How to Plan for a Long Vacation from Your Freelancing Business
Posted June 3, 2010 in How-To, Lifestyle
My last post was about taking a spur-of-the moment vacation where working was still a necessity.
Most of the time, however, with a little proper planning you can actually take an extended break and enjoy a vacation without having to worry about the work back home.
For example, my wife and I will soon be taking a six-week European vacation as a second honeymoon. My goal on this trip is to enjoy my time off and to work as little as possible.
As you can imagine, taking this much time off from my freelancing business took a lot of planning, preparation and hard work.
In this post, I’ll share the steps I took to plan for my long vacation freelancing. You can use these steps to plan your own vacation.
Six Steps to Help You Plan Your Vacation
Here six steps to help you plan a break from freelancing:
- Wrap up all active projects. If you’re going to be taking more than a few days off, it’s a good idea to wrap up all your current projects. You don’t want your clients wondering about the status of their work or getting frustrated that a project was left half-complete.
- Warn your clients. Starting two to three months before you leave, you should start warning your clients about your upcoming break. They may have a big project for you that they can push ahead or plan around. You don’t want them being surprised when they call with a big project a day or two before you leave, then being disappointed you can’t get to it.
- Plan for work ahead of time. A long break will mean that when you get back to work, you’ll have to hit the ground running to make sure your cash reserves don’t get too low. Have some projects waiting to get started when you get back.
- Plan for emergencies. As a web guy, I unfortunately can never totally cut myself off. Servers sometimes crash, or clients accidentally break something in their CMS that I need to correct. For these types of emergencies, I’m bringing along my netbook. It is not a good enough computer to actually get work done, but it’s good enough for small tasks I’ll need to fix.
- Have a backup person. Hopefully you know of another local freelancer who can help with your business and potential new clients while you’re away. In my case, I’ll be traveling overseas where answering my phone for American clients will cost a couple bucks per minute. I can direct that number to my backup who can handle potential client leads in my absence.
- Try not to worry. Most of us freelancers live to be productive. Most of the time, we’re doing what we love for a living, so it feels strange and foreign to take time off from it. I personally struggle with taking time off from work. But, at the same time, I understand the importance of breaks. It’s been almost two years since I’ve taken more than a few days off in a row, so it is a big goal of mine to not spend any time worrying about work or business.
Of course, six weeks is a pretty long break for a full-time freelancer, but these same rules can be used for shorter, one to two week vacations too.
What About You?
We got some good answers when we asked if you worked on vacation, but for those of you who do take extended periods off, how do you prepare?
Leave your answers in the comments.
Image by http2007
Related posts:
- 15 Tips to Keep Your Freelance Business Going While on Vacation
- Open Thread: Do You Work On Vacation?
- The Seven Deadly Sins of Freelancing Part 3 – Failure To Plan Your Business
- How To Get The Vacation Time That You Sorely Need And Desperately Want
- Your Business Backup Plan — Why You Need One
About the author: Tim Wasson a freelance website design and developer based in Peoria, Illinois. He serves clients large and small through his company, TJ Dub Web Design. You can see his personal site at timwasson.com, or follow him on twitter @timwasson.
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26 Comments
George Passwater
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:44 amWow…six weeks is a long time, but taking time off is soo worth it.
I would have to say the biggest thing would be to have someone as a backup. If you have an issue you get called on and if you can’t get to it, you have that backup waiting in the wings. You never know what could happen, right?
Oh yes…don’t worry when you go away. It is hard to take time off, but sounds like you really need it. Six weeks on a European vacation sounds like the perfect way to get away. One day I want to do the same!
Have a great time on your vacation!
Jordan Walker
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:58 amNo preparations – I am guilty of being a workaholic, it is literally impossible for me to go a day without scheming of some idea to take over the internet universe! Love what I do!
Melek
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 amWow, 6 WEEKS? I can barely make myself take 6 days. Maybe that should be my new goal to start with 2 weeks, then build up. :) Enjoy your time off!
