Podcast appearances and mentions of fox glacier

Welcome to Series 2 of Mountain Voices, the podcast from the UIAA – International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation.The United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation. Starting from 2025, March 21 is recognised as the World Day for Glaciers.As part of its work in mountain protection and in the field of climate change, the UIAA has committed to playing an active role throughout activities in 2025 and beyond. This podcast episode forms part of that commitment. In this episode we hear from a number of glacier experts:Part 1 (01:15 - 26:24)Will Gadd, renowned Canadian mixed and ice climberMary Sanseverino, mountaineer, independent mountain studies researcher, Vice President of the UIAA Mountain Protection CommissionDiscussion on the importance of International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, the need to engage people with the subject on an emotional level, and a focus on repeat photography and the plight of glaciers in Canada, notably the Athabasca in the Canadian RockiesPart 2 (26:25 - 43:00)Filmmaker Craig Leeson discusses his film The Last Glaciers, the most comprehensive film ever produced about the relationship between climate change, mountain environments, and glaciers. Craig explores what he learned about glaciers during the near decade long process of making the film which captures the fragility of the natural world, the impact humans have on our life support systems, and the friendships, personal challenges, and tragedies experienced by the explorers.Discover more here:https://thelastglaciers.com/Part 3 (43:01 - 53:10)Tom Harris, an experienced mountain guide, charts the specific story of the Fox Glacier, located on the wild west coast of New Zealand, and the impact of climate change on guiding as a profession.--Mountain Voices is a podcast from the UIAA. Throughout each series, the UIAA explores different climbing and mountaineering topics. The series provide a platform for both experts from the UIAA and renowned figures from the mountain world to share their views and opinions. Each series is made of up of six episodes. Season 2 launched in March 2025.https://www.theuiaa.org/mountainvoices/Presented and produced by Tarquin CooperCo-produced by Peter BourneEdited by Tom Tushaw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tourism businesses in Westland are facing uncertainty heading into their busy season - as the main highway remains closed after this weekend's storm - with no firm re-opening date. State Highway 6 is shut from Fox Glacier in the north, to Haast in the south, until the end of this week, at least. Many say the road has long been vulnerable to severe weather events and there's a risk it will become impassable if urgent action is not taken, Samantha Gee has more.

Clean ups are underway as the West Coast recovers from a deluge of rain. Franz Josef experienced its wettest 24 hours in more than four decades - prompting a state of an emergency for southern Westland. State Highway 6 from Fox Glacier to Haast has been damaged by slips and flooding - it's closed until at least Monday. Westland mayor Helen Lash says the road is currently not passable. "The road has slumped, it's got cracks in it - and we're not prepared to take any risk with putting anybody on that part of the road." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A washout on the route between Franz Josef and Fox Glacier means that section of the road is shut; with the next update expected at midday Monday, Mark Pinner from Waka Kotahi speaks to Lisa Owen.

As we make our way up the west coast of New Zealand we discuss food wars, wonderful encounters and the plan ahead.

Hami Tangiora lives on the West Coast and a recent annual family tradition is to catch a helicopter to remote back country huts to spend the night. While the familly do lots of hiking together with the young kids, Hami decided that they would treat themself to something special. The first trip was to Chancellor Hut above Fox Glacier for an overnight stay, where their only company was two dozen kea. The following year the family took Dominos pizza up to the remote Almer Hut above Franz Josef Glacier. Although the terrain around the hut can be a hazard for young children, the highlight was the incredible views from New Zealand's tallest peaks out to the Tasman Sea and family memories to last a lifetime. For quick and easy meals for all your outdoor adventures, use the code ABIGAIL for free shipping on your next Back Country Cuisine order: bit.ly/44uFDAB Thank you so much for tuning in and coming along for the ride. If you love the show and enjoyed listening, please take the time to leave a review on Apple or Spotify. I would also love to connect with you, so send me a DM on Instagram, leave me a voice message and I can't wait to see you next time. Until then, keep adventuring :) Follow Hami on Instagram: instagram.com/hami.tangiora.nz/ Read the Blog: www.abigailhannah.nz Follow Abigail on Instagram: instagram.com/abigailhannnah/ Follow Abigail on TikTok: tiktok.com/@abigailhannnah/

Earthquakes (super minor), sandflies and jet boats feature in this episode as we ride from Lawrence to Fox Glacier on New Zealand's South Island. The weeks are building up and this adventure is just getting started.

