Friday Fun: Show & Tell your Workation/Travel Fails and Wins 😅🏝️🏞️

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

What sounds more like a Friday than vacation and travel? 🌴✈️ In recent years, I’ve discovered the joy of taking workations, and I’ve had some pretty spectacular experiences.

My first trip was to Venice. 🇮🇹

Eco-warrior at heart, I decided to take a 14-hour night bus from Southern Germany to Venice. Visions of watching the sunrise over a calm Adriatic Sea danced in my head.

Spoiler alert: sleep was a distant dream …😴😬

Read more about this epic fail and some general workation planning tips in my blog post: Workation in Venice 🏝 Tips for sightseeing and organization.

Nice workation, not-so-nice commute

Fast-forward to my most recent workation in Nice. 🇫🇷

The city itself was stunning, but sprawling and a bit pricey. My charming Airbnb turned out to be quite a trek from the beach, making that post-work swim a bit of a logistical challenge. 🏖️🕒

Despite the challenges, I always recommend taking workations to everyone, and I’m eager to hear about your workation/travel experiences. Both the good and the not-so-good.

I’m also curious to know how you are planning your workations?

I admit that I am a huge Confluence fan and also plan private things, such as travels, in Confluence. 📅💻

So, let’s exchange thoughts and tips to inspire us to discover the world! 🌟

📸 BONUS POINTS for sharing a fail-pic. 😅

This would be mine.

In a nutshell, it says:

I've just hiked 1.5 hours from the sea up here. ⛰️ I'm sweating like a pig and suddenly a storm 🌧️ comes up, even though I don't want anything more than a stupid photo. Stupid hair. Stupid girl group, I asked to take a picture of me, having my phone far too long already.

Tried so hard … got so far …

In the end ... I’m looking forward to hearing your stories and tips.

Let's start the summer with some travel talk! 🌞

[John Funk]

My oldest son lives very close to Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. My wife and I went on a hike with him a few summers ago. It had been noted once we got on the trail that there had been bear activity in the area. We had no bear spray or really anyway to defend ourselves if we encountered anything. He kept telling us - it's not too much farther to the point he was taking us to. But it seemed to take forever. Then by the time we stayed awhile and enjoyed the truly spectacular setting and views, it was starting to get dark. And we had a good hour hike to get back to civilization and our starting point. 

I was a nervous wreck the whole way back - looking for any signs of an impending attack haha. We came upon some more youthful hikers, and I tried to keep us at least within earshot of them in case something happened. But there was inevitably twists and turns in the trail and with the darkness, it was quite fretful. But we made it back with no incident (other than my anxiety!). And all subsequent hikes have included packing some bear spray. 

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

Wow, thanks for sharing, @John Funk ! That sounds like an unforgettable experience ... 🥹

First of all, I'm glad that nothing happened to you! 🙏🏻

And I find it exciting that there are other dangers in other countries.
In southern Germany, where I come from, we've never had to fear bear attacks. It's more likely that a wild boar will cross your path (or now a wolf) - but there would be no spray against either 😅

It's a shame that the hike was overshadowed by fear! My biggest fear on long hikes is usually just finding the nearest toilet. 

[John Funk]

Where exactly in Southern Germany?

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

As Southern as you can imagine, @John Funk.

We walk over a wooden bridge and say "hi" to our friends from Switzerland. 

[Dan Breyen]

Well, before Working From Home was the thing, I had to travel to Pensacola, Florida.  Being cheap and the inexperienced business traveler, I booked a hotel inland and didn't know otherwise.  Well, when I found out that I'd be there another two weeks, I made sure on that third week to book a hotel on the gulf, where the waves crashing on shore could lull me to sleep.  It was worth the $1 toll every day.

Why in the heck I didn't do that the previous two weeks?  Oh well.  

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

Haha! 😂

I can relate so much on that, @Dan Breyen! Thank you so much for sharing ...

I actually had a similar experience: I was in Athens for a week and had chosen a central, supposedly good hotel that was reasonably priced. However, it was very dirty and unpleasant. The internet didn't work, so I couldn't work. I wasted two days arguing with the hotel reception, which made me feel very uncomfortable afterwards.

I think it's always worth digging a little deeper into your pockets when traveling if you want to feel safe and comfortable.

[Andy Gladstone]

All of my workations have been vacations where I also worked. With a wife and kids it's been hard to plan anything that would even remotely resemble a workation. 

