| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] > | Poll: Are you taking a holiday this year? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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| don't know how long | May 11, 2022 |
I selected 2 weeks, but I don't know exactly how long, nor when it will be.
If I manage to get back to Scotland, driving both ways, it has to be at least 2 weeks to be worth the bother.
Today I had a day off in Venice, hadn't been since before lockdown.
Then I have occasional long weekends visiting family in Austria or Switzerland, but they don't count as a holiday.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 03:14
Spanish to English
+ ...
| No holiday this year | May 11, 2022 |
I won't really be having any actual holidays this year. However, I am going back to Scotland for two weeks in June to look after my mother when my daughter is away in Greece. Then in September, I'll probably go over again for another couple of weeks while she heads off to Nashville for a shindig. So, it's a change of scene, but not really a holiday, as I will still be working anyway, although at a slower than usual pace.
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 03:14
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
The missus is hoping for a week in England, a week in France, and a week in Sweden this year (with about 1 month of ordinary labour between each). I prefer to take no more than a week at a time because otherwise my clients get itchy, and I'm never more than 30-40% as efficient (at doing translation work) at my holiday destination than I am at home. In previous years, three to four solid weeks at camp sites did nothing good for my business. I personally don't need to get away to unwind, but a ... See more The missus is hoping for a week in England, a week in France, and a week in Sweden this year (with about 1 month of ordinary labour between each). I prefer to take no more than a week at a time because otherwise my clients get itchy, and I'm never more than 30-40% as efficient (at doing translation work) at my holiday destination than I am at home. In previous years, three to four solid weeks at camp sites did nothing good for my business. I personally don't need to get away to unwind, but a household has more people in it.
[Edited at 2022-05-11 20:12 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sadek_A
Local time: 05:14
English to Arabic
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
Can a "study tour to Italy" be written off as a non-taxable expense?
Only when you will major in TEH, "tax-evasion holidays."
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Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 04:14
Member
English to Turkish
| What good is a holiday... | May 12, 2022 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
I prefer to take no more than a week at a time because otherwise my clients get itchy, and I'm never more than 30-40% as efficient (at doing translation work) at my holiday destination than I am at home.
[Edited at 2022-05-11 20:12 GMT]
if you're going to take your laptop with you and meet a deadline? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?
I really envy those working with direct clients or 'boutique agencies' that only seem to be working with them, and able to go off to Scotland for two weeks, California for three weeks, Europe for five weeks, safe in the knowledge that their clients will be waiting for them once they're returned.
While working with some agencies' CAT tools or TMs, I see different translators' names pop up in fuzzy matches dating as far back as early 2000s. You can tell that some of them have been the 'go-to' translators for that agency's particular client as their names appear in every fuzzy segment for 3 or 4 consecutive years. But then you see another guy's name in the later years and then another's.... You can't help but wonder whatever happened to that dude who seemed to have reigned supreme between the years 2016 and 2019? Why has he fallen out of favour when he was clearly the then PM's pet? Has he taken one too many weeks off, said 'I'm busy, I'm on holidays' one too many times and therefore lost his privileged position to the next man in the database?
I know that boutique agencies will employ caretaker translators while waiting for their favorite translators to return from their 5-week Europe trip, but it seems like a cut throat business with other agencies, and no matter how famously you get on with PMs they tend to forget about you if you fail to return their emails in a timely manner, and to say nothing of declining jobs on account of being on holidays.
Samuel, don't take this personally, I was just making a general point, your post seemed like a good one to start from, as it were..
| | | | | High time for a trip to London! | May 12, 2022 |
Some of us here surely would like to take a collective trip to London, to take some lessons in English, and to give some other lessons in return. Who else? I can provide the tar. Who will supply the feathers? 
[Bearbeitet am 2022-05-12 06:47 GMT]
| | | | Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 03:14
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
| About 4 weeks a year | May 12, 2022 |
I always make sure to take time off and travel (if at all possible).
Two weeks a year are firmly reserved for my two preferred festivals, another week or so for a vacation with my wife. Other than that, there are all public holidays in my region as well as the odd random day or two off when I feel like it. I simply need the rest and relief from sitting in front of my monitors for up to 12 hours a day. I also definitely don't do any work during my holidays (not owning and not wanting to own... See more I always make sure to take time off and travel (if at all possible).
Two weeks a year are firmly reserved for my two preferred festivals, another week or so for a vacation with my wife. Other than that, there are all public holidays in my region as well as the odd random day or two off when I feel like it. I simply need the rest and relief from sitting in front of my monitors for up to 12 hours a day. I also definitely don't do any work during my holidays (not owning and not wanting to own a laptop helps with that), only checking my inbox once in a while to make sure that I will not have to spend hours just sorting through e-mails after my return, because my customers completely ignore the fact that I am taking a (long-announced) holiday.
[Edited at 2022-05-12 07:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 03:14
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
| I am, will see where. | May 12, 2022 |
I am planning several weeks (or more) of vacation, and have several destinations in mind. No final plans yet.
