"How are things back at the office?" one of the gentlemen in my bicycle tour group asked me as we were nearing the end of another lengthy ride through Croatia's scenic countryside.

“办公室里还好吗?”我的自行车旅行团里的一位先生问我，当时我们正快要结束另一场穿越克罗地亚美丽乡村的长途骑行。

"I assume they are going fine," I said. "I haven't had any contact and I don't plan to."

“我猜一切正常，” 我说。“我没和办公室的人联系，也没打算联系。”

"Your phone isn't on?" he asked, incredulously. "You haven't checked your email?"

“你的手机没开?” 他怀疑地问。“你没查过你的电子邮件?”

"My phone is off and no, I'm not planning on checking email," I said.

“我的手机关机了，是的，我不打算查看邮件，” 我说。

My wife Heidi and I took my children, Daniel and Rachel, on a two-week trip to Croatia, one of the most beautiful countries in the world. We made the choice to spend some of our money on this wonderful experience so we could spend time bonding with each other and the kids.

我和我的妻子海蒂带着我们的孩子丹尼尔和蕾切尔，去克罗地亚开始了一段两周的旅行，那是世界上最美丽的国家之一。我们选择花些钱享受这段美妙的旅程，这样我们夫妻还有孩子们就可以共度一段时间。

Why would I diminish the environment we had traveled thousands of miles to create by bringing my work environment into it? That would be counter-productive to everything I wanted out of this trip. If I worked during this experience, I would be taking time away from my family and sending them the message that work takes priority over them.

我为什么要把工作环境带入这次我们跨越了千万里打造的旅行，来毁掉这种美景呢?那会和我对这次旅行的期待完全相反。如果我在旅行的时候工作，我陪家人的时间就会减少，这就相当于传递给他们一个信息：工作比家人更重要。

In addition to sharing this incredible experience, I wanted to take us all out of the activity-driven world we live in. If I had my cell phone on and was constantly searching out a wireless connection to keep up with the office, I would just bring that hyper-connected environment into the peaceful, meaningful world I was trying to create.

除了分享这次令人惊叹的旅行，我还想让我们都从这个忙于各种活动的世界里抽离出来。如果我开着手机，还时常搜寻无线连接来和办公室保持联系，那我就是把那种高度联网的环境带入了这个我试图营造的安宁而且有意义的世界。

One of the primary purposes of taking a vacation is to rest and rejuvenate. How can you accomplish that goal if you simply move the source of that stress to a different location? Granted, it's one that may have a better view than your office window, but you haven't truly gotten away.

度假的首要目的之一就是好好休息、恢复精神。如果你把压力的来源又搬到另一个地方，你要怎样实现这个目标呢?这里的风景可比你办公室窗外的好多了，可是你也许没有真的逃离办公环境。

In addition to creating life-long memories with my family, another wonderful thing happened as a result of this bike trip. As we were returning home, I was flooded with new ideas. I came up with concepts for nine blog posts and several ideas that I want to incorporate into my business.

除了和我的家人一起创造一段一生的回忆，这次骑车旅行还带来了一件美妙的事情。我回到家后，头脑中充满了新鲜的想法。我想到了9篇博客的创意还有一些我想要用到事业中去的想法。

It felt like I had received an unexpected bonus. While it wasn't the goal of the trip, I was rewarded with fresh insights, ones that never would have occurred to me during the regular course of business. Taking time off restored and rejuvenated me and allowed my creative spirit to really come to the surface.

这种感觉就好像我有了意想不到的收获。虽然这并不是这次旅行的目标，但是我收获了新鲜的思考，而这些在我日常的办公中是绝对不会想到的。花一些时间去恢复精力和元气，让我的创新精神显露出来。

The good news is that at least half of Americans agree with me. The travel website company Expedia.com recently released the results of a survey that examined the link between vacations and happiness.

好消息是至少有一半的美国人同意我的看法。旅行网站公司Expedia.com最近公布了一项关于度假和幸福关系的调查结果。

Among other findings, the survey found that 46 percent of employed Americans reported that they never check in with work while on vacation. However, 59 percent of men make it a habit to check with the office. Not surprisingly, those who check in at least once a day reported higher stress levels.

这项调查的一个结果就是：46%有工作的美国人表示他们从不会在度假期间检查工作情况。然而，59%的男士有习惯和办公室保持联系。而那些一天至少处理一次工作事项的人的压力指数也更高，这也丝毫不奇怪了。

Here's another argument for getting away: 47 percent of people who went on vacation last year like their job while 71 percent who haven't vacationed in five years don't. And 86 percent of Americans link their personal happiness to vacation.

关于度假还有另外一个调查结果：去年度过假的人有47%喜欢他们的工作，而五年中都没有度假过的人当中有71%不喜欢。86%的美国人认为他们的个人幸福和度假有联系。

Vacations make us happy, give us time to bond with our families and allow us the downtime for to feel rejuvenated and inspired. Just leave that cellphone off and that laptop behind.

假期让我们幸福，给我们时间和家人相处，允许我们休息一下恢复精神，激发灵感。把手机关掉，把笔记本电脑丢在一边吧。