Two return convoys have managed to get through Haast Pass today as Waka Kotahi opened a single lane on the vital storm damaged route along state highway six. Muddy Creek Bridge north of Makarora was buried in a massive slip in last week's extreme weather with debris initially piled four metres high. The road's a vital tourist route linking Haast, Fox Glacier and Franz Josef to Wanaka and Queenstown. Escorted convoys of light vehicles were allowed to drive a single lane along the route at midday and four thirty this afternoon. Waka Kotahi says there are two excavators, two loaders, five trucks and a bulldozer working in confined and challenging spaces to get the job done as quickly as possible. Development West Coast CEO, Heath Milne speaks to Lisa Owen. An update from Waka Kotahi: From tomorrow morning all vehicles, including busses and those weighing over 5 tonnes can use the road. It will be by escort at 8am, 12pm and 4.30pm. The length of the guided convoy route is just under a kilometre. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6337835644112

Waka Kotahi is working to partially re-open Haast Pass; a critical road link between the west coast and Otago. It's been closed since Thursday's storms meaning locals and tourists have to take a nine hour detour to get to Queenstown. Muddy Creek Bridge on State Highway six north of Makarora has been swamped in a slip, leaving the bridge and road buried in about 20,000 cubic metres of debris. The slip is piled about four metres high at the bridge and water is flowing over the mound. The road is vital for tourists and locals and travellers coming from the likes of Haast, Fox Glacier and Franz Josef have an over nine hour trip to Queenstown via Arthurs pass. Waka Kotahi's hoping to partially reopen it tomorrow - for some vehicles only. System manager Robert Choveaux speaks to Lisa Owen. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6337773713112

A ghost town - that's what Fox Glacier residents feared their town would become after access to their main tourist attraction was severed four years ago. In March 2019, a major landslide destroyed the road to the glacier. Less than six months later, locals were told it wouldn't be reopening and the government was stepping in to help fund alternative attractions. Tourism reporter Tess Brunton reports.

Top storys for 12 August 2022 Labour backbencher Gaurav Sharma launches a broadside at his own party and Parliament A police guard remains at a Clendon Park property where at least one body was removed yesterday. Our health correspondent will have the latest on a man who was stood down for posing as a doctor. A coroner has called for stricter aviation rules, after seven people were killed in a helicopter crash at Fox Glacier in 2015 And we look ahead to the All Blacks second test against South Africa.

Almost seven years after the death of seven people in a West Coast helicopter crash, a coroner has called for stronger aviation rules to prevent a similar disaster happening again. Some of the victims families are echoing the call for change. Timothy Brown reports.

Almost seven years after the death of seven people in a West Coast helicopter crash, a coroner has called for stronger aviation rules to prevent a similar disaster happening again. Soon after takeoff from Chancellor Shelf on November the 21st, 2015, an Airbus Helicopter smashed into Fox Glacier killing British tourists Helen and Nigel Charlton, Andrew Virco and Katherine Walker, and Australians Josephine Gibson and Sevonne Leang, as well as Kiwi pilot Mitchell Gameren. Nigel's brother, Paul Charlton, hopes some positive change comes from the tragedy. He spoke to Guyon Espiner.

South Westland businesses involved in a Jobs for Nature programme where the government pays their staff to work on conservation projects, are determined to find a way to keep it going after the funding runs out. As well as helping to keep the businesses afloat during the Covid disruptions, more than 70,000 hours have been spent trapping, weeding, maintaining tracks - and even finding an endangered bat species. The government has committed $3.78 million to the scheme and that'll end in June next year. At a recent hui at Fox Glacier many of the more than forty business who've signed up for the progamme agreed that it's done much more than simply keeping them afloat until tourism in the region rallies. Kathryn speaks with Rob Stewart from Skydive Skydive Franz Josef and Fox Glacier, Dale Burrows from Franz Josef Wilderness Tours and Wayne Costello from DoC.

Financial uncertainty hasn't stopped some West Coasters who have taken the plunge and set up shop in the midst of the pandemic. There was nearly a 70 per cent drop in spending by visitors to Franz Josef and Fox Glacier over the last couple of years. But when the going gets tough - the tough take risks. Tourism reporter Tess Brunton met some of them.

As if last week wasn't enough, West Coast has endured another night of heavy rain. West Coast districts from Buller and the Nelson lakes, to Westland south of Fox Glacier, were issued an orange heavy rain warning until this morning. Last night the road to Karamea was closed as a precaution due to the heavy rain expected overnight. Buller District Mayor Jamie Cleine spoke to Susie Ferguson.

