By the time you read this, I will hopefully be relaxing in the Florida sun. Perhaps laying back pool-side taking a nap. More than likely I’ll be pulled left and right by children who want to go to Disney and not let their old man simply relax.

That’s right. I’m on vacation. Or will be. Or Have been. Depends on when you’re reading this post. Gee, blogging is difficult.

Writing blog posts about my vacations are nothing new. Last year, I wrote about using Taskray to manage my pre-vacation “project.” 7 Reasons Why I Love TaskRay was fun way to show how I use Salesforce besides work.

I’ve also wrote about the things I learned about being a Salesforce Admin by flying with twin 2-year olds. One of the all-time favorites was my post sharing what Salesforce & Salesforce Admins have in common with Disney World & Sea World. Although, I really think the post was really popular simply because it had a photo of me with Wizard hat riding a statue of an Orca Whale.

Finally, I wrote a blog post The Salesforce Drug and Infection: Four Signs That You May Have It The 2nd item in that list was you go through withdrawal. But don’t worry! This isn’t a listicle about articles I’ve already written (although they’re great blog posts, you should absolutely go read them and share them with everyone you know).

My long-winded point is that I’m a Salesforce addict. I use Salesforce for work. I help other companies and organizations with Salesforce. I use Salesforce in my personal life (managing podcast and tracking mileage for example). I’m a true addict. So what does a Salesforce Addict do when on vacation?

Action 5: Trailhead

This may be a shocker. Look a Salesforce MVP is mentioning Trailhead! I’m sure you have been simply inundated with information about Trailhead. Trailhead this, badges that, and rangers etc etc. I know, we sound like a broken record. Here’s the thing, we’re all excited about Trailhead because

1. It’s free
2. It’s hands-on
3. It’s a great learning tool
4. It’s FUNNY

Trailhead is amazing, but I have a confession. I only have 9 badges and at least 3 of those are special event badges. I know! I am ashamed! The sad fact is I simply don’t have the time to do Trailhead. Considering a lot of the badges are stuff I already know about and it’s very difficult to take the time away from work and family to simply get badges. So while I’m on vacation, I’m planning on doing a few Trailhead modules. There’s a few about Lightning Components and Marketing that I want to take. Hopefully, I’ll get some badges while I’m relaxing in the warm weather sipping on a nice drink.

Action 4: Certifications

Last year, I wrote a blog post for Salesforce about certifications. Specifically, Why I resisted Certification so long. In that article, I mentioned how I was hoping to get 2 more certifications before the close of 2017. I failed. I forgot to schedule the time and so I haven’t taken the test. My hope is to take some time to review and study so I can take the certification tests when I get home. I might even try to do it remotely with my webcams, but realistically speaking having 4 kids running around and 6 adults can be a bit noisy.

In action 5, I was ashamed about my lack of badges on Trailhead. Keeping the shame going I have another confession. I am horribly behind in my release certification exams. I won’t tell you how many, but I am really, very, sadly far behind. These are test I can definitely knock out while on vacation. No proctor needed. I can sit on the screen porch and listen to the chirping frogs and splashing water as I catch up on my exams.

Action 3: Playing to Learn

I am a big proponent of play. Both for our children and for us adults. Not only is it fun, but it can be a great learning tool.  I’ve used Salesforce for creating a Salesforce Pickup line generator, creating a Choose your own Adventure, and teasing friends. None of these projects had any relationship to a business need. I may never get a chance to learn these tools, if my company never has a business requirement for it. The fun part is coming up with interesting and fun ways to use Salesforce. Creating the app helps you practice and learn about Salesforce. This is how I learned to use the Streaming API, Flow Decisions & Screens, and creating a random-number generator.

Sadly, I don’t get much time to play anymore. When I do, the projects tend to be really quick and short. For example, I create a Flow that helps provide record-based guidance to end users. It works. It was also very short and simple. I would love to have done a more indepth example and then somehow expose that setup so everyone else could benefit from the example.

Hopefully, I will take the time to come up with some more fun projects. Stay Tuned. I’ll likely share them here.

Action 2: Community

I love Twitter. I love the Salesforce Trailhead community. I sadly don’t get to spend much time as I would like. Taking the time to go through the Trailhead community and exploring the new groups, catching up on interesting topics, and most importantly – networking with your peers are very important activities. I had some people I consider friends and my “brian trust” (not brain trust. See it’s a pun!). I found most of those folks through the Trailhead community.

I’m planning on catching up on all the interesting topics in there. Watch some Webinars from release readiness, perhaps try to answer some outstanding questions in the automation group.

Action 1: Relax

You’re on vacation for crying out loud! Sure the last 4 actions are helpful -especially to a Salesforce Addict. You’re still on vacation. Don’t over due it. Make sure you have some unplugged time. Spend that time with family. Maybe combine getting your hit of Salesforce with some relaxation by sitting at the pool or enjoying a drink. You could also catch up on your favorite Salesforce podcasts (*cough* *cough* WizardCast) while you’re relaxing in the sun.

I hope you’ve found this fun, if not useful, post. I’ll like to dedicate this listicle to Andrea Tarrell who absolutely hates listicles.

Happy Vacationing!