Report: Pack the car, we're vacationing

Move over stay-cations, Americans are putting a little extra spending cash into vacation for the first time in several years, and they are actually leaving town. New data from comScore and Bizo finds a number of professionals are looking into planes, trains and automobiles for summer vacation. Who's going where?

by Kristina Knight

The Bizodata shows real estate and law professionals are most likely to look into air travel while mid-management professionals are most likely to look into car travel. Meanwhile those in customer relations are more than twice as likely to look into travel by sea or railway. What are these vacationers looking for? Many are looking for time to relax in the sun - marketing pros are likely to be found hanging poolside along with IT analysts and scientists.

Don't expect them to totally vacate - many will be thinking of work, the time missed and how they'll catch up once vacation is over. Mike Pugh with eVoice has three suggestions to help vacationers get back into the swing of things once vacation is over.

First, plan ahead - and don't expect to get back to work on Day 1. Yes, there will be work, but Mike suggests planning a day to 'catch up' with email, voicemail. He also suggests scheduling meetings ahead of time with sales staffs and other departments to learn what has happened over the vacation.

Second, read voicemails, don't just listen.

"Listening to ten rambling voicemails can eat up productive time. With services like eVoice, a virtual phone system for small business owners, voicemails are transcribed and delivered to your inbox. Quickly skim them to weed out the junk calls, and catch important details without having to hit 'repeat,'" said Mike Pugh, eVoice.

Finally, start at the top of the message pile. From email to memos, start at the top and work down because there will likely be repeated messages or, in the case of email, long strings of emails which can be read in one sitting by beginning with the most recent.