American workers have a hard time taking vacations. Around 658 million vacation days are left on the table at the end of the year, according to Project: Time Off. And 68% of us admit to checking work email when we’re supposed to be getting away from it all. But what if the purpose of your vacation was work?
The idea of taking a “workcation”—traveling to a destination with the goal of completing a project—isn’t new. We’ve all heard of writers who head to a cabin to finish their latest book, for example. But the idea is gaining traction in a wider variety of jobs and fields.
Mary Fox, founder of the San Francisco-based career design platform Marlow, recently traveled to St. Briac Sur Mer in Brittany, France, to work on her website, products, and member acquisition strategy. The change of location helped her become hyperfocused, she says.