The sabbatical inbox fills up so swiftly I sometimes long for the days of snail mail. Yet clearly people keep finding their way to the take-your-time movement. Fast Company has been particularly prolific with reports. Yet the drum beat also comes from the local paper, a new friend in Switzerland, and beyond.

• Is that a “thing?” Then the thrill is gone…

In this case, “thing” is just that—an object (purchase), not a trend, though the two often intersect. Recent research from Cornell confirms that experiences trump stuff over time, every time. “New things are exciting to us for a while, but then we adapt to them,” reports Professor Thomas Gilovich. Conversely, “Our experiences are a higher part of ourselves than our material goods.” Advice: Sell the big car; take a big break.

• New moms getting re-entry programs

Women are increasingly winning over the working world, the college world, and the ambition surveys. Yet they are also more likely to need career breaks—usually to have children and tend to family matters. Kudos to companies offering “Act 2,” “OnRamp,” and “Returnship” programs with clever names and win-win motives. A handful of books and thought leaders are also leading the charge—and not always just for family care. As Brigid Shulte, author of Overwhelmed, reflects, “The bottom line is that more and more people don’t want to work all the time.”

• MN study shows big support for sick and family leave

A recent MN Department of Health study is providing a push for legislation mandating employee PTO for family matters. It’s no fun to go to work while ill due to fear of losing your job. But the state Health Commissioner is quick to point out the public-health risks—and has data to prove that illnesses spread quickly when sick staffers infect the workplace. Letting people stay home may ultimately improve attendance rates!

• Take 6 months off?  Yes you can.

And finally, high 5s to Tomer Lanis, who hit my email box with a nice note and news of his new book, You Can Take Six Months Off. In an eerily similar scenario to my own family’s, he escaped his mortgage, schools, and pets and took wife and two kids sailing through the Caribbean. That picture of the Grenadines? I was right there, and took the exact same shot. And then we loaded onto a small “taxi” (fishing boat) for one of the strangest travel days ever that eventually landed us on our next island, even though various customs officers weren’t so sure about the idea.

Tomer’s family took six months; we took four; he wins. (We both win!) Tom HQs in Switzerland, and warns us on his website, “Caution: Living your dreams is addictive and contagious.” Now THAT is the kind of contagion (and family leave!) we can live with! My copy of the book is on its way, so I’ll report more soon.

Best of luck to Tomer Lanis and his book—and to all of us when we need sick leave, family leave, or (better yet), six months off.

Oh my.  A month has gone by. I last wrote about taking vacations—including from devices—and must have been truly inspired by my own ideas! But thus the blogging sabbatical ends. And speaking of inspiration…

• Local lottery winners say, “meh”

A married couple not far from here just won nearly $12 million, and seem appropriately pleased but surprisingly unfazed by their luck. The Star Tribune reports these heart-warming quotes…

“I have a fabulous job, and I like to work. I actually have to work tonight,” says Wife, of her waiting-tables job at the charming Lake Elmo Inn.

“I don’t think it’s going to change our lives that much,” ponders Husband.

“We really hope it doesn’t change the people around us,” suggests Wife.

There you have it: Real winners! Just folks that are suddenly rich, yet obviously have been living rich, content lives all along. That’s what can happen when you do something approximating our 11 Commandments of Fiscal Fitness—which are as much about living well and sanely as they are about money management.

• Is winning the lottery really “winning?”

Follow-up stories on lottery winners are rarely pretty. Too many “winners” quit their work, spend like crazy, and eventually end up jobless, possibly penniless, and even friendless.

Not long ago, for ex, media reported on a Minnesota young woman who had won millions and, some years later, mostly drove around her small town solo in her Hummer—while locals rolled their eyes and rumored that she’d spent it all, lost her career, and alienated her community.

Sometimes, all we need is right in front of us. As for all we want? Sometimes that stuff is just stuff, and we may be better off without it.

Best wishes to this model couple a few miles north of here. If I ever recognize them in a nearby pub, I’d like to buy them a drink and make a toast to their smarts.

A stranger buzz-crafting at the beach bar commented to me today, “There’s much better beer at the lobby bar—if you’re tired of this insipid piss!” “So I’ve heard,” I nodded, “That’s on my bucket list for today!” He laughed and slammed his beery hand. “That’s great; I though bucket lists were a lifetime thing!” “Nah,” I advised,

There is only today when on vacation; that ‘lifetime’ stuff can wait.” 