State Highway 6 south of Fox Glacier is closed due to flooding on the West Coast of Te Waipounamu - the South Island. There's also minor flooding between Hokitika and Fox Glacier, and Westport to Mokihinu.   Intense rain from overnight has eased, but continues to fall.  MetService forecasts the rain to continue today, with heavy falls tomorrow.  A state of emergency has already been declared in Buller, giving Civil Defence controllers more power to take action. Civil Defence Group Controller on the West Coast Te Aroha Cook spoke to Corin Dann.

Businesses in Franz Josef and Fox Glacier are hundreds of staff short for the summer season with many struggling to find and afford workers. A recent survey paints a grim picture of South Westland with more business closures, job losses, poorer mental health and community members leaving. Tourism reporter Tess Brunton has more.

Did the country's aviation regulator do enough to prevent one of New Zealand's worst helicopter crashes from happening, and have changes been made to stop one happening again. These are some of the key questions the CAA's head of safety will face today at an inquest in Christchurch about the 2015 crash that claimed seven lives on top of Fox Glacier. Conan Young reports.

Did the country's aviation regulator do enough to prevent one of New Zealand's worst helicopter crashes from happening, and have changes been made to stop one happening again. These are some of the key questions the CAA's head of safety will face today at an inquest in Christchurch about the 2015 crash that claimed seven lives on top of Fox Glacier. Conan Young reports.

Fox Glacier businesses are holding out hope for a school holiday boost after a long and difficult winter. Several businesses have already closed in town and others are considering whether to hibernate or close, especially after the latest lockdown. Tess Brunton is in Fox Glacier and filed this report.

Around 3500 customers throughout the South Island's West Coast are still without cellphone reception, more than 24 hours after the network went down in wild weather yesterday. The outage started just before 4am yesterday, and is affecting mobile and broadband services in the Westland District, from Greymouth to the Fox Glacier. Communications with Westland District Council are also down. Chorus head of external communications Steve Pettigrew spoke to Susie Ferguson.

Today the Still Magic podcast heads to the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, to visit Reefton Distilling Co., home of Little Biddy Gin and Wild Rain Vodka And it is here that we meet Beth Scott, born and raised in nearby Fox Glacier village (formerly Weheka, pop. 249), but now very much at home in the big smoke that is Reefton (pop. 927) "up north". Beth took up the distilling reins after a very interesting career odyssey around the South Island, and a short stint overseas. A graduate in Food science and marketing from Otago University, Beth developed a professional interest in food quality, and new product development, coupled with interests in aromatherapy. As is often the case, it was an unlikely set of circumstances that brought Beth full circle to Reefton. Beth had heard about an initiative to start a distillery in Reefton around 2017, and decided to invest in the venture. Nick Secker, a fellow university graduate and local, was plucked from relative obscurity in the UK, had the best distilling induction ever, and was then offered the distilling role in the fledgling company. Nick invited Beth and a few other friends to visit Reefton, and magic unfolded after Beth's discussion with CEO and founder Patsy Bass. Serendipity writ large yet again. Experience in food science. New product development. Aromatherapy. Marketing. Energy. Enthusiasm. And a strong sense of guardianship. A finer array of skills, tailor-made for a craft spirits operation would be hard to find. And the rest as they say is history… that is, history in the making. So grab yourself a gin and tonic, sit back and join Beth Scott and I on another craft spirits adventure. Be bold. Enjoy yourself. Let's create a new gin narrative. Still Magic paperback, digital and audio copies available from your favourite online stores Host: Marcel Thompson     @stillmagicway contact@stillmagic.net Still Magic website Reefton Distilling Co. website Guest contributor: Beth Scott Voiceovers: Jules Brooke.  Contact here Jules Brooke Editor: Dave Stokes.  Contact here Author2Audio All Rights Reserved

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor is under fire for saying Covid-19 has taught the tourism industry not to be so cocky after losing its spot as the top export earner to dairy. He made the comments late last week at Central Districts Field Day. His West Coast -Tasman electorate includes Franz Josef and Fox Glacier - some of the hardest hit, tourism-reliant communities in the country. Tourism reporter Tess Brunton has more.

The Scenic Hotel Group has announced it will mothball four of its hotels in Fox Glacier and Franz Josef at the end of the season in May and they'll stay shut for up to a year and a half. Scenic Hotels managing director Brendan Taylor spoke to Corin Dann.

