How Easy is it, to Take a Vacation?

When I start to plan a vacation, usually in the dark and cold winter months, the thought of taking a week out in June/July is very, very appealing, but as the season turns from Spring to Summer and the pressure of work continues to build, how easy is it to take time away from the office?

Everyone I have spoken while researching this article, feels in some way passionate about needing to have a holiday.  But almost everyone has also said, that they find it increasingly difficult to actually take time away from work.

The relocation industry, like many service sectors, is absolutely demand driven, and the increasing pressure on companies to be highly proactive, has limited the amount of time that many owner-managers are able to be away from their companies.  So the question remains: how easy is it to take a vacation?

The summer vacation is an imbedded, traditional event in many countries, originating in the UK and Ireland, from the closure of the mills, mines and factories during the last two weeks of August from the mid 19th century onwards.  However, within the relocation industry, this can also be one of the busiest times as families try to relocate to fit in with the start of the new school year at the start of September.

Trying to take a holiday at any time can come down to a matter of skilful time management, and even then can prove extremely difficult to organise. 

Chris Winning, MD Corporate Care, Ireland -

“It's difficult at the best of times to run a small business. The hours are cruel, the work is tough and you have a sense in the pit of your stomach that you could be having a lot more fun. Certainly, the work can be rewarding, but sometimes you need to take a break. Unfortunately, for the manager of a small business; it’s just not that easy.

My favourite way of taking a break used to be taking our touring caravan off to explore new places around Ireland and Europe. Unfortunately, as the business grows, it is getting harder and harder to take even a weekend off without dedicating some portion of the weekend to “keeping in touch”.  An average bank holiday weekend break will look something like this: In the week coming up to it, I work more hours to make up for missing Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I am sometimes still in the office at midnight or one o'clock. On Friday, generally around lunchtime, we pack the caravan and I go back to work until about 5 (or 7 pm.)  We head off in to the sunset and arrive in the campsite around 9 pm. Then it's time to get out my laptop. I spend most of Saturday and Sunday talking on the phone to clients and any staff that are left in the office. We arrive home on Monday evening and more often than not, I go down to the office.
 
Another difficulty is the pressure from clients (I have to say mainly RMCs) to provide 24/7 cover 365 days a year. I firmly believe most clients respect the DMCs need for “time off” and are more than happy to work around the most suitable times for both in line with local customs. For instance, it is IMPOSSIBLE to arrange viewings outside of office hours in my area unless we can get keys to a vacant property! Unfortunately for me, most of our clients plan their moves to coincide with the school term so July/August and Christmas are our busiest times so family holidays are almost a thing of the past!

The whole experience of “holidays” is so draining; worrying about clients, worrying about staff, trying to get internet access and trying to find mobile phone coverage; that it is impossible to unwind and enjoy the surroundings and good company that break should be all about. At this point, I'm finding more and more that a well-made cup of coffee is far more enjoyable (and far less hassle) than going on holiday.”
 
 
France, Italy and Spain, also have a tradition of the summer break.  In fact Paris becomes virtually devoid of most of its citizens during August.  It is understood within French business culture, that most companies will close or operate on a skeleton staff during this period, but for the relocation companies in Paris, this is just not possible.

Joelle Touhadian, MD France Global Relocation -

“We never close the office.  We have two directors and we take our holidays at different times, in July and then August.  Each year we try to plan the holidays for the staff, and especially the consultants, a long time in advance to avoid everybody leaving in August.  Despite our efforts, in August each year we still have a very reduced staff.  Personally I love being in Paris during in August, no traffic in the city and even the people who are still working are a little bit more relaxed – they feel half on holiday! 

The problems are, you have to walk further to buy your bread as almost all the shops are closed, and administration is much slower as three quarters of the staff are away.  In the past, big companies used to close completely in August; now only small shops do it but our clients are very surprised when they arrive in August to see so many shops in Paris closed.  Even the real estate offices close, especially the week of the 15th August, which is a national holiday.  During this week it is quite impossible to visit apartments and our clients find this hard to believe!”
 
 
As with France Global Relocation, most companies will plan essential employee and consultant cover across the summer, but even carefully scheduling staff holidays, doesn’t mean that key employees are truly away from the office when they’re on holiday.
So, if it isn’t possible to take a complete break from the office, what are the best and least intrusive ways to stay in touch during a vacation?

Having worked for EuRA for the past eight years, I have found that although the months of July and August are quite quiet compared to the rest of the year, there is still the need to stay in touch.  As I travel a great deal for work as well as for pleasure, I have worked hard at bringing our technology to a level where we can have permanent direct access to the office systems from anywhere.

Before going away, I unplug one of three external hard drives and pack it with my laptop.  We back up to an external hard drive automatically each night, and keep the latest back up off site.  We also have a spare daily back up that can be unhooked and carried about.  I also have remote access from any computer to the server in the office, so any information I need is always available, providing I have access to an ADSL line.

However, one of the biggest issues has always been the cost of international internet access.  Having access to email is really essential, and even on holiday, being away from the inbox for more than a couple of days is not a good idea!  I recently signed up for a Vodaphone datacard, allowing mobile network access from my laptop.  With most European hotels still charging up to €20 per day for wireless internet access, there has to be a cheaper way and in situations where not in a hotel with web access, there has to be an alternative.  But a Vodaphone datacard is not it – with charges of €15 per megabite of information, huge bills can soon build up.  Instead, I use my mobile phone as a modem, at a fixed cost of an extra €10 per month for international, no charge access.  It may be slower, but for email, it is a much better option.

The Blackberry has become the weapon of choice in the contact war, with more and more people moving away from the laptop and onto a handheld for their internet and email access.

One Blackberry devotee is the EuRA President and CEO of Relocation Enterprises, Alex Ellis -

“For me the Blackberry is freedom of choice. With the Blackberry, whether I am in the office or in a row boat on the Amazon, I can choose to keep up with everything. This enables me to be more mobile, take as much time off and not have to be hooked to an office. What could be better? Organizing myself, doing it my way, in my time, with no limitations? The real question is; why did I not get it sooner?”

 
The notion of staying in contact with the office while on holiday is a relatively new one for most managers.  It is only over the past decade that we in Europe have adopted the practice of staying in touch during our personal time, and this has blurred the boundary of what we are willing to accept as a work-life balance.  More and more large companies are now starting to acknowledge that this increased stress on strategic staff members, can lead to disenchantment with work and the company culture.  The idea that our work and personal lives are so tightly bound together, that there is no difference between the two, is increasingly regarded as unhealthy. 

If we are to find an appropriate work-life balance, then maybe the only option is to be as single minded about time away from the office, as we are when we’re dedicating our time to our clients.  Chrissie Twigg, MD of The Relocation Partnership, London

'I used to suffer terribly from GAS (Guilty Absence Syndrome) worrying endlessly that without me a vital new piece of business would be missed or a problem that only I could handle would rear its ugly head with disastrous consequences because I wasn't around to sort it.
 
However, having done this for over 15 years now and having thrown two children in to the melting pot to boot, I really don't give a stuff anymore. I take the whole of August off to be with the children during the school holidays and I've managed to find a spot in Le Marche, Italy where you simply can't, no matter how hard you try, get a mobile phone signal or connection for your lap top. Ottimo! As the Italians would say'.
 
In researching this article it has become clear that we are all aware that having a break is an essential part of life, but that running a business forces some uneasy compromises.  Whether we manage it or not, holidays and family time are desperately important, but as pressures increase to stay client focussed, so the possibility of taking time away decreases.

Wherever you went and whatever you did, lets hope you had a great summer!

Dominic Tidey

August 2006