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The Work Vacation
I am toying with a new concept, namely The Work Vacation. Pick some exotic locale and bring your laptop. Write your book and blog as usual. Go out every now and then to see some sights. In essence seeing sights replaces the time at home you would spend doing chores and taking care of family.
I find the idea of The Work Vacation appealing. I am convinced many people don't find their vacations that much fun in the first place. ("What are vacations for anyway?," I can imagine Robin Hanson's voice echoing in my head.) People are losing the feeling of flow, and of accomplishment, from their workplace. Often they argue more with their spouses when together all day. They feel stress at coping with regular decisions and unfamiliar languages (of these, only the loss of work and flow describes me, I might add, but that is significant).
Perhaps many people take vacations for social reasons, to accommodate their spouses, to signal what kind of person they are, for memories, or to check countries off a list. A Work Vacation would accommodate (some of) these motives to considerable degree.
I love Indian cities, but if only for reasons of air pollution, I don't want to spend most of the day outdoors running around. And many interesting and worthwhile parts of India don't have many tourist sites but are still worth a bit of time.
Natasha finds the concept of The Work Vacation deeply distressing. First, it suggests I can leave home without abandoning work. Second, it implies it is permissible to work on vacation.
Surely the Coase Theorem can solve these problems.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on June 10, 2006 at 06:20 AM in Travels | Permalink
Comments
I've been toying with this idea for a while now. I would love to take up my wife's suggestion of spending three weeks or more in Newfoundland, but as the sole owner/programmer of my business, I don't think there's any way I can go without working for that long. Since the the primary goal of such a trip would be to listen to/hang out with/learn from/play with Newfoundland traditional musicians, and that's mostly an evening/nighttime experience, it's entirely reasonable that I might squeeze in some full days of work there during the trip. Thanks to a powerful laptop machine (that I'm already doing most of my work on) and wireless internet that's finally common enough I think I'll be able to get on-line from the larger cities, this seems like a pretty practical compromise.
Posted by: Sol at Jun 10, 2006 7:39:51 AM
I find vacations leave me increasingly discontent; I guess the lack of "accomplishment" eats at me, or maybe its the "phoniness" of endlessly observing without doing.
Working vacations, or active vacations ... whatever you call them, but let me do something.
Posted by: Delirious at Jun 10, 2006 8:33:41 AM
I used to live and work in San Francisco and now find that when I return, I am not happy just sitting around seeing the sights. However, if I network with my old work connections (and friends) poke around some real estate and essentially ape the life I use to have there, I feel much better about the trip.
I like going to warm places, but I last 30 min on a beach before I'm bored (2hrs if there are waves to play in).
I think vacations are best for long term strategic thinking. I'm not getting bothered by day-to-day calls and rush problems, but I always bring a notebook to take notes for ideas. I check email, but only respond to those that absolutely need it (and then only late at night).
Posted by: ElamBend at Jun 10, 2006 9:34:28 AM
"What are vacations for anyway?," I can imagine Robin Hanson's voice echoing in my head.
Pleasure?
Posted by: Bernard Yomtov at Jun 10, 2006 10:30:42 AM
Wait... you're not supposed to keep working while on vacation?
Posted by: Steven Schreiber at Jun 10, 2006 10:45:28 AM
This sounds intriguing, but don't tell my boss.
Posted by: Dan at Jun 10, 2006 11:15:37 AM
While there are personal situations where the Work Vacation is a Good Thing (tm), there are a number of situations where it seems likely to fail.
"Dear, please take the kids and find something to entertain them. I'll be staying here at the hotel and working on chapter three today..." seems like an excellent step towards a divorce. For several years we vacationed in places where for a portion of each day there was someone whose job it was to see that the kids had a good time without their parents.
Any of "I think I'll spend the afternoon painting the lobby here at the hotel," or "I'll drop by the slaughterhouse and knock off some of the local livestock," suggest that there are people and professions for whom the Work Vacation is viable and those for whom it is not. I am pleased that my professional work has lent itself to it, although I generally limit myself to a couple of books and stack of paper rather than a laptop.
Posted by: Michael Cain at Jun 10, 2006 11:29:42 AM
Once upon a time, rich people wanted to travel in order to cement distant social connections, and to manage far-flung business and political empires. Perhaps other people then wanted to travel in order to look like the rich, and to interact with the rich.
