I was at the beautiful state of Vermont twice in a span of a couple of weeks between late May and early June. I wrote already about my trip to Middlebury, VT in my last post. I had to go to Stowe, VT to the Trapp Family Lodge for a NERCOMP Board retreat. It is a sheer coincidence that last year, the NERCOMP retreat preceded the Wellesley senior staff retreat was in Ogunquit in Maine, actually in the same place! The NERCOMP retreat was fun and very productive this year where we engaged in “World Cafe” type of conversations. I feel that this whole idea could have been condensed in the book to 25 pages with the rest of the “stories” made optional. The idea is great and something we are trying to follow at LTS already – have conversations that go beyond the managerial hierarchy so that everyone has a chance to speak up and provide ideas for the organization to grow. The specifics  outlined in the book – small round tables covered by white paper and crayons for participants to write on, a flower vase in the center etc. – seem a little silly, but can be important. I encourage you all to watch this seven principles of world cafe. It is a condensed version that captures the essentials.

My wife and I left on our “vacation” to Singapore and Thailand in early June for a couple of weeks. I was really excited about the trip because we have heard a lot about both of these countries and have never been there. So, what exactly is a vacation?

There have been so much written about the work life balance and how it has become next to impossible to separate the two because of ubiquitous connectivity and the demands (sometimes self-imposed) of the work place. There are several people who I know who manage this very well in that when they go on a vacation, they really make the clear separation and enjoy the vacation. Then there are those who feel that their vacation is spoiled by the very thought of pending work. I think most are in between who find it very hard to separate the two, so they mix it up to suit their level of comfort.

I must confess that I do some work while on vacation. But, I also respect that when one goes on vacation there should not be any expectation that this person should be worried about work. There is always a caveat. No matter how hard we all try, there are still things that are person dependent and unfortunately, in the rare circumstance that something goes wrong, we have no choice but to reach out to the person on vacation. For eg. if there are some nitty gritty details about registration that only one staff member is aware of and that person is on vacation when the registration is going on and there is a problem! The rest of the staff who are knowledgeable about the registration are unable to solve the problem, at which point we will have no choice but to call on that person.

Of course, we put in safeguards to make sure that these subject matter experts are not on vacation at critical times. However, the most important thing we are working towards is redundancy – make sure that the subject matter expertise is spread well enough amongst the staff that this does not become an issue and that if you are on vacation, you can enjoy it without the worries of being called on. This is not easy when we have limited resources, but I have been relentless about preaching this. Unfortunately we can’t have it both ways – that we develop such specific expertise and have the work/life balance that one expects. The fact that the subject matter expertise is shared amongst others is in no way minimizing the importance of a single individual, but seen from the organizational or institutional perspective, this is critically important.

I have found that it has been much easier for us to simply sign up for the World Traveler option from AT&T when we travel abroad. Until recently, I used to go to the country abroad and get a local SIM card etc. etc. I spend valuable time doing this because even if we converse in English, the terminologies are so different and the person at the other end assumes that we all understand the local mobile phone terminologies. If I add up all the costs, the difference is minimal. We want to be reachable by the family when we are traveling abroad, so this is critical for us. While at it, for a bit more, we can also get the data roaming plan. Frankly, our communication back home is predominantly in the data space (text & email) and very rarely using the phone, which, even with this option, is not cheap. When I needed to use phone, I simply used Google Voice!

The first time I tried this option, I was mad like hell. The total data that I thought I was using, which I measured using an app on my phone, was vastly different from what AT&T charged me for. Digging deeper, I found out that when I am connected to the WiFi at the hotel or other locations (such as Museums), if I don’t turn the Data Roaming off, then the data transfers are counted towards AT&T. I successfully demonstrated this during this recent trip and after getting back, I was able to drastically reduce the plan that I had signed up and receive credit. It was a pain to remember to switch data roaming on and off, but well worth it. I wish there is an app for that!

As I mentioned earlier, I do not mind at all checking on my email while walking on the beach or at the hotel. I may not be responding to emails at the same rate or as quickly as I do when I am at work, but I try to do a reasonable job. I actually edited a program one morning in response to a request. Could I have passed this on to someone else? Of course. Could this have waited until I got back, of course! But I was up early, enjoying the beautiful view of the river Chao Phraya in Bangkok, sipping a cup of coffee – I did not mind doing that. It was purely a personal choice 🙂

We had a fantastic time during our first trip east of India. The smells and the fruits (such as Mangosteen and Rambutan) reminded me of my childhood in Sri Lanka. The people of Thailand are so friendly no matter where we went, it was very safe both in Singapore and Thailand and of course, the weather was beautiful. The breakfast spread was so huge and I pigged on it so much that one day I skipped even dinner and other days I skipped lunch altogether. Now it is time to fast!

Enjoy your vacation. It is yours and customize it to suit how you want it!

If you are interested, here are some links that I posted.

Buddhist Chant at the Buddha Tooth and Relic Temple and Museum in Singapore

Phuket Beach outside Dusit Thani Laguna Resort

Street Scene in Bangkok

Singapore Botanical Garden