"How are things back at the office?" one of the gentlemen in my bicycle tour group asked me as we were nearing the end of another lengthy ride through Croatia’s scenic countryside.
“辦公室里還好嗎?”我的自行車旅行團里的一位先生問我，當時我們正快要結束另一場穿越克羅地亞美麗鄉村的長途騎行。
"I assume they are going fine," I said. "I haven’t had any contact and I don’t plan to."
“我猜一切正常，” 我說。“我沒和辦公室的人聯系，也沒打算聯系。”
"Your phone isn’t on?" he asked, incredulously. "You haven’t checked your email?"
“你的手機沒開?” 他懷疑地問。“你沒查過你的電子郵件?”
"My phone is off and no, I’m not planning on checking email," I said.
“我的手機關機了，是的，我不打算查看郵件，” 我說。
My wife Heidi and I took my children, Daniel and Rachel, on a two-week trip to Croatia, one of the most beautiful countries in the world. We made the choice to spend some of our money on this wonderful experience so we could spend time bonding with each other and the kids.
我和我的妻子海蒂帶著我們的孩子丹尼爾和蕾切爾，去克羅地亞開始了一段兩周的旅行，那是世界上最美麗的國家之一。我們選擇花些錢享受這段美妙的旅程，這樣我們夫妻還有孩子們就可以共度一段時間。
Why would I diminish the environment we had traveled thousands of miles to create by bringing my work environment into it? That would be counter-productive to everything I wanted out of this trip. If I worked during this experience, I would be taking time away from my family and sending them the message that work takes priority over them.
我為什么要把工作環境帶入這次我們跨越了千萬里打造的旅行，來毀掉這種美景呢?那會和我對這次旅行的期待完全相反。如果我在旅行的時候工作，我陪家人的時間就會減少，這就相當于傳遞給他們一個信息：工作比家人更重要。
In addition to sharing this incredible experience, I wanted to take us all out of the activity-driven world we live in. If I had my cell phone on and was constantly searching out a wireless connection to keep up with the office, I would just bring that hyper-connected environment into the peaceful, meaningful world I was trying to create.
除了分享這次令人驚嘆的旅行，我還想讓我們都從這個忙于各種活動的世界里抽離出來。如果我開著手機，還時常搜尋無線連接來和辦公室保持聯系，那我就是把那種高度聯網的環境帶入了這個我試圖營造的安寧而且有意義的世界。
One of the primary purposes of taking a vacation is to rest and rejuvenate. How can you accomplish that goal if you simply move the source of that stress to a different location? Granted, it’s one that may have a better view than your office window, but you haven’t truly gotten away.
度假的首要目的之一就是好好休息、恢復精神。如果你把壓力的來源又搬到另一個地方，你要怎樣實現這個目標呢?這里的風景可比你辦公室窗外的好多了，可是你也許沒有真的逃離辦公環境。
In addition to creating life-long memories with my family, another wonderful thing happened as a result of this bike trip. As we were returning home, I was flooded with new ideas. I came up with concepts for nine blog posts and several ideas that I want to incorporate into my business.
除了和我的家人一起創造一段一生的回憶，這次騎車旅行還帶來了一件美妙的事情。我回到家后，頭腦中充滿了新鮮的想法。我想到了9篇博客的創意還有一些我想要用到事業中去的想法。
It felt like I had received an unexpected bonus. While it wasn’t the goal of the trip, I was rewarded with fresh insights, ones that never would have occurred to me during the regular course of business. Taking time off restored and rejuvenated me and allowed my creative spirit to really come to the surface.
這種感覺就好像我有了意想不到的收獲。雖然這并不是這次旅行的目標，但是我收獲了新鮮的思考，而這些在我日常的辦公中是絕對不會想到的。花一些時間去恢復精力和元氣，讓我的創新精神顯露出來。
The good news is that at least half of Americans agree with me. The travel website company Expedia.com recently released the results of a survey that examined the link between vacations and happiness.
好消息是至少有一半的美國人同意我的看法。旅行網站公司Expedia.com最近公布了一項關于度假和幸福關系的調查結果。
Among other findings, the survey found that 46 percent of employed Americans reported that they never check in with work while on vacation. However, 59 percent of men make it a habit to check with the office. Not surprisingly, those who check in at least once a day reported higher stress levels.
這項調查的一個結果就是：46%有工作的美國人表示他們從不會在度假期間檢查工作情況。然而，59%的男士有習慣和辦公室保持聯系。而那些一天至少處理一次工作事項的人的壓力指數也更高，這也絲毫不奇怪了。
Here’s another argument for getting away: 47 percent of people who went on vacation last year like their job while 71 percent who haven’t vacationed in five years don’t. And 86 percent of Americans link their personal happiness to vacation.
關于度假還有另外一個調查結果：去年度過假的人有47%喜歡他們的工作，而五年中都沒有度假過的人當中有71%不喜歡。86%的美國人認為他們的個人幸福和度假有聯系。
Vacations make us happy, give us time to bond with our families and allow us the downtime for to feel rejuvenated and inspired. Just leave that cellphone off and that laptop behind.
假期讓我們幸福，給我們時間和家人相處，允許我們休息一下恢復精神，激發靈感。把手機關掉，把筆記本電腦丟在一邊吧。
