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Taking A Break This Summer? Or Taking The Laptop?

Sunglasses, check. Bathing suit, check. Camera, check. Laptop—that's a double negative. Yes, I'm doing that increasingly rare thing: having an untethered, nontech vacation. No electronic leash for me for the next two weeks. I'm even leaving my cell phone at home (what the heck, it wouldn't work where we're going anyway).

Unfortunately, a lot of people aren't willing -- or able -- to do the same. According to CareerBuilder's annual survey about vacation plans, 27% of workers say they plan to stay in touch with the office during vacation time this year using some kind of electronic device. An AP-AOL poll found that of the people who took a vacation in the last 12 months, approximately one out of every five adults said they took their laptops with them; twice that number checked e-mail regularly.

And, believe it or not, those were the lucky ones. The AP poll found that 41% of respondents don't plan to take a vacation at all within the next 12 months.

Been there. Because of a summer rife with conflicting events, my family just couldn't get it together to go somewhere last summer. The previous year, we got away, but I worked every day. This year I was determined to do it differently: All my editors know I'm off -- really off -- my stories are filed (well, they will be by the time I board my plane tomorrow), the cat has a sitter, the tomatoes a waterer … yes, I think the checklist is about complete.

What are your plans? Do you ever get away from your e-mail and voice mail? Or is your laptop the first thing that goes into the bag? Drop me a line and let me know -- bearing in mind I won't get it until mid-July.

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