As a home-based agent, I find taking vacations to be one of the most challenging aspects of my career. Deciding how to handle personal time away from the office is always difficult.

When I schedule a vacation, I start using an out-of-office automatic reply about one week before I travel to let my clients know when I will be away. I also begin adding that information to my voicemail greeting about seven to 10 days before I start my vacation.

The Value an Assistant Brings

I am fortunate to have a part-time assistant who checks voicemail, prioritizes it and sends me a summary of calls when I am unable to access phone messages—such as when I am cruising. She also returns urgent calls to obtain more details to see if she can assist or if I need to call when I have phone service.

My assistant also does some bookings for me, such as cruises and some escorted tours and air/hotel packages. She is still learning about the industry, so she books entry-level sales while becoming more knowledgeable about selling travel.

Relying on a Colleague

If you do not have an assistant, you should find another agent, possibly through your host agency, who can provide coverage for you while you are away. Inquire about any payments you’ll need to make for such coverage if you do not have an associate willing to do this for you. Agree in advance about any commission split if the agent covering for you researches and books travel for one of your clients while you are away.

Work/Life Balance

You must decide how much time to focus on work while traveling. Most of us will work while we are on the road. The tough decision is how much time to devote to work during a vacation. I check emails twice a day and respond when possible. I like a good work/life balance, so I make sure not to spend too much time working while on holiday unless a client has an emergency.

Planning time off is essential to a home-based agent. That can be harder to do than we think because of the unique way we work. We should focus on that downtime because, in the long run, time off will make us better agents.