Balancing Work and Play: Employees Share Vacation Memories

Sunny Days. Kids out of school. So much fun to be had.

The summer season is the perfect time for a vacation. Our #LifeAtATT family covered the globe with some incredible trips. Check out some of their travel stories and learn about the benefits that helped make it possible.

Carmen’s Trip to Cuba

Summer vacation 2022 was one for the books! I had the best experience with my husband, my daughter and her godparents.

We spent eight days in Cuba and we really got to have two experiences in one. We were able to spend three days in an all-inclusive resort along with friends and family on one of the best beaches Cuba has to offer, Varadero. My favorite part of the trip was being able to take my daughter to see her father’s childhood friends and see where he grew up. We were able to show her how fortunate she is to live in the United States. This experience was very humbling for us as a family; we were able to baptize my daughter at the same church my husband was baptized in.

I am beyond grateful to be a part of such an amazing company with great benefits to go and enjoy my family with no worries. This was my first vacation where I understood the importance of living in the moment and unplugging 100%. Work-life balance is extremely important to be able to disconnect. Thank you AT&T for truly valuing employees’ well-being by providing such valuable paid time off.

Blair’s Trip to the United Arab Emirates

I took a trip with my husband, Brandon, and a few of our friends to the UAE for 12 days. We flew to Dubai for a couple days before our UAE cruise visiting Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Sir Bani Yas before cruising back to Dubai.

Visiting the UAE was beautiful, the architecture Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, The Dubai Mall, and The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque were all stunning. The experiences such as Al-Lahbab desert dune bashing and camel rides were more than expected but the PINNACLE of the trip was an experience in Qatar. My husband and I went to a local restaurant outside the market in Qatar, where we met a man named Soliman. Long story short, Soliman welcomed us over to join him for a meal, he was from Egypt but had worked in DC years prior and often visited Richmond, VA where I went to college. After sharing stories and a meal; his hospitality continued; together we visited the market, local coffee cart & tea shop, falcon hospital, local merchants and finally the stables, where Soliman brought sugar cubes to make a round with the horses. Soliman didn’t venture out for lunch that day expecting to meet us and we definitely wouldn’t have imagined our day in Qatar would be such an experience.

The city was nice but the kindness of Soliman was the experience that money can’t buy but makes traveling memorable.

My PTO benefits allow for 2 consecutive weeks off for such trips. This longer available time allows for multiple travel days, time to explore multiple countries in one trip with time to arrive back home, settle-in and hop back into work refreshed.

My advice is that disconnecting may not mean for hours or days, but learning to be present where you are and who you are with. Time is fleeting both at work and in life, be present in each to maximize your time.

Uma’s Trip to Hawaii

I spent nine wonderful days with my husband and kids visiting my sister in the wonderful Island of Oahu, Hawaii! We did a Go Tour of the many hidden gems of Oahu which was amazing. We all learned lots of information about the history and language of the Hawaiian people and got some amazing pictures.

Because this year’s summit meeting was cancelled; I used the money to book the trip for my entire family to go to Hawaii.  I was Very Blessed and Super Thankful for winning this year as I was able to give my family a much needed vacation. We got to spend quality time with my sister and brother-in-law while in Aloha Paradise.

This was our first major vacation since covid. Being away from our normal, everyday environment made such a difference. We didn’t realize how much we just needed to get away for a while to recharge and re-energize until we were there. Now, I am back at working feeling refreshed.

Alisha’s Trip to the Bahamas

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to the Bahamas with my 6-year-old daughter and little sister (also an AT&T employee!) We had an amazing time in Exuma, where we stayed with a local family in a little community right on the beach for a week. We loved so much about the trip: the private beach, friendly locals, trying the local food and being around all the wildlife. We had a blast swimming with the pigs about a mile across the Ocean from our beach and even swam with two curious stingrays that were in the area…we named them Steve and Stave. Thunderball Grotto was beautiful and there were swarms of tropical fish for feeding and pictures.

Hands down, though, the best part of the trip was swimming with the nurse sharks at Compass Cay. We got to get in the water with wild nurse sharks and interact with them in their world. You could pet them, feed them and hold them for a short time. My daughter even found a baby that was just her size!

Since my sister and I both work for AT&T, we were able to take this amazing trip with our paid time off and did not have to worry about taking a pay hit or missing time at work. It really allowed us to relax and refresh. I think that getting away and having personal time with family is so important to a healthy body and mind. Putting a focus on staying healthy is not all about eating right and exercise, it is also about balancing work and play.

AT&T gives us the ability to take time away to really focus on us. Because we get the flexibility to schedule our time off, we get to plan trips like this and experience different places and cultures. We loved this trip so much and never would have had the ability to do it together if it weren’t for the stability that working for AT&T has given us.

Danny’s Trip to London

I just took a trip across the pond to visit my husband’s brother, who has been stationed there for the last four years. This is the first time we have been able to travel and visit his 6-year-old, twin nieces since the pandemic! We had a “jolly good” time in Oxford touring around the old buildings from the Harry Potter era.

My favorite part was the time we spent in downtown London. The streets were buzzing with energy in celebration of London Pride. We were able to take the twins to the parade and watch their faces light up with the vibrant colors and the roar of the applause from the parade.

I’m not sure work and life are ever in balance, but if you do not take time to recharge your own battery, it becomes increasingly difficult to deliver the best version of yourself at work or at home. AT&T makes it extremely easy to take time for that trip to Europe or wherever. You have the benefits from the time you are hired so that you can go see family you haven’t seen in years! The company has a policy that encourages us as employees to use all of our PTO before the end of the year so that we prioritize ourselves and take time to recharge.

And to that I say, “Cheerio!”

Work-life balance is essential to our people and we are always striving to provide the tools to help them achieve it.