“Vacations are a time to recharge. It’s important to recharge for personal growth,” says Sciambi. Vacations are also an excellent opportunity to reconnect with family and significant others, he advises. And he knows of what he speaks. Sciambi is on his second marriage and he blames the failure of his first both on being too young for such a commitment but also on his then-obsession with work. Fortunately, his second marriage is vastly different. He re-evaluated how he approached his professional and personal lives and decided not to sacrifice his family life for work. 

“It’s amazing how much more you get out of your business life if you spend enough time on the personal,” he says. 

Decisions, decisions
Every day, Sciambi’s clients seek his advice on countless matters. However, when Sciambi is on vacation, he puts his work-life on hold. “I like my big decision of the day to be rum punch or beer,” he jests.  He also reads fiction to “escape” from the rigors of everyday life. 

While he admits he will occasionally check email while on vacation, it’s not until the third or fourth day of being away that he starts thinking about work. As a solo entrepreneur, he understands that everything happening in his business weighs on him, but he doesn’t let that interfere with his family time while vacationing. 

Before he leaves for vacation, Sciambi informs his key clients he will be out of touch during that time.  “If you’re a solo, don’t worry about things happening while you’re gone. It takes maturity to understand that ‘it’ll keep,’ but if there’s an absolute emergency, people know how to reach me,” he says. 

When small business owners say their company could not survive if they took a vacation, they’re actually covering up for deficiencies in their personal relationships, says Sciambi. “It’s just an excuse for not having to deal with their other responsibilities.”

A view from the trenches
In a November 2013 blog post on www.lipsticking.com, writer Yvonne DiVita lamented she had not taken a vacation in “forever” as she has been busy building her various business interests. She says she thought she was responsible to be accessible for meetings and client’s needs at any time. Her attitude changed, however, after a lunch meeting with a colleague who was planning an upcoming vacation.

Her friend was surprised that DiVita had not taken a vacation in a long time, and his comments about the benefits of taking time away weighed on her mind, she says. She soon spoke with other business peers and learned the most successful entrepreneurs were ones who took at least two weeks of vacation annually, spending time in island resorts or other faraway places that allowed them to detach from their work. 

She says memories of vacationing with her family when she was a stay-at-home mom flooded her mind, and the more she recalled the relaxation and laughter, and yes, the occasional troubles, too, the more she realized it was time to take time away. 

In her blog post, DiVita writes, “’The truth is – taking a vacation, whether it’s three days, or a whole week, or longer, is a chance to revitalize your energy and focus. After time away, you return to the office with a new perspective. The office and everyone in it are new and shiny. You see things in a totally different light. Different in marvelous ways!’”

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Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney also licensed in the state’s two federal districts and the U.S. Supreme Court. She is also an oft-published writer whose byline has appeared in Better Homes and Gardens, The Rotarian, Corporate Secretary, The ABA Solo Practitioners newsletter and Ohio Magazine, to name a few. She penned a study guide about filing personal bankruptcy that was published by Quamut, a division of Barnes and Noble, in 2007.