Teachers and students may be the only groups of individuals who can rely on specific weeks to take time off. The rest of us have to carve out vacation time when we can get it and be brave enough to actually try and shut everything down in order to relax and refresh. This isn’t easy to do especially if you own your own business or are a freelancer. Taking time off for those of us in real estate can be especially daunting because we may miss out on work by being out of town. But I do think it’s important to try to step away from the phones, computers and texts every once in awhile- to get back in touch with the pure art of total relaxation. I’m lucky in that I’m able to do this every so often thanks to a superb support staff that keeps the train moving even when I’m away. If it wasn’t for them, I would be a nervous wreck and probably not be able to stop fielding calls and answering emails even while pretending to relax.
My family and I were blessed with spending a few days on the Big Island of Hawaii over spring break. We are big fans of the Mauna Kea hotel over on the North Shore. There’s truly no place else like it in the world. The architecture of the hotel is totally unique and it sits on what is arguably the nicest beach on the entire island. The water is warm and crystal clear with barely any rocks to get in the way of wading out and taking in a few waves. This is the type of place where you never have reason to visit the swimming pool because the beach is so spectacular. And, after all, nothing really says ‘Hawaii’ better than a nice beach, tropical air and swaying palm trees.
Luckily, our boys are at an age now where we can actually enjoy a vacation together. I remember the first time we took our now 6 year old to Hawaii. He was one at the time and my wife and I took turns pushing him in his stroller up and down the streets of Honolulu from 3am to 6am every morning. He was awake and raring to go. It was like being paradise-adjacent. It was pretty awful. But now, that same boy has learned to rise at a reasonable hour, has become a master boogie boarder, and actually spent some time lounging on a beach chair, book in one hand and a virgin pina colada in the other. My wife and I would see other families with babies and give each other that look that says: remember when that was us? And hooray that now it’s not?! It was like we could finally take a relaxing vacation and actually relax.
I hope you, too, could carve out some down time this spring break and unplug a bit. Did I want to come home from Hawaii and jump right back into the wheelings and dealings of residential real estate? Um, no. I could’ve used another few weeks of rest and relaxation to gear up for the busy quarter ahead. But I’m glad we got the few days that we had and I wish we could do it more often.
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