Franz Josef and Fox Glacier communities have been given the blunt message the government can't save every business that's struggling during the pandemic. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash visited the communities after they sent him a $35 million wish list of what help they wanted to keep them afloat. He didn't make any promises yesterday but Across Country Quad Bikes manager Dora Falconer told reporter Tess Brunton what she thinks is needed.

Franz Josef and Fox Glacier communities have been given the blunt message the government can't save every business that's struggling during the pandemic. A week ago, the two communities sent Tourism Minister Stuart Nash a $35 million wishlist of what they need to survive. The minister visited Franz Josef yesterday with Rural Communities Minister Damien O'Connor They didn't make any promises. Tourism reporter Tess Brunton is in Franz Josef and filed this story.

All talk and no support was the conclusion from Franz Josef and Fox Glacier locals after a meeting with the Tourism Minister today. Stuart Nash and West Coast Tasman MP Damien O'Connor fronted struggling businesses and residents who've issued a plea for $35 million to save livelihoods. Tourism reporter Tess Brunton was at the meeting in Franz Josef and filed this report.

Final gasps from tourism operators in some of the country's more remote areas.A new report paints a sobering picture of the West Coast's Glacier Country in the era of Covid-19.That includes the likes of Franz Josef and Fox Glacier.The report says 62 per cent of businesses in the area will not survive the winter without additional support.Franz Josef business operator Adam Haugh told Kate Hawkesby his town should be given assistance, given the impact they can have on the economy when tourists return.He says the district has the key infrastructure to boost the New Zealand tourism trade.A letter to Tourism Minister Stuart Nash from local tourism leaders, urges the Government to step in, with a cash injection of  almost $35-million, just to keep the region afloat.It also asks for mental health advisors and economic support staff to be appointed - to support the wellbeing of Covid-hit locals.LISTEN ABOVE

Fears enter towns could crumble if tourism operators aren't given a helping hand.The Tourism Minister made it clear to businesses this morning there's little money left to go round.Stuart Nash says any future wage subsidy funding is reserved for if the country moves Alert Levels.Tourism Industry Aotearoa warns its bad news for places like Fox Glacier and Frans Joseph which rely on overseas visitors.Nash says that he has been working with the Minister of Finance Grant Robertson on a package to support businesses severely affected by the lack of international customers.“What I have been very clear on is that the Minister of Finance and I are talking about what a package may look like. Nothing promised, but we do recognize that there are some in this sector that are doing it really hard at the moment, so when you say the whole tourism sector's in trouble that's not necessarily the case. But certainly those areas and the businesses that are really totally reliant on international customers are doing pretty hard.”Nash also says that a trans-Tasman bubble with Australia is dependent on the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders based on the government's decisions, on which they are working really hard to get done.“We would love to get a tourism bubble up and running with Australia this year. We would love to have a tourism bubble with Australia up and running next month. But it's not that simple. There's just been another outbreak in Victoria and as you're well aware, and we have been very open and transparent about this, we will make decisions based on the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders.”LISTEN ABOVE

Beach clean-up volunteer Des Watson tells Lynn Freeman he believes rubbish that exploded from the landfill near Fox Glacier last March is washing up 200 kms north at Westport. Des has spent the week filling up eight sackfulls of rubbish - mainly plastic and polystyrene - at Nine Mile Beach at Cape Foulwind near Westport, waste he says is typical of the type volunteers like him were picking up and around Okarito last autumn. Meanwhile Westland District mayor Bruce Smith says he's sceptical that rubbish comes from the tip.

A Fox Glacier tourism business decimated by the closing of New Zealand's borders says the sector will be in strife if the wage subsidy doesn't continue until next summer. Yesterday Grant Robertson announced the extension of the subsidy by eight weeks but increased the threshold for businesses to receive it. Rob Jewell says the subsidy has allowed him to hang on to his 58 full-time staff at Fox Glacier Guiding, but 97 percent of his customers are from overseas. He told RNZ reporter Jordan Bond the budget announcement took immediate weight off his shoulders knowing his staff's jobs are secure for longer.

Episode 56! This week we discuss Fox Glacier in all it's beauty! This was one of our favorite stops on our trip. Tiny town, big adventure! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/carryoncouplepodcast/message

A plan to avoid landfill disasters is being seen as an important step.Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage has announced a multi-agency response after tonnes of rubbish was exposed on the West Coast, when a storm eroded the old Fox Glacier landfill.Lisa Eve is a waste management consultant at Eunomia and told Kate Hawkesby it will address the lack of information in the sector and help with prioritisation.Eve says there needs to be a national project to determine which sites are most at risk.LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW ABOVE

The government has stepped in to clean up the vast West Coast rubbish spill, after local authorities ran out of cash to finish the job. But what's being done to stop it happening elsewhere? 

