Anyone else suffer vacation guilt?

Crazy, I know but I always suffer guilt at leaving for vacation.

I'm a dedicated employee, perfect attendance, work hard, so why do I do this to myself?

Love my trips once I set sail, but the build up is quite stressful.

I never have work related guilt, but leaving my 11 yr old Golden Retriever is always difficult, even though she's with good friends. That face as I walk out their door stays with me, at least until that first pina colada :)

I totally get this! I feel the same way. Nobody at work really makes me feel this way either, it's self-imposed. I also feel pangs when I think about other things that I could have done with the money (charitable donations and other humanitarian acts). Not to say we don't give to those as well, but I still get a bit of guilt.

Now mind you, it's not enough to not go...;) I have to remind myself of the importance of vacation. It really is important to get away from work. It makes you a better family member and employee.

I understand! I used to be the one on my blackberry at sailaway while the rest of the ship was watching the gorgeous scenery leaving the port.

What changed:

1. Time with my family isn't anything I can get back later. Enjoy it.

2. Time off actually makes me more productive when I return.

3. Work just isn't that important in the scheme of things. Life is.

Don't feel guilty. You absolutely deserve this vacation.

Crazy, I know but I always suffer guilt at leaving for vacation.

I'm a dedicated employee, perfect attendance, work hard, so why do I do this to myself?

Love my trips once I set sail, but the build up is quite stressful.

Not 1 little bit, I work for my vacations, they are my reason to keep on working lol Carol

I never have work related guilt, but leaving my 11 yr old Golden Retriever is always difficult, even though she's with good friends. That face as I walk out their door stays with me, at least until that first pina colada :)

This is the hardest for us too - leaving our animals! :(.

Although I usually take my laptop so I can work too. But I did not take it with me on my last vacation, and it isn't going on the cruise either :)

The only guilt I feel is having to put my dog in the kennel while I'm gone !! To be able to shut down, leave work, and turn off the cell phone for a week or two is well worth the mental shut down !!!

I feel guilty too. I think I feel guilty about the time off but also the holiday destination. Some people say 'Are you going on another cruise?'.

Once I am on the boat I forget all about it. I work to holiday :D

I feel guilty too. I think I feel guilty about the time off but also the holiday destination. Some people say 'Are you going on another cruise?'.

 

Once I am on the boat I forget all about it. I work to holiday :D

People do that to me as well, and I think trying to make me feel guilty- so I reply very enthusiastically- YES I AM!

I observe the people who work around me- while they don't seem to take a lot of time off, getting things done on time also doesn't seem to be as much of a priority it is to me. So I get my work DONE as much as I can, and do not look back as soon as I'm out the door.

(FWIW, we've been going on vacation to great destinations for our entire marriage, but mostly since one of our parents live there, so I'm used to the "Ooohhh, you are going there for Christmas? How exotic" line. Parents have to live somewhre....

Sorry babe, I can't relate with you on this one at all. I work hard so I play harder. Normally by the time I get around to taking vacation it is long overdue and much deserved.

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Nope, not at all.

:)

I will add though I don't feel guilty, it is hard to "disconnect" sometimes and actually put down the blackberry and iPad. So I have been guilty of working while on vacation, but it's more of a staying ahead of the game and on top of emails for me.

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Work related guilt? Never.

Guilt from seeing the poverty in some of the ports we visit while I'm on an all-you-can eat pleasure cruise? Sometimes.

I feel guilty too. I think I feel guilty about the time off but also the holiday destination. Some people say 'Are you going on another cruise?'.

 

Once I am on the boat I forget all about it. I work to holiday :D

This is the comment I get from people at work. Some of it may be jealously, but there are plenty of people around the office that just love to make snarky remarks about everything others do.

We are at the stage in our lives where our children are grown and we are close to retirement (so a bit more travel income).

Now when I get asked if I'm going on another cruise, I just smile and say "yep, we are making sweet memories"......:D

Yes, I feel guilty!

I believe it has to do with having a Type A personality, is everything in order, have I covered all my bases or will anything go worng while I'm away.

It is tough to leave my animals even with a petsitter living in my home for the week. My children are adults but still my children and I miss them dearly. Work related issues, I do the best I can then close the door and leave work behind.

I have really been concentrating on living in the moment, it is a work in progress but I do see progress.

So, OP, you are not alone!

I do worry that things might pile up or and up leaving me behind when I return... but as many others said my biggest guilty is taking my fuzzy girls to 'camp'.

BTW... it touches my heart and makes me send out the major love to all my Cruise Critic fellow posters who feel this way too. You're good peeps!

"A righteous man regards the life of his animal." Proverbs 12:10

Judy

I never get work guilt. I've seen companies layoff enough people to understand that one person gone for a week isn't going to ruin the company. Even when my wife and I do land vacations we turn off our work e-mail and many times turn off our cell phones completely. It also helps that lately we have either cruised or gone to a national park for vacation, so we can always use the "no service" excuse.

I do feel guilty around family/friends, though. My wife and I are both engineers, so combined we make more money than all of our close friends and family and we used to work for an airline so we would fly all over the place on a whim. Our vacation budget isn't actually that high, we just do a lot by looking for deals and staying in average hotels. We have gotten to the point that we only really talk about our vacations with each other, unless people ask something specific.