Thus we convened the committee of two and, from that spontaneous summit, this list came to life.

Bucket list for today: 11 pretty okay ideas (because ten is never enough) 

• No whining—not even about insipid beer.
• Chat up and tip kindly some wonderful staff members here at Akumal Bay Beach and Wellness Resort.
• Stop and listen to every live musician.

• Check e-mail just once a day; reply rarely and keep it to one sentence.
• Text only when necessary for kid control or group logistics.
• Avoid digitalia; read books; write in journal.
• Get exercise: Swim, snorkel, paddleboard, kayak, splash, chase kids.

• Meditate, or approximate by hugging a tree or staring at the sea.

• Eat too much, and ignore the scale in the room even if you can convert kilos to pounds.

• Early to bed (exhaustion) and early to rise (the construction that is ubiquitous in paradise).
• Don’t worry about a thing—especially to-do lists left at home and the Bucket List for Today.

They may be the most mind-blowing invention ever. But are smartphones as amazing as we think they are?

They have never: Cooked a delicious meal; hoisted the sails; shoveled snow.

What’s more, they can be troublemakers, as an ever-growing body of research and press suggests…

• Smartphones can ruin vacations.

Our regal friends at Princess Cruises did some research and found that 67% of Americans would feel completely relaxed if they were entirely “off the grid.” 52% said that having a smartphone “makes it harder to relax.” Yet a cruise without wifi would be like a cruise without booze.

• Smartphones screw up your love life.

NYT and a boatload of researchers report that devices (not the bedroom kind) are making partners feel ignored, insecure, disconnected, abandoned, and just plain bummed. What happens when the shunned partner finally says, “You don’t turn me on anymore?”

• Smartphones cause “tech neck.”

Fact: Bodies age. Fact: Smartphones speed up that pain in the neck. Way back in 2011, 83% of cell phone users reported some neck and hand pain from texting. More recently, a local chiropractor says 80% of her cases are likely be related to phones. Not familiar with tech neck? Take a selfie next time you’re staring at your smartphone.

• Smartphones make kids slow and fat.

I’ve been sitting on this research for a while, but that keeps me in the theme. In short, the WHO believes that 80% of kids worldwide are not getting enough exercise. It takes youth (9-17), on average, 90 seconds longer to run a mile than it took their parents. There’s plenty of blame (and munchies?) to go around. But techno devices increasingly keep butts stuck in seats.

• Smartphones kill conversations. 

What’s better than sitting around chewing the fat with friends and fam? Checking your smartphone, apparently. Thus deteriorates thousands of years of progress in communicating via body language, expressions, and eye contact (remember that?). Run your own test: Ask some gathering, “Which ________ song said ______” See how many phones flip out. See how many memories die.

Not to worry. I got me an iPhone 6 now. The whole wide world is at my fingertips, right?

LOL.

We hear much about the 1% thing. In this land of plenty: Dislike. God bless Scandinavia and other successful social-democracy experiments, where people can get rich, but also most everyone enjoys excellent education, employment, healthcare, and—wow!—lots of time off for vacations, babies, families, and more.

Yet hard-working people can do well the world over, and you meet examples daily. A friendly deliveryman or breakfast waitress can make your day (while a millionaire in a Mercedes may flip you off for no reason). Somehow, sometimes, hard-working laborers lead role-model lives; competence is not always about the money.

• A modest man gone viral

The story of one James Robertson, 56, went viral recently, and he soon found himself $345K richer…and rising. The Detroit Free Press reported about his daily, 10-mile, walking commute to a low-paying job. This he’s done for 10 years. A few good Samaritans took notice, went to GoFundMe, and now Mr. Robertson has the car of his dreams—plus a nice cash cache.

• Hard workers: Everyday heroes

This tale stirs up many sub-stories, including: The sad lack of job options for the carless and working poor; the nonstop political kerfuffle about funding public transportation and living wages; the incongruity of well-to-do do-gooders suggesting they can solve systemic and societal problems by selectively throwing their money around.

The real story here, though, is the profound role-modeling Mr. Robertson provides by enduring these conditions just to put food on his table—with (until now) no obvious prospects for significant advancement or payoff. He’s just one of the millions (billions?) of workers who toil away out of loyalty, self-sufficiency, and pride.

Most of us have met many of these everyday heroes—and still do. I think about the ones I’ve had the good fortune knowing, especially when I’m feeling overworked, the cash isn’t flowing, hard-working folks do something for me while I merely flash my credit card or move from Point Y to Z.