I have been planning a seven day, 750 mile bike tour (using Confluence!) for close to two years now. That is my first attempt at a workation - 5-6 hours of cycling each day and then 5-6 hours of work as we travel across New York State on the Empire State Trail. It would be a group of 8, and we'd have a support vehicle moving our bags and food provisions city to city each day. 

No fail-pics to share yet!

[Barbara Szczesniak]

@Andy Gladstone I've lived in 3 places along your journey. There's some beautiful country that I hope you get to see soon.

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

I am tired just looking at your map.  Looks like a great time tho.

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

Wow! Thanks for sharing @Andy Gladstone.

But 6 hours cycling ... and 6 hours working ... 

What about sleep, eat, and applying blister plasters?

Not good at math, but I hope you will find time to enjoy the nature as well! 😊

[Barbara Szczesniak]

Let's see, I've had some business trips to nice places where I got to see some sites—company headquarters in San Diego, where I got to go to the zoo (on a Saturday after working all morning) and the wild animal park (on Sunday after working all morning). This is the problem with traveling with a VP from your company.

And some where I didn't get to see any sites—yearly kickoff meeting in Las Vegas, with mandatory breakfast together at 7AM and team-building sessions till 6PM every day; arrive the evening before the start and leave early the morning after the end.

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

A mandatory breakfast at 7am sounds somehow wrong 😅

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

Before remote work was as popular as it is these last few years, I was a road warrior, flying to my client's location weekly.  I tried to get out of the hotel while in different areas.  I got to know Cities like Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, and San Diego well, and areas like Silicon Valley and the Research Triangle in NC and DC.

It's hard for me to break the Airport -> Hotel -> Client offices -> Hotel -> Airport cycle, as an introvert,  But usually after a week or two, I force myself to bust out of this pattern and start exploring. Joining a local ACE or other industry event helps.

I don't travel to clients as much anymore, part of me misses the exploration that came with it.

Here is a fail pic from Montreal.

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

Wow. What a true inspiration you are, @Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM ! 🎉

It always takes a lot of strength to overcome yourself and break through your comfort zone. Respect that you manage to do it again and again.

And there's nothing wrong with the picture!

[Summer Hogan]

I have had some pretty good workations I've taken. One that comes to mind is when I was going to Oahu, Hawaii for my interview with Hawaiian Airlines. They opened a tech center in the city I lived in and when I found out I applied and got selected for the interview. My boyfriend went with me and we had had a little vacation there before the interview on Monday morning. I was expecting the beautiful Hawaii weather I was accustomed to and when we arrived it was so windy and cold and we could even see snow on the Maui mountains. We went for a drive and I remember taking this pic along side the road. I thought to myself - Oh well, we are making memories and that is what counts! 

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

😂

Laughed so hard on this. Thank you, @Summer Hogan! Actually, the picture has something artful about it.

[Jacqueline Westermayer]

🤔 In retrospect, all my vacations have been working vacations for quite some time now. I never fully disconnect; even when I’m away, I don’t completely delegate tasks, and I find myself constantly checking in. Balancing sightseeing, family, and our dog adds an interesting layer to these trips. 🙃

Last year, we visited Portugal and Spain and the experiences were quite contrasting. Portugal was scenic, relaxing, and awesome, really – a destination I wholeheartedly recommend. Check it out! 😃😃

However, our -time in Spain, specifically in Sevilla, turned out to be an epic fail.🫠 A valuable lesson learned: avoid inland Spain during the summer months. 🥵🪭 The scorching temperatures - feeling like 150 degrees - made it unbearable for our dog 🐕 to walk. I ended up carrying her throughout the city tour, which became more of a quest for shaded spots where we could rest and hydrate. 💦

🛌 Our Airbnb loft, initially promising, turned into a nightmare. Despite its spaciousness, it had only one small air conditioner that struggled to cool the entire area. ♨️ Our dog sought refuge under the bed, where the tile floor provided some relief. I considered sleeping under the bed, too, as the bed felt like a frying pan! 😂😅 As for my in-laws, who joined us for this leg of the trip, their second-floor bed felt like an oven with the broiler on, thanks to the heat rising from below.

