to Prepare for Time off. Ah well… Like fellow Texan Robert says, you gotta expect the unexpected, eh? OK, I’ve run out of time and must dash. Besides, I want to hear from you. Your turn.
What do you do to prepare for vacation?
I’m always on the run, so it’s a way of life! I lived out of a suitcase this summer.
Now some advice– kick back and ENJOY your vacation!
Hi Meryl,
Interesting. I did a lot of these things when I decided I was going to get unplugged. These are great tips and I would say folks should follow them and not have to spend so much time worrying about getting caught up upon vacation return.
Hope all is well!
George
I’m like you – give them notice when you can/have to. I’ve found that too many times they’ll come right back with “urgent” work. I’ve learned to turn it down. Last vaca, I mentioned I’d be gone all the following week. The client wrote, “Have a great trip! Hey, can you get us X by Tuesday?” Obviously, they didn’t read the entire note. I said, “Sorry! Won’t be in town. But can we schedule it for a few days after I return?”
If I haven’t spoken to them in a while, I figure they’ll learn of my departure when they get the auto response on my email. Nothing is that critical, if you ask me.
I’ll be interested to hear about the unexpected things that happened on your trip, Meryl!
@Karen, I did just that! Thank you.
@George, I’m in the catch up stage… not going as well as I’d like it to.
@Lori, I had a couple of things happening, but they were part of ongoing projects — they were not surprises.
@Robert, plan a post or two… when I get to ’em 🙂 Need to come up with a way to tie the trip with something because I don’t want to bore y’all with I did this, I did that. Zzzz…