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On vacation? Odds are, you’re checking email over and over and over and over …

July 16, 2009

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If you’re on vacation, chances are you’re checking email. Repeatedly. Obsessively. So says a new survey by Sprint.

The younger you are, the worse your compulsion. Nearly 8 in 10 young adults are likely to check their email while they’re away, compared with just under two-thirds of the 55+ crowd.

We are so hooked. No wonder they’re installing Wi-Fi on planes. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

It gets worse.

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There are twice as many “compulsive” email checkers in the 18 to 34 category as in those close to retirement age.

All of which makes me wonder if we’re raising a generation of digital slaves. Don’t laugh. Remember, these are people who are interrupting their vacations to check messages.

Pathetic.

Of course, I’m one of them, too …

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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10 comments

  • B

    Guilty. The few days we didn’t have free wi-fi in our hotels were tough, but I was glad we had purchased an international data plan for that very reason. Used it a lot to check train schedules, flight status, email hotels, etc. But also to update my Facebook page with photos from our trip to make all our friends jealous. :)

  • John

    I think its more to do with our society. Everyone expects people to carry a blackberry. Emails go unanswered for a few hours and we panic.

    The 18 -34 crowd is climbing the corp ladder doing everything to show that they are a “company man.” It about getting to the next rung.
    By age 55, you have risen to where you’re going to be. No need to compulsively answer emails anymore.

  • http://www.travelsavvymom.com Jamie

    Yesterday my family and I drove up to Tuolumne Meadows in the high country of Yosemite. I can’t tell you how many people were frenetically tapping away at their Blackberries and iPhones (it’s one of the few places in the park with cell service). The worst part? I was one of them.

    I see both sides. Yes it’s good to disconnect. But it’s also good not to come home to 450 emails…

  • MeanMeosh

    The blame lies with a combination of the crackberry, and clients/superiors who expect you to be “accessible” 24/7, regardless of whether you’re on vacation or not (especially when they find out you have a PDA). And we Americans are the worst. While visiting the Prado in Madrid, almost everyone I saw were enjoying themselves while admiring the finest European classical art – except for the American tourists, who couldn’t wait to find a bench to log on to their PDAs and peck away. It’s kind of sad, really.

    I refuse to get a PDA, but I’ll admit, I also check work e-mail while on vacation at the hotel or airport, mainly because the result is usually disaster if you don’t. One time, I left my e-mail unchecked for 4 days while in an area with no internet service, to discover no fewer than 300 unread e-mails when I finally could check again (not fun, let me tell you).

  • Michael

    What is the difference between Frequent and Compulsive checker? every 10 minutes, every 30 minutes, or every time the phone beeps/vibrates?

  • mtp

    Chris – you are probably the MOST guilty! :)

  • Ames

    Several years ago, pre-PDA but post internet email access, I checked and kept up with my email so well that my boss sent an email asking if I was really away. I knew he would be a worry wort about my project if I told him I was going to Paris much in advance of my departure so I kept silent. Two days before leaving I told him, gave him my cell phone number and promised to keep in touch. The time zone difference worked very well. I could enjoy my days and evenings knowing that people at home were asleep or not at work, and answer everything in an hour or so at night.

    I have been able to take longer and more distant trips this way although I certainly suffered withdrawal pangs in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. Electricity was not yet widespead where I was so internet access was very limited.

  • Carver

    Checking e-mails on vacation is neither a good thing or a bad thing in itself. The question is, why? I check e-mail on vacation and stay wired to my office. This liberates me from being physically present in the office. I took a three week European vacation recently. I checked into my office twice a day. I responded to questions and gave instructions to my staff.m The rest of the day is mine.

    Without checking into my office, I wouldn’t have been able to take a three week vacation

  • Carrie Charney

    I just came back from a week’s vacation in Belize and only checked my email once to see if I had been upgraded on my journey home. And that is why I’m posting this days late and it probably won’t be seen. Now to slog through the rest of my ignored email…

  • Ronda

    @ Chris Elliott.

    Its not bad that you check your email often. if you didnt you’d probably get a kazillion of them in like a day.

    me however… i never check my email… facebook though, different story altogether

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