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Headed to HHI

MOXJO7282

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Renting 3 units this week on HHI and one renter although the resort is open has decided not to make the trip for a Saturday check-in at the GO. I've decided to head down there after checking airfare and car rentals and finding them ridiculously low ($175 air/250 luxury car). I told the renter I'll give him a deal at cost next time because if i'm using I should give him some credit but overall I'm excited about the surprise trip.

I didn't take off work but luckily I work remotely so I'll be working 9-5 and wife, her mom and sister will enjoy a week at the Grande Ocean and I'll enjoy working on the ocean. I just turned 55 and now that kids are on their own I really want to do more of this as we rent our units less and use them more.
 

SueDonJ

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I call this the technology tether.

I call it the reason we've been able to travel despite Don's responsibilities to his partners.

I know for some people vacation just isn't vacation without a complete blackout of any work-related thinking but that hasn't been our life for the last twenty-odd years. If it were the life we wanted, both of us would have had to make completely different decisions about employment. Don wouldn't have been able to commit to being a partner in a firm and I wouldn't have been able to work from home doing what I love while raising our children.

So if over these years you've seen Don at Barony Beach, say, sitting up on the balcony on his phone with the laptop in front of him, I hope you haven't felt badly for him or me. He loves that view, and as soon as his calls were done it took him less than five minutes to join me at the pool or beach. If we'd chosen instead a commitment to non-working vacations only, we never would have gone anywhere.

(This is not a knock on those who chose differently than we did! Life is full of choices and all we can do is try to make the ones that work out best for ourselves. I wouldn't ever presume to say that my way is the right way and everybody else's is wrong. :))
 

MOXJO7282

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I call it the reason we've been able to travel despite Don's responsibilities to his partners.

I know for some people vacation just isn't vacation without a complete blackout of any work-related thinking but that hasn't been our life for the last twenty-odd years. If it were the life we wanted, both of us would have had to make completely different decisions about employment. Don wouldn't have been able to commit to being a partner in a firm and I wouldn't have been able to work from home doing what I love while raising our children.

So if over these years you've seen Don at Barony Beach, say, sitting up on the balcony on his phone with the laptop in front of him, I hope you haven't felt badly for him or me. He loves that view, and as soon as his calls were done it took him less than five minutes to join me at the pool or beach. If we'd chosen instead a commitment to non-working vacations only, we never would have gone anywhere.

(This is not a knock on those who chose differently than we did! Life is full of choices and all we can do is try to make the ones that work out best for ourselves. I wouldn't ever presume to say that my way is the right way and everybody else's is wrong. :))
This is me as well. I'm the only one in my dept with full work at home status, a few have a 3/2 day office/home mix and most work full time in office. I've maintained my work at home status while others have lost it by not being responsible enough. Mixing in a little business on vacation, something I've always have done every trip, maybe 5 hours per week, allows me to keep my major projects going and not get anyone else involved to support me. I'm a senior project leader so if I need support it would be from my VP and by keeping him out of it he appreciates it and let's me do my own thing every day and take these working vacations. I have a truly great working situation with a great boss who knows I'm accountable and deliver at a high level and he allows me to do my own thing.

BTW this trip started off well as we were given a 5th floor OF Starfish. Definitely the best room assignment at the GO in 15 years of owning and one of the best units ever received anywhere.
 

Steve Fatula

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I understand both sides.

When I was not retired and was self employed (computer stuff), I worked on every trip. Being self employed, expensive to truly take off. That being said, I could work anywhere in the world as long as I had internet. The financial loss to truly taking off was simply too high as that meant, no income, and, cost of the trip!

So, I did the next best thing. I worked in wonderful places, Australia, Mexico, wherever. Was it as good as being truly off? No. However, was it better than working at home? By far! If we would have chosen differently, we likely would not have traveled and seen so much. Additionally, I would not be retired today, would have likely had to work quite a few more years, maybe as much as 7 more. So, that tradeoff was worth it.