The Waiho Bridge has reopened after it was washed out in last month's wild weather.The bridge, which runs between Fox Glacier and Franz Josef, was destroyed after heavy rain hit the area last month.Development West Coast chief executive Chris Mackenzie told Tim Dower it's a critical time of year for tourist operators.He says in winter, tourists tend to be on the other side of the mountains for skiing, so the most has to be made of what's left of warmer weather."The critical thing with the West Coast is that it tends to have shoulders and peaks of the tourist season."This is a really important time of the season for us, we are still having 20 degree sunny days, we need the tourists at this time because during winter the weather isn't particularly nice."Mr Mackenzie says it's not just the glaciers down south which were hit, but also the upper areas of the coast."Some of the hardest hit areas are the towns with a larger population, like Hokitika and Greymouth, they are 70 percent down on business because of the bridge closure."

Howdy Joyriders! This is a special show - just in time for Father's Day! One half of the father-daughter duo of fatherdaughtercyclingadventures.com, Jocelyn Rice is with us! On this episode we talk about cycle touring the world (28,000 miles, 37 countries, 33 months! for more awesome stats, click here!) with her dad! Their website features detailed blog posts, and they even have a book! I'm a little sentimental in the intro to this show, friends. It's Father's Day as I type this. I lost my dad, Frank, to pancreatic cancer in 2010. I started really getting into cycling while I was helping to care for him in 2009 after moving back to New Jersey from living in upstate New York. That was the summer I got my first real bike, and Lance Armstrong's return to the TdF was super heroic and personally inspiring. I watched Le Tour, and would go on rides, pushing out the mileage to explore more and go further. In no small way, this time was instrumental in the reclamation of my life and health. I talked about that with Brock and Aaron from the Sprocket Podcast here. I used to ride on the D&R Canal Tow Path a lot, and my dad told me a story about how when he was a Boy Scout, he and his troop went on a bike overnight! They took the D&R Canal up, probably to its' terminus in Frenchtown, camped overnight, and then came back the next day. I thought that was really cool, and he thought my new interest in bikes was really cool. Check out some vintage posts about this time from my other life here, here, and here. Later, while cleaning out my parents house, I found this fantastic photo. I believe this photo was taken in front of the New Jersey National Guard Armory in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.   After my father passed away (on my birthday, actually) in 2010, I ended up selling some of his workshop tools on Craigslist and to a friend of the family. I used a few bucks from that to purchase my treasured Ortlieb roll-top panniers and my Apex tent in 2011 for my first bike tour - the Midway to Cape May ride. (Read about that here, here, and here. I talked about that ride with Tim from Pedalshift here.) These are essential pieces of gear, and in this way, I am still held and supported by my dad. In this way, he gets to join me on every bike camping experience. While I wish it could have been more, I am so thankful. Oh, one cool coincidence is that Jocelyn is from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and her dad is an electrical engineer who worked on the Space Shuttle program. My dad was a computer guy who worked as a consultant on some component (a camera, I think?) that is on the Lunar Rover. Something my dad worked on is on the friggin Moon right now. How cool is that? Here's a moody-looking pic of him (complete with early 80's jorts - wonder where I get it from?) in front of a LVR replica taken at the Kennedy Space Center.     Miss you, Pops* Happy Fathers Day. Xo Now, Let's Meet Jocelyn Rice! Here's a great pic of Jocelyn and her dad on tour:   Some topics discussed in this episode in no particular order: Jocelyn's first bike tour was in fifth grade! Warm Showers MSR Hubba Hubba (link to the newer version: Hubba Hubba NX) REI 3 Person Dome Hiring bikes in New Zealand. Some favorite roads - Cycling the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile Cycling in the snow out of Montenegro into Serbia Pocket tortillas and Green Papaya Salad. Surprising safety dynamic between Jocelyn and her dad. Keeping the wheels turning. Fox Glacier - ice climbing on a break day? Island Ometepe, Lake Nicaragua Her next (micro) adventure! Marakesh Express, Morocco Big thanks to Jocelyn for hanging out! Be sure to follow her on Instagram and of course at fatherdaughtercyclingadventures.com. Friends, you know I believe in the transformative power of the bike, in our personal lives, our communities, and the world at large. I would be super grateful if you'd leave a rating or review in iTunes, Stitcher, or via whatever method you listen. It helps more gals find the show, and I believe the more stories we share, the more women who ride, we make this world - both our internal and external worlds - better with every revolution. Remember: I read 5-star reviews out on the show because I love you. Ratings and reviews help with that, but nothing is better than a personal referral, it'd be rad if you would share the show with even just one woman who you think might dig it. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Keep moving forward and until next time I hope you enjoy the ride. Forever Forward, ~C

