Tips for Stress-Free Holiday Travel While Juggling a High-Pressure Job

With the holiday season just weeks away, travelers are gearing up for family visits, international adventures, ski trips, and R&R at the beach to escape the cold. As fun as travel is, leaving work can be very stressful. To help plan for and prevent that stress, it’s important to set vacation guidelines to ensure a happy, relaxing, and reinvigorating trip – not an overwhelming one.

Following are some tips that should help you plan ahead, whether you will be inaccessible during your sojourn or are able to devote a small amount of time each day to office matters.

Tips for Off-the-Grid Adventures

Off-the-grid adventures are the types of trips that truly allow you to unplug from everything and recharge. That means they also require a bit more preparation. Here are some of the tips to employ ahead of an “off-the-grid” excursion.

Delegate Far in Advance
Delegate projects to a team member who will be covering for you way in advance. Sometimes this requires a bit of training, but the investment of time in a trusted coworker will neutralize any crises and keep your systems running smoothly in your absence.

Give a Trusted Colleague Your Computer Password
This is an additional safety measure in the event that you forget to provide your colleagues with any documents or vital information that is only on your computer. 

Let Everyone Know Via Auto-Responders That You Are Inaccessible
If you’re backpacking through Europe, be sure to mention that you are, in fact, out of the country. This will inform anyone trying to contact you that, not only are you in a completely different time zone, but the chances that you’ll be replying to their email while you are away are slim to none. If you’re taking a family trip to Hawaii for the holidays, go ahead and say so in your auto-responder as well. This will let those trying to reach you know that you’re spending time with family, and most – if not all of them – will respect that. As an added bonus, by saying where you are in your auto-response message, you’ll have a great conversation piece to chat about upon your return.

Provide an Alternate Email for a Colleague Who Can Help in an Emergency
It’s never a bad idea to inform those trying to reach you via phone or email that they aren’t without help in your absence. Provide an email address and/or phone number of a trusted colleague who will be happy to help should they need immediate assistance.

Relaxing-While-Working Getaways

For those vacations that blend leisure with work, it’s a great idea to set boundaries for yourself and plan ahead for how you will juggle both, so neither is neglected.

Use the Flight to Your Advantage
Even if there is no WiFi available, flights are a great time for drafting emails, brainstorming ideas and leadership notes, reviewing presentations, filling out spreadsheets, and strategizing on paper. It’s amazing how much work you can accomplish at 37,000 feet. 

Devote 15-30 Minutes Each Morning and Evening to Email
While on working vacations, commit to at least 15 minutes each morning and evening for checking email. Respond to any urgent emails, forward emails to others, and handle those that you can within the allotted time. When the time runs out, leave what’s left for later – and enjoy your time to relax.

Touch Base With FaceTime Audio
This service is free to contact any iOS or Mac user in the world. Best yet, it’s just as clear as regular Facetime, but without the video, so you can make calls in your bathing suit or hiking gear without anyone seeing you.

By determining ahead of time your vacation guidelines over the holidays or in the future, you can make sure that you get the most out of your travel, and feel like you actually got a break from work. With a little careful planning, it is possible to enjoy your vacation – and come back to the office organized and stress-free. Who would have thought?