Can anyone else not leave their work behind?

[jlk806]

Is there anyone else who cannot completely leave their work behind when they go to Disney? I own a business and it is completely impossible for me to leave my work completely behind on any vacation. I do have employees but no one does what I do so every trip I have to spend a little time answering emails and such for the business. Usually after everyone is sleeping. I am headed there tomorrow, and some work will have to come too. Just wondering if anyone else CANNOT completely leave their work behind?

 

[GC&S]

DH can't. He owns a small business and at least once a day has to fix an issue. Thank goodness for smart phones and Ipads. They have made a world of difference that now he doesnt have to go all the way back to the resort to take care of business. I used to resent it as "this is our time" but I've learned to live with it.

 

[Mousemom]

I can but my husband is self employed so he will be looking at e-mails and make or take the occasional phone call. It's just what has to happen and we're all ok with it. I wish that he could just leave work behind but he also has a responsibility to his customers. Someday he'll be retired and this won't happen anymore.

 

[Sandi]

I cannot leave work behind completely. I'm an attorney whose clients expect answers when they have questions. I can rely on my partners and staff, but it's a lot more efficient to respond to email and phone calls when they come in. I try to take care of those things first thing in the morning and again middle of the afternoon. DD and DH hate it, but have given up on me.

 

[Pakey]

I work wherever I go. I had some whopping phone bills from China and Egypt where wifi was hard to get.

 

[doitforlove]

I'll be checking work email at least once a day. I have an out of office set up, but as someone with over a hundred clients I really need to check email at least daily. Doesnt help that my company's fiscal year ends the end of September

 

[magrudersmakes3]

I work for a company that requires managers to be fully accessible on their vacations. That is why I like the cruise so much, it was much harder to reach me.

 

[Missytara]

I wish we could go back to the days before cell phones, ipads, e-mail, etc.

Every year, we went to my grandparents cottage in CT (we live in DE) for one week every Christmas and two weeks at the end of every summer.

No one even attempted to call my dad; I had his full undivided attention for that time and it was fantastic.

Sadly, with us making ourselves so available now-a-days, we cannot always seem to get away from it.

It saddens me sometimes when you are standing in line for an attraction and a mother is trying to entertain everyone while Dad is standing there on the phone with work trying to work out a problem. Those times go by so fast and kids grow up so quickly. You don't get that time back.

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I spent 26 years working for a Big 4 accounting firm, before I left I was running a regional tax practice group. When I was away, my email, voicemail and assistant were all set to indicate that 1. I was on vacation, 2. I would be available in an emergency, 3. I would be reviewing and responding to emails and voicemails daily from 7am-8:30am and from 6pm to 7pm. It worked well, clients would routinely call me in the those hours, and 99% of the time my park time was completely work free. It seemed that if they knew that they could reach me at a prescribed time of day, there was less interuption in non-prescribed times of day.

Tom

 

[tinkermommyof3]

I don't work, but my husband does and his cell phone will ring or get texts until he shuts it off. When we go on vacation, he leaves his phone at home (bless him) so he can focus on family. He does check his messages every couple days from my cell phone. He will answer urgent calls only. Ironically, most calls are not urgent and can wait until we return from vacation. If he brought his cell phone, those non important calls would interrupt our valuable family vacation time.

 

[jade1]

I can't either, but will say the smart phone has made my trips way better. Own a small biz that thrives on "last minute" sales/repairs. Someday though hoping to partner up and that will help. But for now, would much rather stay in touch then come back to a mess. Fam sleeps til noon anyway when at WDW.

 

[buzznina]

My work requires me to be on call 24/7 and I have a work cell that I will have with me if they need to call/text/email me I am lucky that my boss will only contact me if it is very important, all other work he tells the people it will have to wait until I get back. There has been a couple of times that I had to leave the park to go back to our room so I could remote in to work to correct an issue, which really sucks.

 

[party-of-five]

My DH can't either. He is a sales rep for a major technology company. It use to bother me, but it's just the nature of the beast I suppose. After all, it's because of his job that we are able to go on vacation. . I will often catch him checking his email while i am taking the kids into the restroom, or if we're waiting in a line. But for the most part he's good about it and it doesn't interfere too much.

A funny story... 3 years ago when we went to Disneyland he promised he wouldn't do any work while on vacation. He was getting fed up with his employer. It was more a bet that he couldn't do it. Well, our first day into our trip and his former colleague wouldn't stop calling him. Finally it became too much and he answered the phone. His buddy arranged for him to get an interview with his new employer. He spent the rest of the vacation taking a handful of phone interviews. Long story short, when we got home, he gave his notice. He's never been happier at a job. So, it's all good in the end and you do what you have to do.

 

[dlhvac]

My work requires me to be on call 24/7 and I have a work cell that I will have with me if they need to call/text/email me I am lucky that my boss will only contact me if it is very important, all other work he tells the people it will have to wait until I get back. There has been a couple of times that I had to leave the park to go back to our room so I could remote in to work to correct an issue, which really sucks.

Have completed the programming of a building automation system from an Internet cafe in Nassau because the dreams Internet connection was too slow hey it pays for the cruising

 

[HelenParr]

We work while at WDW. Small business in service sector. We have to be available to clients (or we don't get paid). This has created some interruptions during trips. But...we always try to look at the upside. We have great jobs that provide the money that allows us to go to WDW. So I never feel it is a problem. Just a variable.

We have come to make it more festive by taking cell photos of each other when one of us gets a call or has to respond to email. It takes out some of the "oh man, you have another call?" whine I might otherwise have. It really makes for good trip slideshow pix later.

We also learned that there are actually few truly quiet places in MK (or any park really) to take a call. Thought we had one behind old Minnie House in Toon Town until client said "Uh, what keeps banging behind you?" Answer: "Ah. That would be Minnie's gate." LOL.

 

[Pollyanna Poppins]

My husband has to check in daily with his office. In this economy you just learn to be thankful that you have a business to check on and are able to go on vacation. When I'd really love to throw his phone into the Seven Seas Lagoon I remind myself to be grateful because things could always be worse.

 

[mickeystoontown]

My husband and I own a small business and we take bets on how many times the hubby will be on the phone every day with a customer. He does try to keep the phone calls down to a minimum but it can't be helped sometimes. I've even incorporated the pictures of him on the phone into my trip reports.

 

[fla4fun]

Normally I can leave everything behind, but last week they terminated the person who covers for me when I go away, so the back up of the back up will be doing the covering next month. I do have to make one phone call on one day to make sure some important invoices are paid correctly, but that's it. I don't carry a cell phone in the parks - it goes in the room safe when I arrive and I take it out when it's time to go home.

 

[heidijanesmith]

I own my own company and must work on vacation. I was so happy that WDW has free wireless internet now!!

Thank goodness we have gone paperless, last vacation I had to ship down my printer.

I always work during our mid-day break. A quick nap or pool break and then work for an hour or so. We usually go during the summer, so those daily thunderstorm's are a great excuse to get some work done.

 

[Murron]

I also have an electronic leash and need to be accessible. I do try to get all the e-mail etc out of the way early in the morning and do a check in the evening. Having said that, it never really becomes a true vacation. If a work problem arises, it's on your mind all day while you are trying to have fun. Not a good way to shed work stress! Retirement can't come quick enough!!!