Just took a picture of a sticker on the back of my laptop. I got this one when I was in a freelancers’ coworking space (mostly developers and graphic designers):
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Kay Denney
France
Local time: 03:14
French to English
Baran Keki wrote: Samuel Murray wrote:
I prefer to take no more than a week at a time because otherwise my clients get itchy, and I'm never more than 30-40% as efficient (at doing translation work) at my holiday destination than I am at home.
[Edited at 2022-05-11 20:12 GMT] What good is a holiday...if you're going to take your laptop with you and meet a deadline? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?
My partner recently acquired a holiday home by the sea and we can go whenever we like. My partner being semi-retired, we can go several times a year, for a weekend, or ten days and even months in the summer. I continue working, I just have to juggle my schedule to accommodate the days we'll be travelling.
It makes for a change of scenery and I get to do different things during my downtime. We go for long walks and bike rides by the sea and in natural parks, we enjoy getting away from the noise and pollution of Paris. We often have visitors, at which point I'll try to keep work to a minimum to spend time with them. Being an early bird, I can do my yoga and get a good couple of hours' work in before the others stir, and then we can enjoy stuff together. And my partner has plenty of DIY and heavy-duty gardening to get on with when I have more work than can be done before he gets up. It works for us!
It so happens that we haven't gone on any long trips abroad since I started freelancing, because of the seaside home, and also Covid of course, but now that my partner is all but retired we can easily go travelling for as long as we like, and we can take our time doing touristy stuff in between whatever work I might accept.
[Edited at 2022-05-12 08:32 GMT]
| | | | | Visit Hongkong ... | May 12, 2022 |
... and dig into some very ancient proz.com forum posts.
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 21:14
German to English
| Downside to taking time off | May 12, 2022 |
A number of years ago I received well-paying work from a law firm several times a year. My business eventually reached a point at which I could afford to take time away from the office. Unfortunately this law firm contacted me several times just as I was about to leave for a vacation. Once they even reached me at the airport. In such cases, I usually referred the work to local colleagues. After not hearing from the firm for several months, I decided to contact them. I was told that they had foun... See more A number of years ago I received well-paying work from a law firm several times a year. My business eventually reached a point at which I could afford to take time away from the office. Unfortunately this law firm contacted me several times just as I was about to leave for a vacation. Once they even reached me at the airport. In such cases, I usually referred the work to local colleagues. After not hearing from the firm for several months, I decided to contact them. I was told that they had found a different translator. He was cheaper, and more importantly, he was always available. I could have easily met my colleague's rate (still above the local average), but not his availability, since he apparently didn't take much time off. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I will be going away on holiday and my customers will be very happy for me to do so | May 12, 2022 |
Any client that objects to you having time off work is not worth having.
There is always a risk of your work being given to someone else whether you are away or not, but they'll only keep getting it if they're better than you, so be better than them in the first place. Or pick up the work they are not now able to do. Rocket science, it isn't.
I wonder if all freelancers are as wet about pricing and hours and holidays and so on as translators are? I doubt it.
... See more Any client that objects to you having time off work is not worth having.
There is always a risk of your work being given to someone else whether you are away or not, but they'll only keep getting it if they're better than you, so be better than them in the first place. Or pick up the work they are not now able to do. Rocket science, it isn't.
I wonder if all freelancers are as wet about pricing and hours and holidays and so on as translators are? I doubt it.
Develop and nurture a good relationship with your customers and they will be loyal. ▲ Collapse
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Alex Lichanow
Germany
Local time: 03:14
Member (2020)
English to German
+ ...
| Translators are humans | May 13, 2022 |
Kevin Fulton wrote:
A number of years ago I received well-paying work from a law firm several times a year. My business eventually reached a point at which I could afford to take time away from the office. Unfortunately this law firm contacted me several times just as I was about to leave for a vacation. Once they even reached me at the airport. In such cases, I usually referred the work to local colleagues. After not hearing from the firm for several months, I decided to contact them. I was told that they had found a different translator. He was cheaper, and more importantly, he was always available. I could have easily met my colleague's rate (still above the local average), but not his availability, since he apparently didn't take much time off.
No client that won't accept that translators are also humans who need some time off once in a while is worth keeping. Personally, I would have told them off or at least asked with some sarcasm whether they work 24/7.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:14
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Tomorrow I'm going to take a train out of London and go hiking in the hills in the beautiful English countryside. Then I'll come home and make risotto agli asparagi. That'll be a holiday.
| | | | | Tomorrow ... | May 13, 2022 |
Tom in London wrote:
Tomorrow I'm going to take a train out of London and go hiking in the hills in the beautiful English countryside. Then I'll come home and make risotto agli asparagi. That'll be a holiday.
... I'm going to take a train out of London together with 30+ colleagues from the forums and we go hiking in the hills in the beautiful English countryside and we take a bucket of tar and an old pillow full with feathers with us. That'll be a holiday!
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