As I end my vacation I thought I would share some thoughts.

• It’s important to take vacation. Take a rest – at home or away. Step away from work and “life” whatever that means to you. For me it was nice to be away from home. Arizona offers a far different terrain than urban living on east coast. It was good to be in the mountains – Sedona, Flagstaff and Tucson. In some cases your employer may have a use or lose it PTO policy – USE it you earned it and work will be there when you get back.
• Not walking da dawg – sleeping in is as important as vacation. And with a dog to walk that doesn’t happen often. Vacation is my opportunity to enjoy my time in bed as long as I would like. And peace of mind that DuPont’s in good hands.
• Do something different – I always include cooking and/or spa in my vacations. In the land of resorts, I took advantage of spa specials off season. This vacation allowed me the opportunity to try aerial yoga! Highly recommended. Think yoga in the Cirque silks and easier than you may think. And an inversion hanging in the silk is a wonderful experience – let alone just lying in a cocoon of silk.
• See what’s there – Taiesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s western home and school is in Scottdale. What was once a remote location is now surrounded by houses and electric lines. But worth seeing. The desert and mountains to and from Sedona and Flagstaff are amazing.
• Exercise – enjoy what’s available – hiking and swimming two things I don’t do at home. Close by and easy.
• Checking in – So while you can unplugged, I’m a fan of at least checking email a couple times. For me it defeats the purpose of vacation to return to blazing fires and an email box so full it takes a day to catch up. But it’s on my time (zone) whenever it works for me and for a very short time. I use my out of office message liberally!
• Get stuff done – I am updating my apartment. So I took advantage of having a car and did all the checking, looking, ordering and touching I needed to do at West Elm, Container Store, Home Depot, Ikea etc. All done!

What’s your vacation plan?