Thursday, July 24, 2008

Vacation Over - Heading Home


All good things must come to an end. I write this blog post from Bellagio, Italy as the sun is coming up on a beautiful Thursday morning - the last day of our vacation. Tomorrow we fly home.

My family and I spent two weeks in Italy with my in-laws. One week in Venice and the other in Bellagio (on Lake Como). Both cities were wonderful, and made for one very relaxing and exciting vacation.

I did not realize how much I needed a vacation. I work a lot and am always on the go, and the down time was like a battery re-charge. Every morning I woke up before everyone and went for a sunrise walk along the water and sat at a sidewalk cafe (before it opened, they had internet access on the patio) and checked email, blogged and caught up on any news in the world. By 8 AM I was back at the apartment and making breakfast.
Many think that checking email on vacation is a bad thing...but for me it kept me from coming home to thousands of emails and a nightmare of "catch-up". It gave me peace of mind and I was able to handle some minor questions that would have fallen through the cracks otherwise.

We spent our time in both locations exploring a variety of tourist sites, neighborhoods, villas, restaurants, and other interesting venues. The people were amazing, the food delicious, and one particular wine (made from wild grapes) kept bringing us back to a small establishment, Bellagio Point (an internet and wine cafe), each night before dinner. The owner, Bruno, recommended great restaurants and knew the answers to all our Bellagio related questions. He is also an artist, who hand paints beautiful murals on wine bottles. His familiar smile and his bar's great atomsphere were welcoming.... plus the kids could get on a computer and play on Webkins for 30 minutes, which kept them plugged into their normal life (and was a good thing for them to look forward to while touring a museum or church, which might have been a bit boring for them!)

My daughters, ages 11 and 6, really enjoyed the trip. While they are too young to fully appreciate all they saw, they relished in the uniqueness of Venice and the beauty of Lake Como. Additionally, they loved spending the whole day, everyday, with mom, dad, grandma and grandpa. Many question our sanity on bringing kids so young on such a vacations (this was their third time to visit Europe), but they were troopers.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have a rule in Italy - "Gelato everyday, sometimes twice!!!" This seems to keep the kids going, as we try new flavors at different Gelaterias every time. Also, they fell in love with Italian Hot Chocolates...which were good, but way to much like drinking a melted Hershey bar for my tastes. They will have a big reality check when we return to Austin and return to limited amounts of such treats / sweets. Heck, ice cream every day is not a good idea.... but while on a two week vacation.... why not?

All of my blog posts the last few weeks have directly or indirectly related to vacation.... as I have had vacation on the brain. I look forward to getting back to more normal blog postings, but I have learned that vacation is important....and hope to hang onto my newfound serenity. My creativity is currently high, and my enthusiasm about the tasks at hand for the next few months is at an all-time level.

I am grateful for all that I have in my life. My family, my friends, my job, my writing and professional speaking career, and this blog (and those of you who read my stuff). A little time away from your daily routine does wonders for helping one appreciate all the good things in their life. I have a big wave excitement hitting me and look forward to tackling many projects this fall.

Next week, my third book; "Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Women" will be released (now available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble). I have been working on this project with my co-author, Marny Lifshen, and our editor, Leslie Morris, for over a year. We are very excited about this new product. It is the first in a series of books that will exand upon "Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Grow and Keep Your Business Relationships". Please check it out and tell a friend!!!

Well, I am off to make breakfast for the family and then catch a ferry boat to explore one last day on Lake Como.

Ciao.

Thom

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mike and I have really enjoyed reading about your vacation. Sounds like it has been an amazing and memorable getaway. Great family picture, too!