Holiday (with a bit of work) in France

I went on holiday and didn't switch off, and it worked really well.

I recently spent three weeks in France with my wife and five year old twins, starting in Paris then heading to Nimes (which I highly recommend if you want to view beautifully preserved Roman era structures without the crowds), then Aix en Provence, Carcassonne, Lescun (tiny village in the Pyrenees) and finally, Toulouse.

We were lucky enough to have my wife’s parents with us so we had access to the best baby sitters in the game and therefore enjoyed many big nights out.

My challenge on this trip was to fit in enough work time to keep on top of emails and tickets, particularly those relating to a couple of big projects we had going on. NZ is eight hours ahead of France so I needed to get up early enough to catch people while we could still swap messages on Slack and keep up to date.

If you are wondering why I was working while on leave, it is because I didn’t really have the required leave owing so struck a deal with Andrew where I would check in each day to make sure the team was able to cover for me. Regardless, I feel that in many ways it is a beneficial model for both employer and employee when a position isn’t able to be easily covered by other staff.

Internet Access

We stayed at AirBnB locations for the whole stay and all bar one had great internet, and my Vodafone mobile roaming served me well when out and about.

Handling the mornings

When finishing a night at 3am it wasn’t very easy to be back at my laptop working at 8am, so I didn’t. Those days I was available at something closer to 10am. Our biggest nights were on the weekends, so this wasn’t really an issue.

Impact on the holiday

None. I actually enjoyed packing up my laptop and heading to a sidewalk brasserie or épicerie and watching people pass by as I caught up on work over a coffee. When I worked from the apartment the kids would be getting ready for the day and I wasn’t missed.

Mental well being

I felt good being able to anticipate and schedule work for my return rather than being anxious about what was waiting for me once I returned to my desk. I also liked knowing that I was providing some level of assistance to those covering for me.

Work/life balance

Work is a huge part of my life, I don’t know that it can be completely parked for the better part of a month, and really, it is that job that has allowed me the opportunity to travel France for three weeks with my family, so it deserves sustained focus.

I am sure this post will go against the grain of those who promote the concept of switching off, but perhaps the message is that each individuals needs are different, and I don't feel that I necessarily benefit from that approach on longer trips. I did switch off on the weekends, perhaps that did the trick.

Summary

I haven’t taken a long holiday like this in years, but this experiment of working 10-15 hours per week while travelling was a big success and leaves me feeling more able to take trips of that length in years to come.