Totally get this too. It started years ago with my mom. She hated when I was away and it made me feel horrible leaving her. She was too ill to travel with us. She has since passed away and now leaving my dog makes me feel bad. I know she's more than ok with her petsitter but like some have said; that little face. BTW, the dog was my mom's and I adopted her after my passed away. Maybe they are related guilts, you think? :rolleyes: I usually start to get stressed about 2 weeks out. Once on board, I usually feel better. So can totally relate. As far as work, the job had before this one I took my Blackberry and would check emails, doing work while sitting on my lounge chair. No more of that for me on vacation. I leave work behind and don't worry. Happy Cruising!

I worked over 37 years for the same place in the Information Systems of a local school board. I would go in 30 to 45 minutes early just in case one of our schools would call to let know their computer system was down and needed me to help bring it back up. Many times I worked through my lunch hour when the director, supervisors and programmers would go to lunch so someone was there to answer the phones. Then by the time they came back I just felt like it was too late for me to go to lunch so I didn't leave. I never received any form of compt; time off or over times. I was told that it was my job so I did it.

So NO when it came time for me to leave on vacation I would leave and never gave my office a second thought until it was time to walk through the front door again.

The day I retired was the best day of my working career. It was then that I learn the true meaning of the word "Retirement". Retirement is when you stop living to work and you start working to live.

Crazy, I know but I always suffer guilt at leaving for vacation.

I'm a dedicated employee, perfect attendance, work hard, so why do I do this to myself?

Love my trips once I set sail, but the build up is quite stressful.

Man I hear ya!

I work in the public services department of a library. We have a small staff in our department but are responsible for being the "face" of the library. This includes covering the front desk, the main phone line, monitoring the fax machine for the library, filling article requests for our patrons and filling ILL requests from other libraries. And I am a librarian, so I am also responsible for fielding reference questions too. All of these items can come in at the spur of the moment, plus the library is open until 9pm each weeknight and we are open on the weekends.

The librarians get a fair amount of vacation, but we can never seem to take it in bulk. I put in for my vacation time during the first week of January. My time was approved, but as my sail date approaches, I am given grief (subtly) about not being here for a week! I'm getting the "any volunteers for working X night since SOMEONE won't be here for a whole week?" :rolleyes:

And I also try to maintain my privacy at work. So I don't like to make a big deal that I'll be on a cruise. But I will have my supervisor ask if I'm going anywhere during that week...if I could work that weekend/weeknight. I respond, "No! I won't even be in the country!" =o)

So I am trying to get excited and enjoy my once a year week off from work, but it is difficult when I keep getting grief from people I work with.

The only thing I feel guilty about is leaving our doggy behind but to be honest he has a 'holiday' as well as he stays with neighbours who he adores during the day and then is spoilt by my daughter during the night so he has the best of both worlds.

Only when my mother was ill did I felt bad going away.

Now…I have no guilt at all. We work hard, and like to treat ourselves to vacations. Life is too short to postpone those trips to places on your bucket list.

If others wanted to travel they could. It might take a couple of years to save up for a trip and find a good time in the year, but they could still do it.

I never get work guilt. I've seen companies layoff enough people to understand that one person gone for a week isn't going to ruin the company. Even when my wife and I do land vacations we turn off our work e-mail and many times turn off our cell phones completely. It also helps that lately we have either cruised or gone to a national park for vacation, so we can always use the "no service" excuse.

 

I do feel guilty around family/friends, though. My wife and I are both engineers, so combined we make more money than all of our close friends and family and we used to work for an airline so we would fly all over the place on a whim. Our vacation budget isn't actually that high, we just do a lot by looking for deals and staying in average hotels. We have gotten to the point that we only really talk about our vacations with each other, unless people ask something specific.

This is me! I'm a stay at home mom so I never really get a vacation unless we leave the kids at home. But since the kids are usually with us and we're making wonderful memories as a family, I'll gladly take it! The furry one is a whole different ball game. If I could take her, I would. I know she's well cared for though and she has fun at the "Puppy Hotel" or with her pet sitter. We'll be gone for 2 weeks this time (never done that before) and DH is already stressing about work issues - emails, projects etc. I've had to compromise and get hotels that offer wi-fi so he can at least check emails while we are on the land portion of our Alaska trip.

As for my sisters, yep the guilt is there - moreso with one than the other. I know that's horrible to say, but while they both work really hard, one tends to watch where/how she spends her money and saves for trips she has on the horizon and the other just spends it as fast as she can make it regardless of what may be coming down the pike. I try not to talk about our trips with the "spend it while you have it" sister as she typically thinks we're trying to rub it in her face. The other one is happy that we can do the things we do. We're not usually extravagant on our vacations tending to use Frequent Flier miles and hotel points, but I haven't found a way to do that with cruises (yet)!:)

Crazy, I know but I always suffer guilt at leaving for vacation.

I'm a dedicated employee, perfect attendance, work hard, so why do I do this to myself?

Love my trips once I set sail, but the build up is quite stressful.

None what-so-ever. Vacations with family have always been a priority. I work to provide for my family so we can do things like this together. I do always make sure that I schedule vacations during the last 2 weeks of the month so I can get month-end close completed, reports done, and meetings over before I leave and I never schedule in January or February during Year End Close and Audits. That is my concession to work so I can leave without any guilt over work not getting done.

Crazy, I know but I always suffer guilt at leaving for vacation.

I'm a dedicated employee, perfect attendance, work hard, so why do I do this to myself?

Love my trips once I set sail, but the build up is quite stressful.

Sounds like Stockholm syndrome - identifying yourself with your employer.