Saturday, April 12, 2014

Vacation Philosophy

Once upon a time, a little sheepish with guilt, I asked my boss if he thought I was taking too many days off to go on random backpacking trips.

He smirked and scribbled a signature on my leave request form. His philosophy was that while it's good to be passionate about your work, it's even better to have a job that allowed you to enjoy other things that you were also drawn to. The only way to maintain the drive and the love for what you do was, ironically, to take time off from it once in a while.

He also believed that my trips were an investment back into the company because I always came back brimming with ideas for my team.

Clutching my form, I wasn't about to argue with him.

The next year when I got promoted, he added another two weeks to my annual paid holiday count.

I was so happy that I cried. Now even I have a hard time burning off my holidays.

I guess that is to be expected from a boss who graduated with an MBA before becoming a missionary at 19, while defying the nerd stereotype as a competitive skateboarder and mountain biker. Oh, and he's a sailor and certified pilot with his own "toys" (aka a plane or two).

So, a little concerned that I wasn't putting my vacation days to good use this year, sometime late last night/ early this morning, I simply decided that Nepal needed to be in my future.

Hopped online, called up a friend, grimaced at the tickets, and took the plunge.

See you in two weeks, Kathmandu.


1 comment:

melbel said...

Your life is awesome and YOU are amazing. I love reading your thoughts and somehow leave your blogposts feeling inspired.