In my world, "play" is as important as "work" and I'm grateful for clients and partners who understand this.

One month before I left for our 2-week vacation I sent out an email to all of my clients letting them know that I would be out of the office and would have no access to any of their project files. I know myself too well; if I had a computer with me, it wouldn't be a vacation and my time away with my wife and kids would suffer. To be honest, I wasn't 100% sure how this would be received. But, as hoped, the only responses I received were "have a great vacation; you deserve it; don't think about our project 'til you return." Wow, I'm so blessed.

For me, vacation (play) recharges my creative batteries. It allows me to connect with my family on a deeper level and create lasting memories. While it's hard to think about taking 2 weeks of billable time off, it really does pay off in the end. You can't recreate memories and you certainly can't love on your family too much. The kids will only be kids for so long and it's great to have a job that allows me to enjoy them while they are still living at home.

So, thank you to all of my clients, partners and vendors for giving us a break from the norm. Without you it wouldn't have been possible. For more vacation photos you can visit my Flickr site.