August 29, 2024

I was just washing baking sheets (or pans?) and it immediately reminded me of washing them when I bake cookies. It’s almost baking-cookies season. I’ll make loads of them for Christmas, likely starting no later than early November, but this year, I’ve got a couple other occasions to make them for, and I’m looking forward to it. 

Cookie-making season means it’s fall. Up until today, up until I was washing the baking sheets, I was ignoring the fact that summer is almost over. But washing those baking sheets has me ready.

Or are they baking pans?

We’re actually at the beach right now as I type this. I shouldn’t have brought my laptop on vacation, or at least that’s what I’ve been telling myself for years. During the earlier years of my business, I was taking the laptop, editing pictures and putting myself under a little bit of pressure to get work done, take calls, and make bookings even while on vacation.

But then I told myself it wasn’t allowed. I started leaving my laptop at home. So for a while now, I’ve done zero work while on vacation. And it’s really an amazing thing…to totally unplug from work. No email, no photo-editing, no social media-sharing, no mental load of things needing to get done.

Okay, maybe a little bit of mental load because I can’t help but think of all the things I should be doing for work while I’m not doing them, ha!

It was a personal boundary I set for myself and I was a big believer that no one should be working on vacation. And for the most part, I still believe the same. People, go on vacation and DO NOT DO WORK! Like I said, it’s an amazing thing!

I meet so many vacationers at the lake in summer and so many of them are working on vacation. They are making work calls, tuning into Zoom meetings, some are even leaving and coming back in their one-week vacations to keep work moving.

While I still want to yell at these people and say DO NOT WORK ON VACATION, my friend Terah made me realize something recently when she was on vacation. 

I was texting her one morning during her family of four’s long weekend away and she mentioned she was working on her laptop. I told her NO, she shouldn’t be working on vacation, but she simply explained that that was worked for her and her husband. They get up in the morning, have some coffee and quiet time, and work on their laptops. It doesn’t stress them out, they don’t feel like they shouldn’t be doing it. It’s just something they enjoy doing on vacation to start their day.

Working on vacation, not working on vacation…it looks different for everyone. I didn’t NEED to bring my laptop on vacation and do work, but if Terah can enjoy it, so can I. Because I do enjoy my work. I enjoy emailing my clients and editing their photos. When I have downtime, anytime, I think “Hey, I could be doing some work right now!” Not because it’s a burden, but because I want to do it…I enjoy doing it. 

So if you enjoy your work, if you find it relaxing and simple to do while on vacation, go for it. I gave it another try this time and it’s worked well. I’ve delivered some finished galleries, put together a photo timeline for a September wedding, shared a couple of sneak peeks…and in doing so, I haven’t been stressed about it, or have I felt badly about it. I’ve done a little work here and there, in the morning while drinking coffee, in the afternoon while the kids rest up before sand + ocean round two. 

All clients that are expecting something soon from me were made aware I was going to be on vacation and that I would only be doing SOME work. But they were also made aware that my communication would be slim and that if they didn’t hear from me, they’ll hear from me next week. 

And next week is back to school. Back to school means my quiet, solo days return. Back to school means that by 8:30 every weekday morning, I’ll be sitting at my laptop, drinking coffee, excitedly putting together a sneak peek or scheduling some social media posts. It’ll be quiet, I’ll be alone, and I’ll be enjoying working.

Now, just a photo from a colorful, sweet morning family session in June. The Deep Creek visiting and vacationing families have kept me busy for another summer…