Posted by: Robin Hanson at Jun 10, 2006 11:31:16 AM
I think the Work Vacation is most troubling to those who bring elaborate escapist expectations to a trip (enabled by the cruise industry and all-inclusive resorts.) For those who think it interesting to get a feel for the rhythms of a place, The Work Vacation actually deepens the experience because one can spend more time away. My routine now is built around cafe/local newspaper in early morning, 3-4 hrs of work, museum/historical site, reading about local history/architecture in cafe or park, nap, hour walk around city at 6PM, and a live gathering (music, sport, pub) in the evening.
Someone famous once said that for him "work is more fun than fun"--a line that resonates for those of us who find our work mentally stimulating,
My $.02
Posted by: Brian Timoney at Jun 10, 2006 12:17:32 PM
With cell phones and email ubiquitous, the "work vacation" seems to be
spreading whether we like it or not.
I think it was on this blog that somebody calling himself "Teller"
dissed me for quoting the Europeans as saying that "Americans live
to work, while we work to live," in conjunction with the general
disappearance of most people there in the month of August.
Posted by: Barkley Rosser at Jun 10, 2006 12:19:51 PM
Firstly everyone needs unstructured recreational time now and again - just to recharge. Thing is, most people don't really need two whole weeks of just that.
"What are vacations for anyway ?"
Is a question that seems to betray a lack of interests apart from work - nothing wrong with that if you are genuinely into what you do, unless it also indicates stress and a lack of a wider perspective.
Make plans for your vacation and keep them - when it all starts to feel like work, put your plans on hold and have some unstructured leisure. When that gets too much go back to your plans.
If your plans turn out to be inappropriate, change them. After all, you are on holiday.
Posted by: Chris Stiles at Jun 10, 2006 12:20:11 PM
I gave up on a clear boundary between work and play several years ago. I do plenty of what I enjoy but I very rarely "go on vacation".
My job involves lots of international travel for extended periods and typcially my wife will accompany me. We usually do some sightseeing on the weekends but the best of it is the chance to spend several weeks or months in a new city or country really getting a feel for how people live and just doing the everyday things they do.
It helps that when I'm not travelling I work from home and I live in a ski resort -so even then I can fit some vacation-like activities(like skiing!) into a typical working day.
Posted by: Dan Hill at Jun 10, 2006 1:33:51 PM
But, what does this say about economic theory.
In standard models, work gives you disutility; you'd avoid it if at all
possible. Work is just a means to accumulate consumption goods.
But you are essentially saying that theres some "subsistence
level" of work, so to speak, that gives you utility
("fulfillment", flow) in itself, independent of consumption.
Food for thought, indeed.
Posted by: mvpy at Jun 10, 2006 1:39:21 PM
I would argue that the reason you can even ask that question is that you enjoy your work and can do much of it (such as writing) nearly anywhere. Michael Cain's second point--that not everybody can have a work vacation (I'd go so far as to say most U.S. workers could not)--is strengthened by the idea that many (certainly many more, as a percentage, vis-a-vis readers of this blog) do not like their jobs, and do not want to do them when they're vacationing.
Posted by: hamilton at Jun 10, 2006 2:42:54 PM
I did exactly this during our last inlaw-visit to China. But we did go out - and ditch the PC - for several days. But I've been in Shanghai so much that there isn't much to do there anymore during the day after a week or so - Shanghai is a city of the night...
Posted by: Foobarista at Jun 10, 2006 6:08:15 PM
I must agree with Brian. I would go crazy if I had no work to do, but I like to see new places. A vacation routine like his sounds like a great idea.
Posted by: Alex at Jun 10, 2006 7:02:41 PM
My boyfriend and I are perpetually on a Work Vacation.
Posted by: Jacqueline at Jun 10, 2006 7:51:45 PM
Michael Cain wrote: "Any of 'I think I'll spend the afternoon painting the lobby here at the hotel,' or 'I'll drop by the slaughterhouse and knock off some of the local livestock,' suggest that there are people and professions for whom the Work Vacation is viable and those for whom it is not."