How many hours do you work on vacation? You don't. But then what about the e-mails? How do you deal with clients? Are you supposed to just close down your business? This episode shows you how we deal with vacations at Psychotactics. We've been going on our "three-month" vacations since 2004 and have had to work out a few "tricks". And you can use them too—and ensure a splendid vacation, instead of just "work by the beach". -------------------- In this episode Sean talks about Part 1: The Secret to handling email on holiday Part 2: How to handle social media while on holiday Part 3: How to deal with clients if there is an emergency Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.   Useful Resources About Time management—The Carpe Diem Method of Finding Work (And Vacation) Time 5000bc—How to get reliable answers to your complex marketing problems? Bonus Book—How To Win The Resistance Game Magic? Yes, magic: http://www.psychotactics.com/magic Products under $50: http://www.psychotactics.com/products/under-50/ So how do you subscribe to this free podcast? To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below: iTunes   |  Android   |  E-mail (and get special goodies)   | RSS   The  Transcript Hi, this is Sean D’Souza from psychotactics.com, and you’re listening to the Three Month Vacation Podcast. This podcast isn’t some magic trick about working less. Instead, it’s about how to really enjoy your work and enjoy your vacation time. This is the Three Month Vacation. I’m Sean D’Souza. In February of 2005 I had no intention of checking any email. That was because we were on our vacation in the South Island. Now New Zealand is a set of islands, as you probably know. There’s the North Island where we live, and the South Island. In the South Island, it’s truly breathtaking. It’s got rivers and mountains and glaciers, and there we were at Fox Glacier. Now Fox is an amazing glacier because it’s in close proximity to both the rainforest and the ocean. Now that’s pretty rare with a glacier, but the ice flow on Fox Glacier is also amazing. It changes as much as three meters a day, so it’s a pretty crazy place to be, and there we were walking on the glacier. When we had done that walk, we came down to check email. I didn’t check email for several days, and there was this little hut right next to the glacier. Yes, there’s email everywhere these days. I switched on the computer expecting nothing much, and there it was: an email telling me that our entire membership site was non-existent. This is the power of email. It can take a perfectly good day and make it an absolutely rotten one. In today’s episode we’re going to cover this topic of no work on vacation. We’re going to look at email and how to deal with email in vacation mode, and then how you deal with social media, and finally what do you do about clients while you’re on vacation. Let’s start off with the first thing, which is dealing with email. Part 1: Dealing With Email Imagine you’re having a great day and then you get a phone call. It says a child is in hospital, your child is in hospital. It doesn’t matter how happy you were at that moment. Your mood changes. Immediately you want to take control. Immediately you want to be with that child. Immediately you’re transported right back to that situation that in a way you can’t control, but need to be there. Now email isn’t quite the same situation, but it still has that power. It still has that power to pull you back into that work mode. You’re sitting somewhere having a margarita enjoying the sunset, and then you read email and your mood changes. You’re back in work land. It can be a good email, a bad email, a frustrating email. It doesn’t matter. You’re no longer where you are and you’re some other place where you shouldn’t be, which is back at work. How do we deal with this at Psychotactics? Remember that incident at Fox Glacier where I read that email? It made me feel terrible. I’d just gone up the glacier. I was in this absolutely stunning mood. Then I had to read that email. The point is that I couldn’t do anything. That website was down. They had erased it down to zero pixels. Then they did a backup of that website, the one that they erased, so we had nothing. Then clients started writing in telling us that the website was down. Then I had to write back to clients. I spent several hours at that little hut responding to email. How do you deal with such a situation? How do you control this so that you’re not completely dealing with work the whole time that you’re away? Because you need to leave email at home when you go on vacation. Here’s how we do it. For one, we don’t check the primary email. We get someone else to check email while we’re away. Here’s how it works. When that someone else is checking email, they’re getting rid of all the stuff that really takes up a lot of your time, so any spam, any offers, all that just goes in the trash straight away. Now on a day to day basis I probably read it because it’s valuable and I’ve subscribed to it and I want to read it, but while I’m on vacation I don’t need that email. All of that goes trashed right away. What else is left? There are emails where someone has not got a download or someone needs some kind of help. Usually there are canned messages, so there are messages where they can get their downloads or things that come up on a frequent basis. It’s very rare that you’re going to get