Migratory Dispatch No. 6: A Friendly Reminder to Use Your Vacation Days
Promoting Wellness and Boosting Performance With PTO
By some estimates, from what I read, the state of Maine is 90 percent covered with trees. The old Maine state flag — which is so good it should still be the current state flag, in my opinion — pays homage to this forested landscape:
The closeness you feel to nature, to forests, in Maine makes it an ideal place to vacation and get away from the day-to-day grind. On any hike through the woods here, the air is fragrant with the scents of pines and firs.
The visuals are stunning too. Thick stands of emerald and forest green trees are dissected by babbling brooks and raging rivers. Moose, deer, and the biggest wild turkeys you will ever see graze unflinchingly along the side of the road. American Goldfinches leave vibrant yellow streaks that look like shooting stars in the daytime as they flit from canopy to canopy. Meanwhile, among all the evergreens, enclaves of birch trees stand, the brilliant white barks peeling off the trees like sheets of paper towels.
All this time in the Maine woods is great for disconnecting. Instead of smartphones pinging you at all seconds of the day, the only buzzing capable here is the sound of bumblebees and hummingbirds zipping through the air in search of a quick wildflower meal, of which there are plenty in this short summer country.
Being this close to nature often means being off the grid. So, as my wife and I explored Maine deeper two weeks ago, trekking around Acadia National Park and Katahdin Woods and Waters before crossing the border into Canada for a few days in the equally-wooded territory of New Brunswick, I spent 35 hours of PTO and left the remote office behind for a week.
It was a week that demanded time off from work. Not just to immerse yourself fully in the environment and the experience, but also because there simply is no service in much of this country. Trying to work remotely in some of these locales is a futile effort. A logistical incompatibility.
I hope it stays that way. We need more places like this.
All of this today to remind you to take your vacation time off from work. You earned it and it is a valuable resource. Go somewhere remote or somewhere relaxing. Take more than a week, if you can.
Every year, there are so many stories written about how much PTO American workers squander. This year is no different, even though it is well-documented that the benefits of taking time off from work are profound:
When Ernst & Young studied its own employees, it found that taking 10 hours a month of vacation time was associated with an average 8% boost in annual performance ratings. A separate study of more than 5,000 people published in the Harvard Business Review concluded that those who use more of their vacation days are promoted at almost twice the rate of their counterparts who leave substantial numbers of days on the table.
This excerpt is from a recent story that you can read in its entirety at The Wall Street Journal.
And after you read it, go ahead and submit that PTO request. It’s good for your health and your career.
Follow Along with Felt
Maps stand the test of time when it comes to documenting a journey. It is a natural medium through which to share the experience, as there is such a strong current of geography and place on any trip through the physical world.
To that end, Felt, a collaborative, web-based mapping platform, is being used to catalog our trip this summer. Felt democratizes map-making with an easy-to-start and easy-to-use model that seems well-suited for this type of application.
Follow along on the map here.
The Boondocking Count
One of the goals for the trip this summer is to boondock at least 50 percent of the time. We are going to be away from home for 42 days, so that means we need to boondock at least 21 nights to succeed.
The updated boondocking count through this morning:
Total nights = 38
Total nights boondocking = 29
—
76 percent boondocking