Happy new year readers! Let’s hope that the pandemic can be defeated and put behind us. Today’s word, although not new, is workcation and is a portmanteau of the words “work” and “vacation” and refers to working remotely while enjoying the benefits of vacationing. For example, you might be on a business trip for a few days and want to check out the local sites of interest.
An article published for HelloLanding.com on August 1, 2022 explains what a workcation is, the benefits of taking one and how to plan your nomadic workcation getaway:
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, there has been a huge increase in people working remotely. While some have waved goodbye to office life in favor of being a full-time digital nomad, others have preferred to work from home, allowing them to spend more time with their families and achieve a better work-life balance.
This new trend of working remotely has led to the rise of the “workcation” (also spelled “workation”), a concept that combines work and travel. The two terms might seem contradictory at first, but people are beginning to find that taking a workcation allows them to destress, recharge, and explore a new place without falling behind on their workload.
A workcation might last for a couple of days, weeks, or even months—basically, it can be whatever you want it to be! You’re still expected to get all of your work done as normal, but rather than working from home or the office, you can bring your laptop to the pool, a coworking space, or even the beach (just be mindful of the sand!).
While workcations aren’t necessarily a new concept, the rise of remote work has led more and more people to realize that a hotel room or vacation rental apartment is just as good as their living room for getting a day’s work done.
Danielle Leigh
Workcations can have their disadvantages. For starters, there is too much temptation to just enjoy the “vacation” part of workcation and not do the work. With remote working, the lines between our personal and business lives are already blurred. It is not uncommon to feel pressured to respond to emails and deadlines outside of working hours. Rewire.org, a non-profit journalism website, said that “white collar workers specifically are under constant pressure to be available at a moment’s notice, and the notifications – from email, Slack, Google Chat, and others – are seemingly endless. The pandemic has only exacerbated this trend: for the 42 percent of the American workforce that has been working from home for the past 12 to 18 months, there is no longer any physical separation between life and work” (Banks). There is a balance to be achieved to make a workcation “work.”
Social Media Trends as of January 8, 2023
Facebook #workcation: 23,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #workcation: 176,481 posts
TikTok #workcation: 11,300,000 views
YouTube #workcation: 851 videos and 273 channels
Google Trends: workcation first appeared in 2004 but since the pandemic the popularity of the term has increased due to the high number of people who were able to remote work.
Sources:
Banks, Emma. The Rise of the ‘Workcation’ — and What It Means for the Future of Work.” Rewire.org. June 22, 2021. URL: https://www.rewire.org/rise-of-the-workcation/.
Elly | Corporate Millennial. “POV: Remote workers who use RingCentral & can work from anywhere.” TikTok. June 15, 2022. URL: https://www.tiktok.com/@1corporatemillennial/video/7109478556916256043?embed_source=121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_name&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&refer=embed&referer_url=covidlexicon.net%2F&referer_video_id=7047542286145834287.
Leigh, Daniel. “What Is a Workcation? The Travel Trend Taking the World by Storm.” HelloLanding.com. August 1, 2022. URL: https://www.hellolanding.com/blog/what-is-a-workcation-the-travel-trend-taking-the-world-by-storm/#:~:text=Simply%20put%2C%20a%20workcation%20is,you%20want%20it%20to%20be!.
“Workcation be like” meme. Memecreator.com. URL: https://www.memecreator.org/meme/workation-be-like/.