I would tend to work at nights, when it got dark. So, those hours were not really lost. I would also work in the morning, before the late rising DW was up and ready to go. Rarely, I had to work in between morning and night, but not often. So, I was able to work a full week, yet, still enjoy the sights, sounds, whatever. For you non self employed, a full week is far more than 40 hours for many self employed folks running a business, it can easily reach 100 hours at times and is essentially never 40.

All that being said, I also know of folks who get taken advantage of in their on call duties. So, I understand the sentiment of "technology tether". I won't repeat what I call it as the last time I did on TUG, I got criticized by some for using a term. Of course, their understanding of the definition of the term was wrong, but still. So, I get that side as well, people who literally work at the office AND home, on the phone all hours, etc. I don't envy those folks, often salaried.
 

DeeCee

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Either myself or my husband are lucky enough to be able to work remotely....however :) I have a lot of paid time off and I know how to use it!:banana: My husband, not so much, unfortunately. It does put a damper on vacationing together, but, timesharing helps us make the best of the time he can take. We chose a legacy week, resale a few years ago at Surfwatch, and wow do we love it!
We also have DVC for the last 20 years, and that comes in great for long weekends away. The rest of the time off I get, I spend timesharing with family and friends. No complaints, no regrets, only lucky us to be able to own what we have and use them the best way we can. There's no good way or bad way, there's only the blessing of being able to enjoy time together...with the computer and phone or without! Happy timesharing everyone!
 

Quilter

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I should have said I affectionately call it the technology tether. It's been wonderful how my husband has been able travel and work at the same time. A fair share of pictures with the computer on the patio with the ocean beyond. The remote office.
 

jmhpsu93

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Our daughter heads off to college next year and we anticipate spending some winter weeks somewhere warm with me working remotely. My company has a robust W@H workforce - roughly 20% of our company doesn't go full-time into an office and all of my peers work from home with some travel.

I've done this W@H thing for about 10 years now - it is truly an incredible benefit and I'm grateful to my employer that has not only supported but encouraged it and provided an incredible tech setup at home with dedicated hard-line internet with video and VOIP phone, plus a monitor and printer.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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Our daughter heads off to college next year and we anticipate spending some winter weeks somewhere warm with me working remotely. My company has a robust W@H workforce - roughly 20% of our company doesn't go full-time into an office and all of my peers work from home with some travel.

I've done this W@H thing for about 10 years now - it is truly an incredible benefit and I'm grateful to my employer that has not only supported but encouraged it and provided an incredible tech setup at home with dedicated hard-line internet with video and VOIP phone, plus a monitor and printer.



Yes, and think of the money/time saved on commuting, and monies saved on clothing, meals, laundry, alarm clocks, etc.



.
 

MOXJO7282

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What an enjoyable week we had at the GO. I believe a combination of the effects of the hurricane and it being the slow season made for an incredibly quiet and relaxing experience. We've experienced HHI in mid-August which probably isn't super peak but still very busy. I don't know what the occupancy was last week but there were many times where we were the only ones in pools or on the bike trails. We loved it so much that I booked 2 weeks next year starting Aug 29th.

I also think going in the off-season you get better service from all the support staff who aren't as busy. I also sensed we got better food from restaurants because they aren't trying to pump out food for many more customers. I don't know if this was a misconception but it really did seem that way.

The very best part of the trip was getting my MIL to come on the trip. She is 85 and is starting to get a little unsteady so was reluctant but we got a wheelchair that we used for any long walking scenarios and even used the beach wheelchair that worked great to get her all the way to the ocean. This woman missed out on a lot of our trips because she was so devoted to her husband who was an invalid for many years and she refused to leave his side.

When she saw the GO and our 5th floor oceanfront and then went down to the beach for the first time she was moved to tears she was so overwhelmed how nice it was. And to have her twin daughters with her and then her favorite granddaughter to come mid week she said she had a vacation she will always remember.
 
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