Forcing a Vacation

I admit it. I'm a workaholic. I've got quite a bit done this summer in preparation for September, and I still feel like I need to do a lot more. Teaching and all the preparation that goes into it consume me. I neglect things that need to be done around the house. Other than for exercise I hardly leave my apartment, and instead sit at the computer planning, writing, reading, and so on. I don't spend enough time with my kids. I don't go out. All work and no play and all that.

I know the only way I will stop working is to put myself in a place where I can't work. So I'm going out of town this week to a place where I won't have access to a computer. I've even asked my wife not to bring her computer. I'm not taking books or any other kind of work-related materials. It will be a bit of work de-tox. I just hope I can handle the withdrawal don't find myself wandering into some cheap, sleazy internet cafe in the town where we're going.

Sadly, my real motivation here is to come back refreshed so that I can get more work done before school starts. It's like the heroin addict putting himself through withdrawal in order to experience a better high afterward. I really do have work to get done. But more on that after the vacation.