Cassidy: Writer unplugs with a 'no e-mail on vacation' pledge - San steamboat vacation rentals by owner Jose Mercury News
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Cassidy: Writer unplugs with a 'no e-mail on vacation' adult exotic vacation pledge
IT WAS ROUGH, IT WAS TOUGH, BUT luxury villas for vacation rental WRITER TAKES 'NO E-MAIL ON VACATION' PLEDGE
By Mike Cassidy
Mercury News Columnist
Article Launched: 07/25/2008 01:31:21 AM PDT
Blog
Mike Cassidy's Loose Ends
This year I was tennessee vacation apartment rentalsdetermined to take a summer vacation in a big way. I would vacation south dakota check out from work without checking in. Taking a cue from Stanford law professor and cyber-celebrity Lawrence Lessig, I pledged to steer clear of my e-mail in-box while reconnecting with my extended and far-flung mountain cabin vacation family in the woods of Wisconsin. Now I'm back in San Jose buried in e-mail, forgotten promises, demands from editors for scintillating columns and critiques from readers of columns that ran while I was lounging and swatting mosquitoes in the land of milk and bratwurst. I'm paying now for my "no e-mail on vacation" pledge. But it new buffalo vacation rental fireplace was so worth it. Full disclosure: I vacation rentals peeked at my in-box once or twice. But mostly I held firm, inspired by Lessig's practice of going e-mail-less for one month a year. And you know what? The world didn't end. The jamaica vacation villas Mercury News published without me. Colleagues welcomed me back with no apparent hard feelings over my slow response to vacation rentals destin florida e-mail that must have seemed very important at the time. Since my return, I've scanned the first few lines of the e-mail that I let pile up. Two-thirds of it is junk. The rest ranges from interesting to marginally so. Was there anything in there that I was sorry I missed? Well, yes. A co-worker, a gem of a journalist, a genuine santa cruz ca vacation rental character and a frequent help to me, sent a note that he was leaving the Mercury after 31 years. I will miss him and I would have liked to say goodbye. Advertisement Still, the better question is: What would I have missed if I'd been reading e-mail instead of reveling in the lives of my seven brothers and sisters and my mother and father, both in their 80s? What would I have missed if my eyes were fixed on a screen instead orlando vacation package of flashing from scene to scene in a soaring log lodge where vacation rentals siesta key my folks and siblings and my siblings' spouses and kids and my own wife and wonderful daughters spent a week talking, laughing, eating, reading, remembering? Yes, there was a bit of drinking, too. And some gambling. There was even singing, but I've promised that's all I'll say about that. While I wasn't managing my in-box, there was the late night session with my jamaica villa vacation dad when we solved the wilmington nc vacation renttals airline industry's problems and the lithuania vacation package problems in the newspaper business. We wondered how Sears stays solvent and debated the likely outcome of the presidential election. While my unread e-mail was piling up, I made my first trip to a water park. I whooshed and whirled in the wetness of towering water slides, listening to my daughters' ecstatic giggles and screams. As e-notes marked "urgent" fruitlessly called for my attention, I made my mom a breakfast of ham, eggs and toast - payback that was far short and long overdue. As MarketWatch wrote to tell me that GE was considering spin-offs, I sat with my brother and his two young boys in a small boat family vacation packing checklist on a small lake while we allegedly fished. When we left empty-handed, I told the boat rental woman that we'd do better. "Tomorrow," I said, "we're going to use bait." She thought I was joking. It's easier to let the little stuff slide when you leave e-mail behind. Without e-mail you listen to your own voice. If relaxing in a boat on a lake with people you love feels the same to you with or without night crawlers then so what if you forgot the bait? Away from e-mail your thoughts are not interrupted by the voices of others - voices saying you might want to consider this, or you really should consider that, or when can we meet, or did you take care of that task or why don't you ever answer my e-mails. Away from e-mail your heart and mind place their own urgent stamps on the day's events. Your priorities become waves vacation rentals stunningly clear. You remember what's important. It is why you go on vacation. And yes, it is worth it - abundantly so. Read Mike Cassidy's Loose Ends blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/cassidy/Contact him at [email protected] or (408) 920-5536. Print Email vacation packages to destin fl Return to Top Comments We are pleased to let readers post comments about an article. Please increase the credibility of your post by including your full name and city in the body of your comment. FAQ: Article commenting how-tos and tips Recent Comments Post Your Comment Business technology home prices venture capital Paul Saffo predicts PAUL SAFFO Planet at a crossroad Mercury News interview: Electronic Arts CEO champions laser-like focus on making games Consumer loan and chester uk vacation villas savings rates The money market Five things to know about John Riccitiello O'Brien: Web 2.0 start-ups, show us the money Copyright © - San Jose Mercury News MediaNews Group - Northern California Network Help/Contact | Site Map | Advertise | Home Delivery | Copyright | Privacy Policy and Terms of Use | About MediaNews Group | RSS | Ethics Policy | About Bay Area News Group | | Privacy Policy | MNG Corporate Site Map | Copyright |
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By John Bordsen, The Charlotte ObserverComment on this story
NAGS HEAD/KITTY HAWK
DISTANCE (FROM RALEIGH): About 3 hours (207 miles), one way.
