Note: This first appeared as a guest post on the Charlotte Moms website.

I am supposed to be at the beach as a write this. Our family was going to go to the Carolina coast for some needed R&R, but things got changed around.

So instead of soaking up the sun and the salt water, I’m landlocked in Charlotte. The family is making do with local activities instead.

The good news is, the kids don’t mind. They are four and six, so they move on pretty quickly. Our waterslide in the backyard is about as entertaining in many ways as the beach. Or at least I justify as much.

The truth is this year, money is tight and we agonize over every decision to go somewhere. We just did a long weekend in the mountains, and we’re spending several days at Dollywood in August, so squeezing another trip in just didn’t work. So the beach is out this year, at least during the height of the summer.

The other big factor is my job. I’m an entrepreneur, and taking time away is doubly tough. Usually when I’m not working, it means I’m not getting paid…or things pile up so fast that it’s hard to go away for long and come back to face the onslaught of missed tasks.

I think this tends to be a problem for most people today, whether you’re self-employed or not. There’s a certain guilt factor in addition to the real problem of having too much stuff to do and not enough hours in the day to do it.

Still, I’m not one of those who wants to give up going away in order to stay chained to my desk chair. Sadly, I’d rather be watching the surf than surfing the Web.

But in this economy, downtime often has to take a back seat to productivity. It saddens me, and I wish I could win the lottery and not have to worry about paying bills again.

Until then, I will play with the wife and kids at the pool, do as much fun stuff as possible near the house and save up for our long-deserved beach retreat.

Photo Credit: Milan.Boers

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