Thursday April 17 8:39 AM
Vacations are a necessary part of our existence. Back when our people hunted and gathered on the steppes of Africa, they knew that two weeks of every year should be spent in Florida. And now with modern technology, we can finally achieve that goal. Taking time out for vacation is hard. It almost makes one want to just stay home. I've always heard that you should leave the laptop home so that you don't end up ruining your vacation by checking your email and discovering that your client needs changes by Monday.

The idea is that you won't be able to do anything but worry until Monday, so why ruin your vacation with things you can't control? I've also heard people use this as an excuse not to read email in the morning.

I think that these people are wrong. I'll bring my laptop on vacation and check my email, but for opposite reasons: it makes me feel good to know exactly what it is that I've left behind. Not that I don't like my job; I love what I do. But vacation is a time to explore and see new things, relax by the ocean with a bottle of stinky imported Mexican beer and chuck your cell phone into the water. How can you really enjoy that if you leave your laptop at home?

I'm just worried that I'll be tempted to chuck the laptop into the water, or use it as a frisbee or something. Stinky Mexican beer will do that to you.