My heart forever goes out to Irma, my fellow server and a “lifer” at the country club—whose patience and laugh went right to my heart and the many members who adored her. John, the janitor (when that was the title), who put up with college-dorm crap and always had wisdom and a smile to share. Bob, the pot man. Lee, the fry cook. And Joe.

• Joe the Dishwasher

I once worked in a downtown Minneapolis restaurant with a booming lunch business, busy bar, and serious dinner crowd. As a newbie waiter, my shifts might start at 10 in the morning—and end after midnight. It seems like Joe was always there, manning the piles of pots, dishes, leftovers, and epic messes that come with such a job.

Joe served as bedrock amid the kitchen’s slippery chaos. And he was always kind and appreciative to me, which is more than I can say for some of the staff who worked in a place with hierarchy and secrets.

Imagine water and food scraps spraying everywhere, all the time. Picture steam and sweat and the occasional burn. Joe did yeoman’s work, never stopped, and never complained. In fact, he rarely spoke, though I know that he walked an hour to and from work every day to his home in a Native-American, government housing complex.

I can’t fathom what keeps a Joe like that ticking. But I do know that—even amid the mean scene that a kitchen can become—Joe held a high post. If you screwed up the way you distributed dirty dishes, you were pulled aside by the chef. If Joe couldn’t keep up with a crazy-busy mealtime, Chef commanded an assistant from the line over to help. And when employees were fed between shifts, Joe got whatever he wanted.

Chef: “You hungry, Joe? That was a rough lunch. What can I make you?”

Joe (shyly, as usual): “You got any ribs?”

Chef (with a smile): “I got more ribs than you can shake a stick at, Joe! I’ll heat some up and you just let me know if you want some more.”

When the employees ate, the staff segregated by tables and status—management at one, fancy waiters at another, underclass waiters and bussers at the next, kitchen crew at the largest one where the evening’s specials and recipes were debated while fresh and fussy ingredients were fondled and on display.

Joe always sat alone—amid the odors of his work and in a uniform that usually looked like a Jackson Pollack painting. But I so remember the satisfied smirk on his face when he dug into his plate of fine dining.

This upscale eatery—where CEOs swung deals over Scotch and Symphony Ball mavens gossiped over Chardonnay—could not function without him. Countless jobs and meals and celebrations depended on his dependability and unheralded skills.

Nobody ever crowd-sourced a car for Joe. He may never have gotten a car, and probably didn’t get rich. Yet those of us who got to work with him are richer for it. Maybe richer than the people we served.

• Loyalty and attitude trump arrogance and ignorance

The backbone of any society is the good people who pick the crops, repair the streets, drive the busses, and dish out our food-on-the-run. Make it a game: When you see someone quietly but diligently making the world a better place despite low pay and status, give them thanks. And a smile.

Chances are, they’ll say, “You’re welcome!” And smile back.

Well, the Vacation Revolution we announced in the last post is confronting resistance already. The NYT reported last week on the trend of “workations.” That’s when high-wired, workaholic types travel to exotic, “all-inclusive” destinations decked out with cool necessities like wifi, tech gear, office space, new coworker-pals and, of course, killer coffee.

• The next big co-working thing

Early adopters, entrepreneurs, and idea-mongers are showing up in droves—to places like Surf Office (in California and the Canary Islands), Mutinerie Village (a restored farmstead near Paris and, soon, Coconat, a bucolic retreat near Berlin.

Why not? Why not go hang out somewhere suave where you can work, network, and surf both waves and webs 24/7? If you’re young, worldly, and omni-connected—and you hate unplugging (and love working)—then this is for you. Oh yeah, it may help to have deep pockets or a generous expense account.

The idea further validates the co-working movement, which is uplifting news for local pioneer, CoCo. Maybe the next expansion for CoCo is a space in a retired Minnesota lake Resort!

• The next big un-working thing

Speaking of lakes, folks are also coming in droves (and pickups, ATVs, and snowmobiles) to vegetation retreats atop frozen lakes. Some call it ice fishing. Some just seem to meditate for hours, staring at a hole in ice. Some, though not all, catch bottle bass. They also collaborate, as in, “Catchin’ anything?” But very few of them require laptops, cell phones, or wifi.

To be sure, these peaceful people most likely return to work the next day. So their vegecation is temporary—unlike our workation friends who never seem to shut down.