GOTTA SEE: Wright Brothers National Memorial (252-441-7430; www.nps.gov/wrbr) is big-time history on the cheap: $4 for the museum/grounds. The Black Pelican restaurant/bar (3848 Virginia Dare Trail) is in one of the few buildings from 1903 still standing. Dinner: $14-$20; (252-261-3171; www.blackpelican.com)
TOTALLY FREE: Climb the sand dunes and hike the trails at Jockey's Ridge State Park. Hike through Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve. Details: 252-441-2525.
GOTTA TRY: Across from Jockey's Ridge is Kitty Hawk Kites/Carolina Outdoors, the place to buy your kite, try their climbing wall or take hang-gliding lessons. Details: 252-441-4124; www.kittyhawkkites.com.
DETAILS: disney vacation packages Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, 704 S. U.S. 64-264, Manteo, N.C. 27954; 877-629-4386; www.outerbanks.org. Map of Kill Devil Hills with visitor information: www.kdhnc.com.
WILMINGTON
DISTANCE: About 2 hours (132 miles), one way.
GOTTA SEE: Battleship North Carolina, permanently docked in Cape Fear River; you can easily spend a day there soaking up military history ($12; $6 for ages 6-11; 910-251-5797; www.battleshipnc.com). Kids still have some pep? Check the Serpentarium, downtown on Orange Street -- it's an indoor reptile park with lots of cool creepy residents ($8; waikiki vacation apartment rentals 910-762-1669; www.capefearserpentarium.com.). For the grown-ups: Check out the vibrant downtown scene, with lots of good bars, shopping and restaurants.
TOTALLY FREE: South of Wilmington at Kure Beach, visit Fort Fisher, the Civil War bastion whose fate was decided in the largest amphibious invasion before D-Day. (910-458-5538).
DETAILS: Cape Fear Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, 24 N. Third St., Wilmington; 800-222-4757; www.cape-fear.nc.us.
NEW BERN
DISTANCE: About 2 hours (130 miles), one way.
GOTTA SEE: mercer vacation rentals Tryon Palace, built for the last royal governor, burned to the ground in 1798. la paz mexico vacation rentals Its blueprints were discovered in the 1940s and a replica was built on the same spot. Guides in colonial costume take you through the place; explore the gardens on your own. Allow a half-day for this and related pet friendly vacation rentals buildings. ($15; $6 for school-age kids; discounts available. Through Labor Day, open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Saturday; 252-514-4900; www.tryonpalace.org.)
TOTALLY FREE: Croatan National Forest (252-638-5628; http://ncnatural.com/NCUSFS/Croatan) is a sprawling coastal/inland preserve that has hiking trails, boat launches, paris vacation picnic areas and campgrounds (the rustic campgrounds are no charge). The forest's three developed trails range from half-mile to 20 miles in length.
DETAILS: Craven County Convention & Visitors Bureau, 314 S. Front St., New Bern; 800-437-5767; www.visitnewbern.com
MOREHEAD CITY/BEAUFORT
DISTANCE: About 31/4 hours (170 miles), one way.
GOTTA SEE: N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores (Atlantic Beach; $8; $6 for ages 6-17; 866-294-3477; www.ncaquariums.com/pks/pksindex.htm) recently tripled its size.
GOTTA TRY: Charter a boat and fish; rent a board and vacation rentals and tacoma surf at Bogue Sound.
TOTALLY FREE: N.C. Maritime Museum (315 Front St., Beaufort; 252-728-7317; www.ncmaritimemuseum.org) has artifacts recovered from the shipwreck believed to be the Queen Anne's Revenge, the flagship of the pirate Blackbeard. Fort Macon key west vacation packages State Park (Atlantic Beach; 252-726-3775; www.clis.com/friends) was a coastal fortification built in the 1820s and 1830s at the eastern tip of Bogue Bank. Tourst are self-guided.
DETAILS: Carteret County Tourism, P.O. Box 1406, Morehead City; 800-786-6962; www.crystalcoastnc.org.
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