The vanishing vacation

A recent Associated Press- Ipsos poll found that 80 per cent of people bring their cell phone on vacation, and about one in five said they bring their laptop and do work. Other studies have pegged these numbers even higher.

For instance, a U.S. survey of advertising executives found that only 13 per cent said they "never" check in with their offices while on vacation – and nearly half (47 per cent) said they check in at least once daily. And small business owners fare even worse when it comes to leaving the office behind: 75 per cent said they checked in at their workplace at least once daily, according to a poll by American express.

It seems to be the new non-holiday. With electronic gear such as BlackBerries, laptops and cell phones acting as portable offices, people are staying connected to work more – and unwinding less – during their precious vacation time.

The vanishing vacation: obligation or desire?
Why this need to stay connected? Why spend our “off-time” with glowing laptops and buzzing BlackBerries? Perhaps, at least partially, it's because we can.

In the Associated Press poll, the reasons given for performing work-related tasks such as checking voice mail messages and responding to emails included an expectation that they would be available. Some said they worried about missing important information.

Yet some worker-vacationers said they actually enjoyed staying involved, according to analysts.

When it came to personal emails, voice mails or other messages, people under 40 were most likely to stay in touch. But for work-related messages, it was the slightly older people who reached for the laptop rather than the suntan oil – possibly because of the greater work responsibilities that can come with age.