To each his (or her) own. But every single soul I’ve invited to the Ice Shanty has loved their retreat into the comfortable, low-stim sanctuary. Things like giddiness, games, candles, and singing happen. Things like work, worry, and selfie-importance don’t.

When I ask my friends, “Why is this old, little trailer so magical and fun?” They usually say something like, “Because we’re away.”

A BreakAway comes in many forms. That includes 1974 ice-fishing campers on ice, and maybe even surfing workations by the sea.

Still, I’ll take the vegecation over a workation. Work will wait. Chilling out in the present moment won’t.

The fat cat is out of the bag: Americans’ vacation rates have hit sick, historic lows, and the topic has gone viral like the flu at the office. Dozens of sites have picked up on the story, and screen-starers have are taking notice. Could this—finally—suggest a tipping point in our mass, stubborn refusal to take time off?

The new study, by Skift (of course), found that nearly 42% of our workers took not one day off last year. Trending on the low end: Women and younger workers. Looking a bit better: Men, suburbanites, Westerners, and those with higher incomes.

Contrarian thinking has gotten lots of people rich; just ask Mr. Buffett. So this vakay maven wonders if we’ve hit bottom. Oil’s <$50 per barrel right now. You think it will stay there forever? You think Americans will refuse to take time off forever—especially while the economy has improved and unemployment is low?

Call me an optimist. (!) And never mind that just last March this site proclaimed “Vacations Are A Waste of Time!”  Things change. Workers are giving $52 billion of “free” work back to their employers—while suffering from countless syndromes that a vacation might heal.

5 reasons the vacation revolution has begun

• We need the exercise and movement that a getaway can provide. 

Both will help us fight epidemics like diabetes, obesity, bad backs, and lack of sand on the buttocks.

• Mother Nature calls. 

These days, work means mostly sitting at a computer. Some still toil on assembly lines. Others flip burgers or change sheets (and often get no PTO). Prescription: Find several days to get outside of that discomfort zone!

• Folks are sick of (and at) work. 

Another disturbing trend: Presenteeism. People are going to work sick (which we’ve commented on before)— sometimes even doing daring, dangerous jobs. Got the bug? Stay away. We’ll all feel better. (NOTE: If this dude is feeling dizzy, he should def lay low.)

• We’ve got Euro-envy (for a change)

Say what you want about the chronic Euro economic meltdowns and high unemployment rates. But 30 days off is the norm there. Here, only 15% take more than 20 days. Take 20 days in France, and they’d send you to recovery! We still have things to learn from other lands. Like, R&R (and how to party on the back of a truck).

• Vacation makes you unplug.

Another alarming trend: people working on vacation (and all the time everywhere). Still, odds at least improve that when you’re on the road, you’ll go on the wagon from digital addiction. Maybe you’ll even, like, dress in period costume and do interpretive dance!

Turn off, tune in, and BreakAway!

NOTE: This post was originally published on December 11 by my good friends at MeetPlanGo!  

It’s that time of year again. The holidays get us all plumped up with feasts and fetes. Then we stumble into a new year. For most folks with any sense of tradition, that’s a time of resolution, reflection, and reduction (of pounds and debt dollars). This year, why not resolve to get one step closer to a big, fat, career break?

While we’re at it, let’s be more specific—and twisted. That is, let’s twist the usual NYE advice to make it more fitting, fun, and hopeful. If your life feels boxed-in or you want to live outside the cube, take note. And take heart.

• SAVE LESS. Sure, everyone’s always preaching about saving for an education, house, rainy day, or retirement. But retirement is such distant ship-smoke on the horizon, right? Presently, 35% of people over 65 work. And both those numbers will keep growing as the cost of living ratchets up. What to do? Retire now and then. The best reward for saving money for your senior years: Instant grat. So you hereby have permission to sneak some straw from your nest egg (assuming you have built one first) to practice retiring. Go away, far away, for a month or 12. Then come back and work (and invest) some more. Repeat every 5-7 years.
• SPEND MORE. Time is money, right? Well, yes and no. We sell our time (and sometimes soul) to the boss who pays us with money, true. But if we could value time, we’d dub it priceless. So how about spending less hours on work (and related shtuff), and more time on what makes you tick—like yoga, cooking, hiking, and (naturally) planning your vacations and sabbatical.
• LOSE THE WAIT. Are you putting something off? Do your travel or even simple getaway goals keep getting sidelined? Resolve here and now to pop that procrastination bubble and do something—anything!—that brings you closer to your desire to experience the world and its cultures, cuisines, and quirks. Visit oddball museums. Dine in a different ethnic eatery each month. Sneak in over-nighters to funky small towns and stately state parks. Use long weekends and vacation time to get outa town and escape your routine. Whatever you do, find ways to make some here-and-now BreakAway moves—until you can make a break for The Big One.

