Ready for a Real Vacation?

Preparing to make the most of your precious time

If you plan ahead, you can avoid this!

© iStockphoto/PeskyMonkey

It's been a productive year of early mornings, lengthy commutes, and long, focused sessions at the office. Are you looking forward to a wonderful two weeks of doing as you please, with no more pressing decision to make than what to order for dinner?

So fast forward to vacation time: Imagine you're sitting on your towel-sized rectangle of real estate on the beach, surrounded by a swarm of other holiday-makers. Not much different, it dawns on you, than the cubicle you occupy at work. Suddenly, the ringing of your cell phone cuts through the crowd's din. It's someone from work, calling with "urgent" business that you can't do anything about.

If this scenario fills you with horror, how do you go about taking a real vacation this year? Well the truth is, it takes...

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