When is a holiday really a holiday? Answer – When you don’t run a ski holiday company
Monday, 27 Oct, 2009
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IndependentMountain.com’s Olivia Gascoigne gives her latest TravelMole update on life at the sharp end of running a ski operator
Who’d of thought that when you decide to set up your holiday company that organising other people’s holidays would be at the sacrifice of your own and that by immersing yourself in the holiday industry would result in a lifetime of holidays for others whilst your own takes a permanent seat on the runway (of if your doing airport transfers in the arrivals lounge!)
If you run a holiday company, forget the extra baggage allowance for the latest must-have holiday items, in fact forget hand luggage entirely, as the only thing you’re going to be sporting on the plane this season is your laptop.
When signing yourself up to run your own business be sure to read the small print, smugly informing you that no holiday, weekend or in fact any morsel of spare time will truly be totally yours ever again.
And how ironic that it’s when and only when you are running your own business the need, longing and unadulterated necessity of a holiday is at it’s greatest.
From the moment you launch yourself, savings and soul into starting up your enterprise the idea of flaking out on a remote beach with nothing to worry about but the strength of your next cocktail and the ending of your trashy novel are quickly replaced with worrying about the strength of the new business ideas your destination has evoked and reading and responding to emails to ensure the only ending you receive is one of fact (i.e profit) rather than fiction. And that’s if you can even afford to go jet setting in the first place.
After what seems like an age of pulling 12-14 hour days here in the Independent Mountain office and due to the fact that my birthday is fast approaching, James has thoughtfully organised a surprise trip to Morocco – a place I’ve longed to explore for years.
Another addition on the surprise front, is how much planning for a holiday has changed since starting Independent Mountain.
Once upon a time, the priority on my holiday check list was to find the most remote location to drop off the face of the earth in. However, fast forward to the here and now and this priority has been knocked off the top spot and replaced with the one that sees me looking for a hotel that has the all important wi fi, quick download speed and the ability to keep one foot firmly on earthly matter.
Don’t get me wrong, we’re not complete killjoys who have forever lost the spirit of holiday fun and indeed, we do realise the importance of a quick break away to recharge and ensure we are firing on all cylinders for the start of the season.
However, I can honestly say, that the trip will only achieve these objectives if we have access to our emails and, dare I say it, be able to complete the work required each day to ensure we are still in full control of the business regardless of the time zone.
Yes, I have been quick to discover that no holiday or even birthday is sacred when you’re working for yourself, in particular when the staff count is two and your one and only colleague is the one you want to go on holiday with.
Most surprising of all is that regardless of what may seem to some as a huge sacrifice, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yes, I like the rest of us, love a good holiday, getting away from it all and exploring new and distant lands. However, I have to admit that I love what we are doing here more.
Regardless of how shattered and broken we both feel on a daily basis and regardless of the constant worry of where every penny is spent and saved in both our personal and business life (and let’s face it, at these early stages it’s all one of the same) I feel a huge sense of pride and enjoyment for what we are trying to achieve and if that means sacrificing my oversized travel bag for my laptop when heading to Morocco then bring it on.
Phil Davies
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