Vacation Planning

This next month the family is planning a vacation trip to the mountains. The destination is the in-laws, and the kids are excited. As I've contemplated the lengthy drive, I've been feverishly scanning the web for data on gas prices along the way. Given the poor fuel economy of my bride's mini-van, my calculations has us spending roughly $400 on petro round trip. Staggering is it. My dad called me today and offered his vehicle for the trip, which gets at least 5 miles per gallon better than the "grocery getter" as my sister would refer to it. The question I struggled with was compromising fuel economy for space for the family to spread out. Given the duration of the trip, I opted for the space.

As I placed the vacation notice on the calendaring system at the office, I received a couple of inquiries whether I'd have access to email while I was away. The job has several significant projects in the pipeline, and often my consultation is requested. So I quickly evaluated the cellular coverage at the vacation destination to determine whether I could pull email from the crackberry often attached to my hip. As I surveyed the pixelated coverage map, it occurred to me that if I was checking email, would I really be vacationing. The last time I took the family to the mountains, I was sitting by a private pond when my treo rang. It was the office with a project crisis. For the next fifteen minutes I listened to the complaints being transmitted, and finally offered the observation that I was fishing and couldn't do anything but request the team figure it out. So even if I could receive emails on the crackberry, I'm not certain I should. I should leave the stupid thing at home, however it's my primary cell phone as well.

I hope that I spend more time fishing than responding to emails or gassing up the minivan on this vacation.