new episode all the time. Most of the emails that you’re responding to, they are old matters, and if you have canned messages, and I use Text Expander on my computer, and those canned messages go out and the matter is resolved. This leaves us with the urgent email, the email that simply cannot be ignored. There are two ways to handle this. The first way is to create an email address like, say, vacation@psychotactics.com. Then you instruct that person to send email there only if it’s absolutely critical, that it cannot be put off in any way. If it’s super critical, than they should have your phone number and they should get in touch with you. Then again, let’s assume you want to keep it just to email. You have the special box with a special email address, and you notice nothing is showing up day after day, because after all, the box is for urgent stuff and there isn’t any urgent stuff. You don’t give up. You just and you check that email repeatedly several times a day. Then you realize there’s nothing there after all. You wait for the phone call, and the phone call never comes. We have been going on vacation since 2004. We work for three months, then we take a month off. In that month we almost never have to deal with email because all of it is taken care. The stuff that needs to be attend later is put in a box. When we get back, we deal with that. And so you remain email-free. But email isn’t the only way that people can get in touch with you these days. There’s also this menace called social media. Let’s talk about social media, shall we? Part 2: Social Media In May 2015, after doing an infoproducts workshop in Washington D.C. and speaking at an event in Denver, we headed off to Sardinia. We moved from the south of Sardinia right up to the north. There was this wonderful hotel called Hotel Cuncheddi, or Cala Cuncheddi. I had 500 megabytes of data, so guess what? I was going to use it. Except there was a small problem. This data was connected to a satellite. You only got 500 megabytes, and if you exceeded those 500 megabytes you had to buy more data. I went outside and I took some pictures of the beach. It’s a glorious beach and beautiful views, and I uploaded three pictures. Instantly, my 500 megabytes was exhausted. I couldn’t surf the internet anymore. Now if you know anything about the internet and technology, that’s impossible. Anything uploaded to Facebook is probably going to be a few megabytes, maybe four or five megabytes. You can’t use up 500 megabytes in about 30 seconds, but there was a glitch in their system. Because of the glitch, I couldn’t access the internet, I couldn’t check Facebook, I couldn’t go on any kind of social media platforms. And so I didn’t. I found the beach. I found that I didn’t have to look at my phone, I didn’t have to look at the iPad. I did what my grandfather and my father did. I actually went out and enjoyed myself. Just because you’re not checking email doesn’t mean that you’re not connected. When you get into this whole deal of Facebook or Twitter or any social media stuff, you get involved in something. Maybe someone is going to talk about global warming or gun control, or something about some politician or something, and immediately it yanks you back into this frustrating situation where you’re either for it or against it and your mood is spoiled. You’re not looking at the beach. You’re looking down at your phone. You’re looking down at your iPad. It might not be work, but it still takes you away from where you should be. It still messages to ruin your mood. It still creates that state change. That’s not usually for the better. I hope that I’m going to take Cala Cuncheddi with me wherever I go, where I can upload three photos and then I’m done and then I can’t access the internet anymore. It is a price to pay because we’re so tied to our phones and our iPads and our mobile devices. Yet it’s so critical that we step away from it, because somehow it pulls us back. Remember that clients can still contact you. They can send messages to you through Facebook Messenger or through some method like Skype. Immediately you’re yanked back. I know that asking someone to get rid of their internet while they’re on vacation is like asking them to get rid of one of their arms. But I can tell you from experience that it’s good. I say this with a lot of reluctance because I want to hold that phone, I want to take the pictures, I want to upload them, I want to do stuff like that. The moments that I’ve not done it, the days I’ve not done it, they have been truly splendid. So no email, and definitely no social media. That takes us to the third part, which is how are we going to deal with clients? What if there’s an emergency? Part 3: How Are We Going To Deal With Clients? I remember the year that Renuka and I got married. We told clients that we were going on our honeymoon. It was amazing, because everyone said, “We wish you all the best.” One thing that they made sure was not to contact us in any way. How about making it a honeymoon every single time? How about staying away from clients while you’re on vacation? This is what your parents did. This is what our grandparents did. They went on vacation. No matter how rich they were or poor they were, they just left their work and in the summer they would go to some place like a village or their hometown, and they were completely cut off from work. We live in a different