Even painters and butchers have conventions and continuing education courses.
http://www.pcishow.com/schedule.htm
http://www.amif.org/education/AMIFEducation.htm
I'll bet many of them even have "accompanying person" events on the side.
Posted by: J Random American at Jun 10, 2006 11:25:13 PM
My first reaction to this idea was "no way". But of course, after a moment I realised that I do this already. I'm an academic librarian, and I love visiting other libraries and university campuses when I'm on holidays. I see them as being just as culturally important to me as art galleries and museums. And my husband equally likes visiting them - he's an academic.
I found it so much easier when I took my laptop on a two month trip to the US last year, and yes I did keep up with blogs, conference and professional committees I'm a member of, etc. It took away some stress as I knew I wouldn't have to play catch up when I got back. However, I did not keep up with my work email which was a deliberate decision.
I'm back in the US and Japan from next week and have been debating whether to take the laptop again, I'm leaning towards yes. If only because it gives me another excuse to spend time sitting around in cafes all morning drinking coffee.
Posted by: Fiona at Jun 11, 2006 3:02:55 AM
First, I'm not sure if I'd be willing to do a work vacation on my own time. But I think you hit on an interesting point, with communication as cheap and plentiful as it nowadays, why shouldn't a company offer a work-vacation as a benefit? That is, my job might be only 5 days paid vacation (I don't have to show up) but 10 days 'work-vacation' - they pay for a ticket and hotel someplace well-connected and expect a 8-hour day. I pay for my own meals and evening activities.
I for one would love a situation like this, particularly since I'm in the IT industry where a lot of work can be done remotely anyway. It'd certainly be a perk to look for, does anyone know of any companies that may already do such a thing?
My choice would of course to spend the work-vacation weeks in Spain...at six hours ahead, I could work 9-5 EST from 3pm-11pm there....just in time to be refreshed after a siesta and then get down to dinner and a night-out afterwards. Perfect!
Posted by: Anon. E. Mouse at Jun 11, 2006 8:14:11 AM
Yep, that's what I do at the cottage--wake up early and put in a half to two thirds of a working day before the sleepier members of the crew even get out of their pajamas. Then afternoons and evenings are for goofing off. I'm not sure it would work as well (or at all) with overseas travel to unfamiliar places, though -- concentration would be a problem, I think.
Posted by: Slocum at Jun 11, 2006 3:22:08 PM
Instead of the work vacation, why not move to a place that is like a vacation spot, and work there?
I've kind of planned my career that way. Nine years in New Orleans (which was too long, but I did get to know the place inside and out and stayed to get tenure). Then I decided on what area of the country I liked to visit the most (the southwest) and found a job there.
It's not the best plan for getting rich and famous, but it has certainly made my work more interesting.
Posted by: David Tufte at Jun 12, 2006 1:39:42 AM
The ModalWife and I have done this for years; 2 hours or so of work per day makes everyone's schedule fit better. Especially if you're jet-lagged!
My rule of thumb is that mundane work == a no-no on vacation. Vacation time is for CREATIVE stuff, like starting new papers, fooling around with stuff, and doing "work" that otherwise would get crowded out with quotidian work. It's like a mini-sabbatical; no deadlines, just time to think.
Posted by: ModalHubby at Jun 12, 2006 1:50:30 PM
When you are an academic, of course a Work Vacation sounds kind of nice. When you wash dishes for a living, you probably aren't so interested.
The reason more people don't take Work Vacations is because there aren't that many folks who are fortunate enough to have work that is enjoyable enough to take on vacation (by choice!) and are also rich enough to talk of "check[ing] countries off a list."
Most folks have jobs they don't particularly like and do things like go to public campgrounds for vacations.
Posted by: Bob Montgomery at Jun 12, 2006 3:57:26 PM
For those saying this is not an option for tradespeople--you are very wrong.
In my community (which is part of a multi-national and nationwide, but fairly small, community), most men are in one of the trades. One of the commonest "vacations" is to go to another community and work, often on a volunteer basis. For example, when I was building my house, various friends and family members came (for time periods from a day to a week) and helped on my house; that was used as an opportunity to visit family and friends, see sights, etc--very like what Tyler is describing.
Posted by: SamChevre at Jun 13, 2006 10:12:12 AM