Needless to say, we cut our stay short and promptly returned 🏃 to Portugal. Looking ahead, I’m eager for my next Spanish adventure - though this time, I’ll skip Sevilla! 😄 As for pics, I do not remember taking many, but here you have a beautiful city view and one of our oasis 😉

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

Thank you so much for all the tips and pics shared, @Jacqueline Westermayer 

Actually, I was thinking about a workation in Portugal and/or Spain as well. 😄 You helped me with the decision! 

[Laurie Sciutti]

Hmm....this is a timely discussion!  Just got home Friday from a three-week vacation in Italy.  The fail?  I got Covid 4 days in.  😷🤒  NOT fun, especially since I managed to avoid getting Covid throughout the Pandemic.  But I rallied and got through it in about 5 days and was able to salvage the rest of my vacation.  YAY!

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

Sorry to hear you got sick on vacation :(

[Barbara Szczesniak]

@Laurie Sciutti I'm so sorry that happened to you. I'm glad you were able to salvage something of your vacation. 

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

That's horrible! Get well soon, @Laurie Sciutti ! 

[Amanda Barber]

Ughh, so sorry @Laurie Sciutti - I'm glad you had a nice, long vacation planned so you could salvage a good portion of it!

[Amanda Barber]

Due to having kiddos, the closest thing to work-cations are my company retreats. They're a great balance of fun, team-building, and some work!

Can't beat the views. 

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

Wow, beatufiul! Where is that, @Amanda Barber 

[Amanda Barber]

@Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_  - Bear Lake in Northern Utah!

[Stephen_Lugton]

I used to work for a company where we were the global experts in the field (as well as being the only ones with a transportable test set up), so I spent many weeks doing certification tests of aircraft in places like Brazil, the US, Canada, China and Japan.  Unfortunately our workations tended to be 10 hours a day with 1-2 days of breaks so I've visited orange groves in Brazil, aircraft museums in Kansas, cold places in Canada, silk clothing factories and maglevs in China and temples in Japan.

But none of those beat the 2 week workation in New York; I was meant to be there for 2 days but my equipment sat in customs for 10 days. luckily I had my laptop so I could work remotely and since we didn't know how long it would take to clear customs the company decided to leave me there rather than fly me back and then out there again.  Unfortunately, on day 2 my hard drive failed totally and I could no longer work (it wasn't worth buying a laptop as we worked for the MoD and I wouldn't have been able to set it up securely) so I got 8 days of enforced vacation in New York only having to check in twice a day to see if my equipment had cleared customs. 

And if you go to McDonalds in Japan then look blankly at all the calligraphy next to the pictures of burgers, don't worry the menu is double sided; there's English on the back!

[Brant Schroeder]

Everyday is a workcation for me because I love my work and have great teammates.  

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

That is so cute and just filled me with joy! Congrats!

Plus, I feel like you should earn a badge or something for the most philosophic comment!

[Vronik]

My vacations to this day always flow, I plan them very well before taking them, I try to rest and if something fails I don't worry, the moment it happens I think of plan "b" and the situation changes, without any major inconvenience.
I love the sea and I really enjoy sailing boats, I leave you a photo of what it represents for me

[faizan sappal]

What an amazing read! I had a similar mishap in Thailand—completely misread the visa requirements and spent days in Bangkok trying to sort it out! 😂 Your workation adventures in Venice and Nice are so relatable, especially the travel challenges. I'm also a Confluence fan for planning trips. Let’s keep sharing stories and tips; I’d love to hear more of your adventures!

[faizan sappal]

@Barbara Szczesniak 

Also, thank you for liking my post! It seems we share a passion for travel and making the most out of our trips. Do you have any favorite Visa tips or destinations that you'd recommend? I'd love to hear about your experiences and any advice you have. Looking forward to more exchanges!

[Avery]

Oh, workation stories are so good! 😅 I had a wonderful time in Buenos Aires, but there were some small problems too. I thought I become tango expert very fast, but my dancing looked more like funny show. The city streets are so confusing, and I got lost many times more than I want to say. One time, I ended up in some market by mistake and bought a lot of empanadas just to find out where exactly I was! 😅 On the other hand, I booked a one-day tour through https://gowithguide.com/argentina/buenos-aires I got to enjoy the lively culture, delicious food, and lovely areas like Palermo. It was worth it! ❤️

[Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_]

Hey @Avery, thank you so much for sharing! 😇 I fell in love with those pictures! Looks beautiful.

[Avery]

@Patricia Modispacher _appanvil_  Thank you so much ❤️