HNY!

2015 is right around the corner. May it be a year of turning the corner on making your dream a reality. And meantime, may the holiday spirit (the kind and generous one—not the greedy and grinchy one) be with you!

It’s that time of the year again. On one hand, the tackiest side of America acts out embarrassing rituals of full-contact shopping and materialism. On the other hand, we take time for Thanksgiving—a non-denominational pause dedicated to family, feasting, and gratefulness.

Folks who somehow manage extended breaks away from work and the routine grind have a lot to be thankful for. There are way more than five things to recognize, but for now, here’s a worthy start.

• THANKS for learning there’s more to life than work. Everyone knows that, of course. Yet few people prove it—and too often not having a job is for all the wrong reasons. Work matters. But so do countless other things. Slipping away now and then may be the best way to practice that balancing act.
• THANKS for the people you meet. Right before I went to Norway for the first time, I asked a fellow Nordic-American (a title not yet on ethnic surveys) who had been there many times, “What’s the best thing about Norway.” He immediately replied, “The people.” With any luck, that’s true wherever you may wander.
• Thanks for the pretty good habits. A traveler has no choice but to habitually assert, adapt, and accept. That’s not always easy. But such wise practices can become, well, habits! And they sure come in handy…pretty much every day of your life.
• Thanks for the life-changing thrills. You can’t often sail Caribbean islands, hike Tuscan villages, or eat your way through Asian cities. Yet these delights need not collect mold on the bucket list—and can instead mold your view of the world and of what’s possible.
• Thanks for coming home again. Getting “the go-homes” before ending a BreakAway can feel like depression meets salmonella crossed with a concussion. But you know you can’t stay away forever, and home works best when it’s a launching pad, not a prison. Anyway, the pain of leaving a magical place eventually turns inside out and morphs into…gratitude.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The NYT recently published a story about companies offering “unlimited time off.” Publicity mogul Richard Branson had announced that his UK and US companies would adopt such a practice. As usual, the media went gaga. And then the HR pundits weighed in. Now it’s my turn.

Take your time…when you’re “100% sure”

Such implausible policies usually come with not-so-fine print. In this case, according to Mr. Branson’s blog, employees should feel free to embrace the policy when they:

“feel a hundred per cent comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business—or, for that matter, their careers!”

Sounds like a typical Boss Man. I remember taking my first “real” job out of college at a small ad agency. When I asked the owner about his sick-day policy, he said, “Sick days? We don’t need that. When you’re sick, you’re sick.” The policy never was clear to me, though I remember colleagues frequently working while ill. Ish!

Mr. Branson: Is anyone every 100% sure of anything? “Their team?” “Every project?” “The business?” “Their careers?” If perfection were the goal, we’d never stop working. And still never reach 100%. Mr. Branson: Your policy is, at best, a fuzzy discourtesy to the priceless professionals who’ve made you a billionaire.

Some vacation policy tips we can LIVE with

Having hung around countless hard-working (and sometimes burned-out) pros for years, here are some ideas I’ve gathered that seems to work for all parties…

• 2-4 weeks of paid vacation. Yes, it should be more. But this is ‘Merrka. But if you start young and the company gives you 4 weeks in 5-10 years: Sweet.
• Use it or lose it vacation time. No, you can’t work your harried ass off and hoard those days as an exit strategy (or whatever). You MUST take time off. Or you lose the ability to keep adding more. You’ll be a better employee (and person).
• Sabbaticals. Since this site is dedicated to that proposition, how about something so simple as one month off every five years, or three months off every seven years.
• Paid leave for family matters. That includes dads, who often suffer a reverse-discrimination (that nobody talks about). There are laws supporting this now, yet many folks and employers don’t go there. Life is short. Family comes first.
• Sick leave or PTO. “When you’re sick, you’re sick,” and you need to get better—and not sicken the staffers that surround you. PTO is for when you just need a day off. Mental health? Personal problem? Dog ate your laptop? Deal with it. No questions asked.
• 40-hour work weeks. Let’s work hard and smart and then focus on The Big Picture and wellbeing. Anyway, ever check Facebook? Most folks are posting and commenting from work. No wonder they’re working long hours!

What do you think of Branson’s policy?  What’s yours?