Pawel @ Self Employed Cafe
June 3rd, 2010 at 10:11 amTo me the most difficult part of taking longer holidays is to say no to a project that comes almost at a last minute. It usually is tempting and since I know I will need the money on holidays I take it. Only to find out (again) that this turns into a project from hell …
Freelance FactFile
June 3rd, 2010 at 10:35 amIn 19 years of freelancing I’ve only ever taken single weeks off – apart from 1997 when I took a two-week break to Zanzibar over Christmas/New Year. I know freelancers who take the whole summer off but I haven’t been that brave.
I’m based in the UK and so I would love to take an extended break visiting North America. Maybe a goal to work towards?!
Tm Mahdi
June 3rd, 2010 at 11:11 amI personally find it, if I warn my clients that I am taking time off…I am rushed with work …which I am bound to cancel my trip and work on the project. It’s been over 2 years since my last holiday, in fact I am doing one now. I have been for nearly 5 weeks now. I don’t really have an end date to my holiday, at least for this one.
But I have took attentive measures to make this holiday worth it. I have pulled off my facebook group, d-associated myself to most opportunities that would give me something to work on and made myself available to myself. I answer to a few emails a day, go to seminars and sessions that I haven’t gone too; meet new fresh people and still am in my community if I need to get myself back on track without the need to rush back for the job.
I am taking time off but not totally taking time off. But it is better than before and only a handful of people know I am taking time off and only a handful other people know that I will get back to work and re-live my busy creative lifestyle when I get a new contract to work on. While the rest of my clients are as much in the dark as I am about their initiatives. Nevertheless, I am still available and still connected when I need to be.
Freelance forums
June 3rd, 2010 at 2:49 pmExcellent points. I have taken all these precautions since I knew I wouldn’t be able to work right away, when we left the country. It was at least 3-4 weeks of not being able to go too often online. Was indeed sure to announce my clients about this and had some projects waiting too. So I could resume my work ASAP and the clients also knew what to expect.
Olga
June 3rd, 2010 at 5:18 pmI am working as a freelance expert for three years – no vacations, no days off, and this year I’ve decided to cut this routine. As you said – I start looking for backup person and warning my clients – and I will take into consideration other your advices. I am still a little afraid of missing some orders – but I can’t stay awake for so long time having no rest. Step #6 is the most important I think!
TLC
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:12 pmLast summer we had a week-long family reunion which ended in my parents’ 50th anniversary celebration. Two weeks later my niece got married out of town. My sister and her family came home from Germany for these events.
For months I told everyone about these events. About six weeks before the reunion started, I emailed a schedule to all my clients telling them when I would be available and when I wouldn’t, and when family would take priority over work. They fully understood and worked with me on deadlines and finishing projects.
It’s about setting boundaries. Yes, we all have to make money, but we also have to take care of ourselves. Do what you need to get away.
Anne
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:44 pmThis is great advice … I can’t remember the last time I had a decent vacation! I planned one for this summer though, so it’ll be great to have a break.
Eri Mehmeti
June 6th, 2010 at 5:29 pmI’m afraid to go in vacation, especially a long vacation. Last time that I was in vacation I lost a big client that cost me a lot. Is really hard to be a freelancer the first 2 years, like I am. But thanks for the tips, great article.
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Affordable hotels in Granada,Spain
July 16th, 2010 at 5:58 amOne of the advantages of a freelancing lifestyle is the flexibility, the ability to turn down projects and set your own schedule. Make sure you book your vacation for a time when you have relatively little work to do. If you have seasonal downtime in your industry, identifying the best time for a vacation is easy. If you don’t, try and line up your trip to coincide with the completion of several big projects.
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LongVacation
December 1st, 2010 at 9:55 amI am a member of a travel club where the company offers trips and vacation get away for wholesale prices. Check this site out when you have some free time.
http://www.johnandnicolelong.com
My wife and I just booked a cruise to the Bahamas for 4days/3nights for only $69 a person.
With a membership you get access to hundreds of vacations deal around the world.
There are NO MEETINGS to go to and this is NOT a TIME SHARE
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