Travel / Work-cation if you’ re planning on working. They’ ll get you back to Sandton by about 11:00 so, after a quick change into a business suit and high heels, you could be at your first meeting before 12:00. Or – hey – get to know Jozi – there’ s a lot more to this city than the Northern Suburbs and Midrand. Do a walking tour of central Joburg, visit your ancestors at the Origins Centre at Wits, go bird-watching in Soweto, do an art tour of Alexandra, or watch the fabulous Lipizzaner stallions perform in a tradition that goes back to the 16 th century in Europe – and is the only recognised one of its kind outside of Austria.
All work, all play, all at sea
Taking some time out from a planned business trip is a really good
idea, but sometimes you have to be proactive about your leisure time – especially if you have a family that wants a‘ real’ holiday. In cases like this, you need a‘ work-cation’. Basically, it’ s taking the concepts of cyber-commuting, flexitime and bleisure to their logical extreme. Plan a trip with the family, ensure that you have good comms, and then strictly structure your days so that you have time allocated for work, time allocated for play, and time allocated for staring at the horizon – with or without a long, cold drink in your hand.
There are lots of great places you can do this, but one of the better ones is on a cruise ship. There’ s something so otherworldly about being at sea. And there’ s so much to do that the rest of the family won’ t begrudge you your dedicated few hours of work time. You can plan your day to have family time, me time, work time, couples time and even contemplating-your-navel time. You can work for a few hours every morning, or plan to do all your work while you are at sea, and then join the family for excursions when you’ re in port. Or whatever combination works for you.
All cruise liners have Wi-Fi but not all cruise liners are equal. Some are fine for checking emails and doing the odd web search but no more, and some charge an arm and a leg for data, but there are some with uncapped super-speed Wi-Fi with – seriously – dedicated satellites virtually following the ship( or it might be the other way round). Anyhow, the bottom line is that – if you choose the right ship – you can have enough rock-steady comms for high-level coding or processing of immense amounts of virtual data. Check carefully with your Lifestyle Cruises agent when booking, and make your needs known so that you don’ t end up data-deprived.
Jennifer Stern
64 | www. estate-living. co. za