We are closing in on the end of Season 3 of the Indie Business Podcast. Our theme, Makers On Main Street, is one of the most fun topics I have covered since I began podcasting in 2005. It's thrillling to draw out the stories of Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs who own and manage retail stores across the nation. Retail store ownership is not for everyone, but if you're considering opening a store, Season 3 of the Indie Business Podcast is like a semester course on the topic.
I would normally release a new episode today, but I am not. Here is why.
I am on Vacation
As an lifestyle entrepreneur, my personal life and my professional life are often one in the same. This work-life merger has resulted in two types of vacations for me: partial vacations and partial vacations.
(I have sometimes called them Indiecations.)
The first type of Indiecation is when I am traveling primarily for business reasons. A great example is my annual #IndieCruise, an exotic island Mastermind retreat with other creative entrepreneurs. It's a vacation because of the destination of course, but also because I get to combine a retreat with amazing women with the topic in the world I am most interested in personally: entrepreneurship. It's connected to me personally and professionally, which is why it's an Indiecation.
The second type of Indiecation is when I am traveling primarily for personal reasons. This week, I am visiting my family in Washington, DC. I did not record a new podcast episode in advance, and I did not bring my professional microphone with me. Rather than subject you to poor audio and a hastily produced podcast, I decided to skip a week so I could have more fun time with my family. It's a family vacation, but since I am sitting here blogging for a small part of it, it's something less than a total escape from the business.
Being on Indication does not excuse me from blogging in our Blog Your Brand 30-day Challenge, even when I don't feel like it. I usually have blog posts cued up t publish in advance when I know I'll be away, but I didn't do that this time. As I finalize this post, my family is staring at me with those “all-you-do-is-work” eyes (in a good-natured kind of way), and they are ready to go. They understand how much my work means to me, and they even understand that it's not really work! (Yes, I have trained them well.)
One day, I'll take a vacation from every single thing that has anything remotely to do with the Indie Business Network. That will be an interesting day. And it's not today.
Question
How do you take vacations? Do you separate them entirely from your life? Or are your vacations more like mine, a kind of hybrid of personal with some business thrown in because you like it? I'd love to hear your business-personal-vacation stories. Please do share thoughts and experiences in the comments below, or share on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
