To go on long vacation and not to loose head
When I am writing this post it is already 30 days since I am on vacation with my family. It was possible since my wife is on maternity leave and I worked as a programmer in a company where every quarter I had a different assignment. We have been thinking about a trip around Balkans since some time already so in the middle of last quarter we decided to use this chance and make this trip together.
For me, it means a quarter out of programming if I wanted to come back to the same company or maybe at least 1.5-month break if I wanted to look for any other project after the return.
1.5 month is a plenty of time.
The longest vacation I have ever made was 3 weeks completely without touching a computer and with no access to Internet.
I remember the time when I was back in the office on the first day after this trip. It was like if I started to learn typing keyboard again. Fortunately, the human body is amazing and I guess it’s due to muscle memory that the ability of fast typing quickly came back, in contrary to remembering all the passwords (Windows, email, company portals).
I had to reset all of them, mostly with company admin help.
After all this, I learned what to do before leaving for a long vacation. Here are some tips I’d like to share with you.
- Note down your passwords.
I know you will say it’s not secure etc, but I’m not telling you to put it on paper and carry it with you everywhere. You can put them on paper and lock at home so that you can remind you when you return from the trip.
2. Take laptop with you
This is addressed mostly for people who use laptops in daily work.
If it is possible that you carry a laptop with you on vacation, e.g. it does not weigh too much, do it. I’m sure you will find some free time when you can use it. Use it even just to sustain a memory of how to type.
When I went on this trip I planned a list of things I would like to learn and gathered some programming books, stored all of it on a drive (in case there was no Internet) and I found a few evenings when I could make use of it. Even, if you don’t want to learn new technology just try to write a blog post or an article. It’s also a good way to force the brain to chew some information when you try to write about something.
The human brain needs to chew something otherwise it gets dumb.
There is another reason why having your own laptop with you may help you — passwords. I have some passwords cached in my browser on the laptop (portals for accounting, email, social media, etc) so I even do not remember passwords for them anymore. Yes, I know, I should change them more often but I believe I’m not alone with this bad habit. If I was to log in from a different computer I would have to reset them first and it’s an additional hassle (especially with slow internet). An alternative would be to change all of them before you leave on vacation so that you have more chance to remember, but it’s also safer to use your own computer (key-loggers and other security threats just waiting around the corner )
3. Keep your brain busy
Hold on, it was going to be a vacation, right? Yes, but I’m not telling you to overwhelm your brain. Just make it work while you rest. It can be reading a book or solving puzzles or reading all the ‘to read’ tabs you collected in your browser but never had time to finish. It can be learning a foreign language or listening to a podcast.
Another example of a situation when I would really get bored without having a book or two hidden in the car is when we have to make stops to feed the baby. Without a book in hand, I would be probably sitting and tapping nervously with fingers on driving wheel.
4. Prepare in case of no Internet
In addition to the previous tip, you can keep the brain busy with watching courses on Coursera or YouTube, but what if there is no Internet connection? For this purpose, I have downloaded some courses of my interest on PC and mobile. Most of the learning portals like Udemy or Coursera allow saving videos for offline use. The same if you wanted to read an e-book but you forgot to download it from your online bookshelf (like Google Books or Kindle). Remember to do it before you leave home, later it may be impossible and you will find yourself getting bored on a beach drinking one Mojito after another to kill time ;)
Well.. anyway, one does not exclude the other :)
Off-topic: There is a theory about brain hard reset from time to time to free some space. Compare it to hard disk format. I have practiced it myself a few times, but in a long run, I only remember headaches the day after. I guess brain is smart enough to fix itself without a need for our intervention with alcoholic drinks.
Moreover, when you are traveling you may need some online maps like Google Maps or navigation. Plan the routes in advance at home. It may become hardly possible with a slow connection or no Internet at all. Fortunately, there is now a nice feature on Google Maps to download offline maps. I used it a lot on this trip to not overuse data roaming. I just chose necessary regions when connected to WiFi, save it and then Google Maps could navigate offline.
5. Keep a notebook with you.
I mean real notebook — pen and paper.
I am sometimes surprised in which strange circumstances some great ideas come to my mind and because I have nothing to take notes they are gone forever. If you can, always make notes of these flashbacks.
Believe me or not, even the idea to write this post came to me when I was brushing my teeth :)
I hope you found some of these tips useful. If you know some more or you have some remarks please share them in comments.
I hope you have a great and productive long vacation next time.
