Incommunicado Adventures

Explore what brings you joy!

Hopefully from the thought-provoking questions present in previous articles you now have even more reasons to take and encourage vacations. (“Vacations: It's Time to Get Away” and “Trust & Empower Employees Through Your Vacations”)

If you still have doubts about whether you can afford to take time off, consider the incommunicado adventure.

What is an “incommunicado adventure” you ask? A vacation that includes the necessary elements to ensure a state of incommunicado: not able, wanting, or allowed to communicate with others.

In a nutshell, the three elements of an incommunicado adventure are:

• 1. Not able: In order to be “unable” to communicate, think of situations where there is poor cell coverage, for example near the ocean, on a mountain, in the countryside, overseas, and other remote areas.


• 2. Not wanting: Ideally, all vacations have an element of having so much fun that you lose track of time and completely forget about checking in with the office. You are fully present on your vacation, enjoying yourself, and trusting your team to take care of business while you are away. “Hakuna matata” a phrase in the East African language of Swahili that literally means “no trouble”, “no worries”, and “take it easy” comes to mind.


• 3. Not allowed: For safety reasons, perhaps while you are navigating the Class IV-V Youghiogheny River or skiing the slopes of Aspen, you are not allowed to make a phone call, text, post, or check your email. Shucks!

Jam-packed Itineraries: Adventurers are the work hard, play hard type. Your schedule on vacation will be just as packed as your schedule at work. Instead of back-to-back meetings, there will be full days of travel itineraries: all-day whitewater rafting, strenuous hikes, skiing, bike rides followed by a winery tour, wine tasting, and the art of ravioli cooking class, and so on. This jammed pack schedule will naturally be a deterrent for colleagues to try to reach you during your time off and will conversely make it almost impossible for you to check in throughout the day.




Hands-on Activities: Within your jam-packed itinerary, you’ll also want to include hands-on activities which require your full attention. Opportunities where the very nature of the location and/or activities challenge you – physically and mentally. Ah ha, now you see the brilliance in this approach to combat guilt as well as stay focused on the people around and activities at hand. You simply can’t safely free climb El Capitan if your attention wanders to your email queue. You’ll burn the soufflé if you are distracted talking with clients. It’s rude to use your cell while wandering through a serene museum. In other words, the consequences of shifting your attention from your vacation activity to your work are too great and will not be logical decisions. This perspective will help free your mind from any guilt you may carry from being away from the office.





Off-the-Beaten Path: Another advantage of adventurous vacations is that often cellular service is spotty in remote locations and/or not practical for strenuous activities or water sports - thereby forcing leaders to unplug and disconnect from work. This provides you with a built-in excuse for not checking in with the office throughout your vacation.




Prix Fixe Packages: Prepaying for a vacation locks in specific dates. Taking this a step further, the decision to set fixed weeks each year for vacation is another great way to commit your calendar to preserve this sacred time. Many people schedule their vacations around their children’s school breaks – holidays, spring break, summer vacations, and ad hoc administrative days. Colleagues tend not to argue with parents wanting to preserve time with their kiddos.

Whether you have children or not, prix fixe vacations offer conveniences to help you remain incommunicado. Cruise ships often book one to two years in advance as do other popular destinations and tour packages. Some timeshare purchases offer fixed annual weeks which create predictability. In other words, every mid-July you have one week reserved for you at a specific resort. Since you know the exact dates for every year into the future, this is a great option for successfully pulling off annual family reunions, creating a lasting family legacy of togetherness. Get your vacation on the calendar now, for as far out into the future as you need in order to create this habit.

So, what other options exist with built-in excuses for staying unplugged and allowing yourself to really relax?

There is of course, the obvious built-in excuse, which is simply to allow yourself a true vacation. You’re entitled to time off. You’ve earned it. You deserve it! Give yourself permission to decompress, recharge, immerse in the experience, and be present for your loved ones, traveling companions, and frankly, for yourself. Yes, work will be there when you return. There may even be larger piles than what you left behind, but you can’t approach that work with your full energy if you haven’t allowed yourself to build back up to your fully energized self. So, take a deep breath, set this as a personal goal, and go for it!

• • What and/or who brings you great joy?


• • What/who energizes you?


• • What/who brings out your authentic self?


• • Where do you get lost in the moment [and not pulled toward work]?


• • What’s on your bucket list?


• • Outside of a professional context, what is something you’ve always wanted to learn how to do?


• • What requires your full attention, or you won’t be successful?

Here are a few ideas that come to mind:

• • Challenge yourself mentally and physically to draw your attention to the task at hand versus allowing your mind to wander back to work


• • Exercise is a great option as it has these benefits for many people – and more.


• • Learn something new that takes great concentration. You can teach yourself, join a group, and/or hire an instructor, guide, expert.


• • If you are looking for an athletic adventure, you might try hiking local trails, surfing, biking, skiing, hang gliding, whitewater rafting, camping, and drawing inspiration from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Paralympic Games, and Special Olympics.


• • If you are musically inclined, learn a complex song, play a new instrument, or join a choir or band.


• • If you are a knowledge seeker, museums and guided tours are great resources where you are expected to pay close attention to the sights, not make noise, and listen to the tour guide.


• • If you are altruistic, consider volunteering. Your generous heart, mind, and talents can be used to support many local and/or global charities and causes.

Whatever you choose for your next adventure, make sure that it feeds your soul and helps you unwind, recharge, and return fully energized.

If you still need an excuse, sometimes simply venturing into the countryside may result in spotty or unreliable cellular and internet services. Certainly, traveling to a foreign country can do the same and/or impose costly roaming charges that you may consider cost prohibitive. Even if you have wealth, you can still be thrifty. Most people appreciate financial responsibility as “a penny saved is a penny earned.”

It’s ok to take baby steps and ease your way into a full 2-week vacation. Yes, you read correctly, 2 full weeks off. Indulge! It takes a few days to unwind before you really start enjoying yourself. We’ll talk more about this benefit in the next post.

Start planning your guilt-free incommunicado adventure today!

Check out these articles:

“Vacations: It's Time to Get Away”

“Trust & Empower Employees Through Your Vacations”

“Goldilocks & the 2-Week Recovery Period – Just Right!”

“You’ve never lived this day before, and you never will again. Make the most of it!”
- Unknown

Thank you for reading! I am an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) specializing in Performance Coaching for Senior Executives, Flag Officers, and STEM professionals, and mental fitness for all. Don’t miss out on information and techniques that can take you to the next level. Schedule your one-on-one coaching here!

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