world and we think we should be connected to our clients all the time. Really this depends on you. It depends on how you set up things. When we have courses we make sure that the courses end a week before we go on vacation, so we can tidy up everything and then we can go on our vacation. In fact, before going on vacation we pack our bags three or four days before we have to get on the flight, and then the vacation starts while we’re still in Auckland. Then we leave. No one contacts us about the courses. No one contacts about products that they can’t download or can’t get, because someone else is handling that. Only while we’re away someone else is handling that. Then it’s the third thing which is the membership site. I go into 5000bc.com, that’s our membership site, and I go there, I don’t know, 15, 20 times a day. If you ask a question, I respond with just the answer or sometimes I’ll write a series of answers, do an audio or video even just to give you the answer. Our clients, they get used to this level of response, but the moment I’m away they know I’m away. If I were to pop in, and it’s not like I haven’t tried, they instantly tell me I should leave. That I need to go and enjoy my vacation, because that’s what vacation is all about. What you’re doing is you’re actually setting up the client’s so that they tell you to go away. That’s what our members do. If I try to check email or if I try to get back into the membership site, they tell me to go away. What we’ve done from the very start is inculcated in our clients the fact that our vacation is sacred, so they treat it like that. They treat it like as if we’re going on honeymoon. Every time we try to get back, we get a rap on the knuckles and we’re back in Margarita land. We’ve made a big deal about the vacation, and I think that’s what you need to do as well. You need to tell clients that while you’re away you can’t be reached. Of course they don’t reach you, but are there any exceptions to this rule? Of course there are exceptions to the rule. The point is that you are checking email. I’m checking email 270 days in a year. When I’m at work, I’m checking email, I’m go to the forums, I’m go to the membership site, I’m going on social media. It’s very hard to just slow down and go okay, I’m not doing this anymore. I’ll try, but it’s nice to get booted out. It’s nice to go and enjoy yourself and have a good time. Even when I got that email at Fox Glacier it wasn’t like I could do anything. I couldn’t bring the website back up again. In fact, the website was down for 17 days. When we got back, we apologized to our clients. Then we got back to work. We got to building 5000bc. That’s where it is today. Many of those clients, they’re still with us today after all of these years.Vacation time should be sacred, should be a place every go to where you can re-energize and relax and learn stuff about cultures, and then come back and get back to work with full gusto. Summary That brings us to the end of this podcast. Three things that we covered. The first thing is if you need to have email attack you, then create a separate email address and only the urgent stuff goes there. Even better, just don’t get any email. If there’s something utterly urgent, they’ll then call you. Otherwise, get someone to deal with the email with canned messages. You want to stay off Facebook and Twitter and any kind of social media. You want to put yourself in a situation where you’re just disconnected. Finally, you want to train your clients right at the start. You want to let them know that vacation is a time when I’m going to be away. You will be surprised at how they respect this almost like it’s a honeymoon, every single time you go on vacation. It’s 5:59 AM and it’s time for that walk and to listen to some audiobooks and podcasts. I hope you’ve been enjoying this podcast. If you have been enjoying it, please go and leave a review on iTunes. If you haven’t already subscribed, it’s that big purple button. All you have to do is go and click it. If you’re on Android you can go to Stitcher and download the Stitcher app, and you can get all the downloads. I’m on Twitter @seandsouza and on Facebook at Sean D’Souza. You can email me at vacation@psychotactics.com. No, just kidding. I’m at work right now. Email me at sean@psychotactics.com. This episode, for instance, was a response to someone asking how do we deal with work on vacation. The answer is you don’t. We’ve got to cartooning course starting off shortly. I don’t know when you’re going to listen to this podcast, but if you don’t get the cartooning course this year, then it’s all the way into 2016, so the cartooning course, which is thatwww.psychotactics.com/davinci. At the end of the year in November, we’re going to have the first 50 words course. This is a course that shows you how to start a podcast or webinars or write stuff in your articles. The first 50 words it drives us absolutely bonkers, and the first 50 words course shows you that. You’ll never have to struggle with the first 50 words ever again. You’ll become an amazing storyteller. That’s the first 50 words course. You have to be on the Psychotactics newsletter list so that you can get the notification when the course is due. That’s pretty much it for this episode. Thank you for tuning in. Bye for now. You can also listen to or read this episode: #50:The Early Years-Psychotactics-Moving to New Zealand