Back to life, back to reality, as Soul II Soul once sang. Maybe they were referring to "la rentrée". I've just returned from a three week break; possibly the longest period I've spent without working since my school days. Most years I manage a week, occasionally two. This year, I didn't touch a computer keyboard for almost a month.
It just so happened that in the places I stayed - a villa in Spain and a hotel in Tunisia - internet access was virtually non-existent. I left my laptop at home and my phone in a drawer. The information torrent dried to a trickle. The newspapers I bought were often a day or two old.
Life became focused on the people I was with, the book I was reading, and essential activities like swimming, cooking and strolling. Yet the days seemed rich and interesting, full of talk and inspiration. I even managed to write a short story (with a pen and paper!) for the first time in ages. Now our vacations are over, it's time to embrace the disconnection trend. Even the super-geeks of Silicon Valley agree: Facebook executive Stuart Crabb recently told The New York Times that we are spending too much time online, which is having a negative effect on our performance and relationships. But I think we knew all along that if life - if reality - was more like a vacation, we would be more creative. In other words, we would do better work.
