Working vacation vs. vacation

In mid-September, I'm planning to take Bean and Bunny up to Illinois to visit my family. Not only do I feel like I could really use the vacation, but it'll be my mom's birthday, and most of my family hasn't met Bunny yet. So I'll be braving the 18-hour drive with a potty-training two-year-old and a four-month-old.

photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

And as if that wasn't complicated enough, I'm still trying to decide whether this will be a working vacation or a normal vacation. Do I want to set aside time, even if it's less than normal, to work, or should I put work on hold for the couple of weeks I'm up north and play catch-up when I get back?

If I decide to put work on hold during that time, I can work ahead with my two main clients between now and then. If I decide to work while I'm on vacation, I can reduce my work load a little so I can still enjoy the time I have.

There will be at least four days during my vacation I won't be working. Since I'll be the only driver on this trip, I won't be able to work during the travel days. But since the kids are little, they're going to nap, and I could use that time every day to do a little writing.

I would love to simply close my office and take two weeks off, which I could do if I work ahead a little, but I don't want to feel overwhelmed coming back from vacation and having two weeks of work to catch up on in the office, on top of having to get back into the routine with the kids.

What say you, readers? Should I work "part-time" while on vacation, or close the office completely? What would you do?