I’m not even sure what that term means anymore. For me it means an escape from the daily routine and an opportunity to engage in real thoughtful dialogue and spend hours writing one of my projects. Once upon a time I thought vacation was about beaches and semi-nude women. There’s something to be said for that, but I’m more interested in having a chance to own my writing; to really explore the worlds that exist in my mind and seek a permanent home on the page.
Every year my office provides $3000-3500 in travel and registration monies to help us become better at our job. It reminds me of something Daniel Pink talked about in Drive when explaining the 20% solution. I’m paraphrasing here, but the idea was that people who get up to 20% of work time to pursue their own projects tend to be better workers, especially in ROWE (results only work environments). Likewise, the opportunity to travel and to grow my understanding of teaching and learning serves as a catalyst for better classes as well as making me a more productive member of the job force. That second part is a result of being able to step away from routine, because I find that routine is deeply destructive to the creative mind. The more I drowned in the seas of routine, the further I drifted from the shores of creativity.
I haven’t had a vacation in 11 months. There were many opportunities, but I couldn’t take advantage of any. I’ll be using that full allotment in the coming year and bringing a fresh burst of knowledge and creativity to my campus.
That all starts tomorrow.