taking a break to talk about taking a break

The Modern Vacation: Fully Wired, Totally Ruined | LiveScience:

An AP poll last year found that one-fifth of Americans tote a laptop on vacation. Countless more carry cell phones, many of which can be used to check company e-mail.

And why not? With wireless coverage extending, staying connected is simple. Recently, JetBlue Airways announced a trial of free e-mail and instant messaging services for passengers on one of its aircraft. Other airlines are expected to follow suit.

But there's a hidden cost to companies: employee burnout.

"Using work cell phones and checking company e-mail at the poolside is not a vacation," said Dov Eden, an organizational psychologist at Tel Aviv University. Eden studies the psychological effects of respites ranging from family trips to lengthy sabbaticals, including how they bring relief from chronic job stress.

I used to be "addicted to the 'net" on my vacations, immediately getting online as soon as I got back to the hotel after whatever it was I was doing, particularly on festival invasions and the like.  Fortunately, I learned, in the PNW tour of 2004 (where I brought everything BUT the power cable, and thus had a useless laptop), what it was like to be 'netless on vacation and quite liked it.  Since then, the vacations of 2005 (UK), 2006 (Disneyland and southern California), and 2007 (WDW) have all had minimal online time.  Though I had the laptop for "emergencies" (usually defined as trying to get directions to the next destination, or in the UK case, emptying the camera's memory card so we could keep taking pictures), it was otherwise rarely on at all.

And I think we liked it that way...