Here we are on the start of the first week of unemployment, and I’m leaving on vacation. Yep, vacation. We rented a cabin on a lake in Michigan. And I need this. Besides, it was already paid in full, so it was either go or lose money.
My husband and I have wanted to do this trip for years. Pack up the dogs, head a little ways north and chill out, fish, swim, cook, eat, drink and just enjoy ourselves. But too many times I put my vacation on hold for other people. And magically about five years ago, my husband was decided he needed to make the move and called my boss and requested time off for me and booked a tropical vacation.
I had a wonderful time, and we have booked a tropical vacation every year since – because I need it. He needs it. We need it. The fact that my husband had to call my boss and get the approval for time off was not enough of a signal that I was working too hard and not taking care of myself.
And while I enjoyed myself, I received several phone calls and urgent emails while on vacation. The second year we went on vacation I had to conduct a phone interview from breakfast on the beach. And the candidate was horrible. I was disappointed to find out that my vacation was disrupted to be the first to interview this candidate. They brought her in the following day to interview with the rest of the team only to have them all veto her. I actually had to make a rule that I was not the first interviewer if on vacation.
It wasn’t until last year, and again this year, did my vacations actually not include work. And that was because I hired a fantastic director, who respected my vacations and took care of things while I was gone. Did she do everything the exact way I would? I’m not sure, but I don’t care, it got done and no problems resulted. Perfect.
This time on vacation I am unemployed. No worries at home, no catching up on email, no phone calls to take, no late nights leading up to vacation or after. I am taking the time to self-reflect and recreate my vision. I’ve made so many changes in my life in this past year, time to review my vision. That is my focus this week!
Jen's Journey 