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Mentor
Rarely. I have a 5 and 8 year old. It’s more work than work.
Take two a year. Usually a week at a pop. Kids have been to more than 25 countries so they have experienced a lot of different places.
I wish I had that kind of PwC money.
We try for two with the kids each year and one without kids every other year. We do 7-14 days for the vacations with the kids.
Mentor
I’d love some advice. I find the whole process of traveling and being in a different place having to constantly keep an eye on them to be stressful and exhausting. What activities do you do? Are you planned/structured?
We’ve not vacationed without them though because we’d definitely miss them.
I also go on two a year and have young kids. The grandparents go with us often as well. I like Disney cruises to be able to enjoy time with and without the kids. The kids love the kids club, and they cater to the kids and adults in the restaurants. Royal Caribbean is great too but better for older kids. I have heard wonderful things about Beaches in Turks and Caicos and Aulani in Hawaii. Both have kids clubs.
I think kids clubs add fun for everyone and you choose reputable places with security. The Disney cruises have wristbands on each child that can detect exactly where the child is on the ship at all times and there are cameras everywhere. The parents band must be scanned and matched with the child plus facial identification and password to pick up the child. They have professionals with childcare degrees working with the children. I traveled with my youngest on a Disney cruise at 9 months. I will let my tween walk around the ship alone now with text and phone ability. With that said, being on the ship is different than getting off at port, and safety is always a consideration when traveling, especially with children.
I take at least two a year. The week of spring break every year and at least two weeks in the summer. Every other year I have taken a three week vacation. All with two kids. I love to travel so not traveling when the kids were little wasn’t an option. The kids are teenagers now and have been to 38 states and 19 countries. They love to travel - we typically choose lodging with a kitchen and washing machines / dryers for extended vacations. Makes a huge difference. I have never utilized the drop off kids programs - they always made me nervous and the point of our vacation was to spend time together.
Define “proper vacation?” Can’t remember ever having one since I was a Senior. Not having kids definitely changes the approach. I can see why having them would/could necessitate a proper vacation. I take at least 3 or 4 “trips” a year with my wife (we don’t have kids) anywhere from one to two weeks, all the over the world (we are up to over 40 countries), as well as a couple of others with the boys (golf and whatnot) for long weekends. I tend to work a majority of the time and can’t remember the last time I had a full day off (“proper vacation”). Holidays are the best chance to unplug and I view those as proper time off and we try not to travel. I don’t say any of this as a negative, I choose to do this. I used to try the to manage work during trips but that 1) puts too much on my teams and 2) I hated doing the late night calls (after dinner in Europe or Asia). Maybe I’m a bad leader, I am not a poster child for work life balance. I haven’t met any leader that is.
Some people may say this is crazy and I’m not looking for anyone to say I’m a martyr. Again, this is all by choice. I am very fortunate to be able to afford to travel around the world first class and stay in 5star resorts and boutique hotels. If that means I have to be on calls or review something on my iPad I’m perfectly fine with it. Yes, I’m that guy at the hotel who is on calls at the pool. Everything in life is a choice. I’ll take a “proper vacation” when I retire.
Mentor
For sure. To each his own! I just objected to the comment that good leaders can’t demonstrate work life balance.