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Vacation vs. Social Networks

by Smithee on July 7, 2009

in Consumer

Summertime is traditionally when most people take their annual vacations, and since the social media explosion, more aspects of a given person’s vacation will end up as photos on Flickr, or “wish you were here” messages on Facebook.

I’m a big fan of openness (with the obvious exception of my use of a pseudonym on this site), and so I’m a little sad, though not surprised, to see at least one victim of a burglary who suspects his tweeting about being on vacation is the cause of his trouble.

The Trouble

“We had mentioned that we were going out of town for an extended period and even Twittered about the trip as we drove for three days,” he told an Arizona television station. While he was gone, video editing equipment was stolen from his home.

The Subtleties

My first reaction was to assume that the man in the story has some people following him on Twitter who aren’t exactly friendly. But then I remembered that anybody can do a search on Twitter for a phrase like “vacation” and find results like these:

Master Chase on vacation

Then, if you can cross-reference a likely victim with their address found online, and you have criminal tendencies, then you know which house to burglarize.

Additionally, many Twitter apps (and possibly for other services) have the option of finding your current location and looking nearby for specific criteria.

The Solution(s)

Take an inventory of which of your information can be found online easily. Some starting points:

  • Is your username the same as your real name?
  • Are you and your address listed in the phone book?
  • Does your wireless router know where it’s located? Does it broadcast that location?
  • Is your profile public? Do you want to keep it that way?
  • Are you on LinkedIn? How much of that profile is public?
  • and so on…

You may decide that a simple solution would be to keep the vacation secret until you get home, but remember, even if you decide to avoid the magic word “vacation” in your own online updates, your friends may inadvertently be helping potential burglars:

other vacation

Going on a trip? Keep tweets discreet, Kathleen Pender, San Francisco Chronicle, July 6, 2009

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Question of the Day: How Much Vacation Time Do You Use?

by Flexo on June 9, 2008

in Career and Work

I’ve been at my current company for six years now. That’s quite an accomplishment as I intended to work for this company for a short time while seeking out something more meaningful. As I’ve stayed with the company while moving around to a variety of departments, I’ve accrued to privilege of taking an increasing number of vacation days.

Here is our policy, modified a little bit for sake of quasi-anonymity. Every third year of service, an employee receives three more days added to their pool, starting with the first full year of employment. During employment before the first full year, vacation days are awarded at a rate of 1 days per month for the last six months of the year and 1.5 days per month for the first six months. 6 “sick days” are added to these totals, but they’re similar to vacation days in all respects except one: Don’t take more than 6 unplanned sick days in any 12 month period.

Any unused vacation days can be carried over to the following year with a maximum of half the total allotted vacation days. I have 24 vacation days this year (not including 6 sick days), plus 4 carried over from last year.

Last year, I took 17 out of the 28 total vacation days available to me. I should take more, particularly due to the health benefits of two-week vacations. Several studies show that Americans take fewer vacation days than workers in other countries, and we are awarded fewer days than workers in Great Britain and France. In 137, paid vacation is mandated for employers, but not in the United States.

Do American workers have a responsibility to take as few vacation days as possible? How many vacation days, or how much of your “allotment” do you take?

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How Much My San Diego Vacation Might Have Cost

by Flexo on April 28, 2008

in Travel

Last week, I spent several days in San Diego with family and friends, including my mother and her long-time boyfriend, my brother and his girlfriend, and my girlfriend. One benefit of visiting family for vacation every April is the fact that my mother seems quite willing to spend money to ensure everyone’s enjoyment, at least through this year. (If I continue to earn more money than I expect, that may not be the case for much longer.)

I decided to estimate how much my mother might have spent on our trip to San Diego as an exercise in curiosity. To be fair, I did pay some of these expenses, but only a small portion.

Lodging. A room with double queen beds at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay may have cost $750 over the course of three nights. We had three rooms for an estimated total of $2,250. I believe she was able to receive one night free, but I’ll stick with estimates based on the full retail value. Add internet access at $10 per room per day and valet service of $20 per day. Add tax. Running total: $2,780.

view from our hotel roomTravel. The trip from my mother’s home in Orange County, California to the hotel in San Diego was 80 miles. At a rate of 50.5 cents per mile, the round trip in our car “cost” $80. My brother and his girlfriend drove separately, so I would consider than an additional $80. Cab rides throughout the four days added about $120 to the transportation total. Running total: $3,060.

Meals. Tuesday: lunch at a restaurant with an ocean view in La Jolla ($200) and dinner at Osetra ($300). Wednesday: breakfast at the hotel ($150) and dinner at a fondue restaurant in San Diego ($250). Thursday: breakfast at the hotel ($150), lunch by the hotel pool ($50), and dinner on a cruise around the bay ($300). Friday: brunch at a restaurant near the hotel ($200). As I didn’t see any of the bills, these prices are just estimates. Running total: $4,660.

Entertainment. My girlfriend and I visited the San Diego Zoo one day, and the tickets cost a total of $60. Food and souvenirs added an additional $40 to that cost. My brother and his girlfriend attended kayaking lessons, which I’ll estimate at $60. My mother treated herself and the other women to manicures and pedicures at the hotel’s spa. My brother and his girlfriend, only a few days from leaving for the next leg of their band’s country-wide tour, received facials and massages, and I had use of the spa’s shower and steam room. Based on the price list on the hotel’s website, this must have cost over $500 total. Running total: $5,320.

This doesn’t include the money my girlfriend and I spent to fly across the country, about $800. Estimated total: $6,120.

While it’s true that we could have saved thousands of dollars by traveling less over the past week, and I would be happy spending time with my family doing anything, having these yearly vacations gives me something to look forward to every spring. I may be wrong, but I believe my mother would consider this to be money well-spent. I hope to be in a position to provide similar vacation opportunities for my family at some point in the future.

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