When I go on vacation, I have the ability to forget that I even have a job. I can go the entire vacation without thinking about work, responsibilities, what may go wrong, whatever. I don't answer phone calls, pages, emails, or call to check in. I know it will all be there when I return and i can sort out the mess when I get back.

If management starts making noise about me not being able to take off, then I tell them if I'm that important that I can't take my EARNED vacation, then they need to be paying me a lot more money. Since vacation is part of the compensation package, if you don't get to take it, then you are leaving money on the table. When was the last time you saw your employer give up something for nothing?

Now before I go, if there is something special that other people need to be aware of, I will put that in a document so they are not totally blindsided, but I am not going to pre-work everything that I would normally have done that week. If my job is so mission critical, there better already be a trained backup to step in whenever I can't be there for whatever reason.