Graduating from Northern Arizona University, I am an official Lumberjack. As such, and by law, I must occasionally venture off into the wilderness to be among the trees.

That’s the plan for the coming weekend and, I’ve got to tell you, I’m a little conflicted about it.

My buddy Jeremy has an annual birthday camping trip and, for the past decade, I’ve done my best to make those events a priority. It may be his birthday, but having a great reason to reconnect with friends and disconnect from the world is, in my mind, a gift for everyone involved.

Jeremy’s folks usually organize the trip, and they do it up big every year. Friends, family, neighbors and the like are invited to pile into a collection of campsites up north, where we create our own little tent village for a couple of days.

The kids run around screaming their heads off, the adults sit around and catch up on each other’s lives and then we all come together for big meals that put what I eat in “the real world” to shame.

If we’re camping near a lake, we usually get in some fishing. If not, then we pass the time going on hikes, playing games or just enjoying each other’s company.

I always take a book camping. Not my tablet, but an actual bound collection of pages. Nothing really compares to thumbing through a collection of short stories or a good novel while the wind blows through the pines.

I also make a habit of turning my phone off when we arrive, not to be fiddled with until we’re hitting the road for the drive home on Sunday. Even if there’s a scrap of signal at the campsite, I prefer to take advantage of this one opportunity a year to go completely dark.

I think that’s a big part of why I enjoy camping so much, and also why I’m so torn about going this year.

I’m something of a workaholic. If I could be doing work, I have a hard time making myself unwind and do anything else. Up in the woods, it’s impossible for me to lug around a laptop or try to put out fires via text and email. Since I literally can’t get work done, it’s one of the few times I can tell myself “there’s literally nothing you can do about this right now, so you might as well go explore that trail or tell a ghost story that will make it impossible for the kids to sleep tonight.”

It’s important to put ourselves in situations like this from time to time, even if we don’t think we can “afford” it. Health issues and the like have made things tricky around the office this year. We’ve been short-staffed for a number of reasons and, honestly, I almost convinced myself that I couldn’t just disappear on everyone for three days if I wasn’t bleeding from the ears.

But we all need to recharge our batteries from time to time. Choosing between the insanity of day to day life and spending time with family and friends should not be as difficult a decision as we allow ourselves to make it. I guess I’m just saying that it’s as important to take care of ourselves as it is to juggle all of that other important stuff in our lives.

It’s easy to forget that, but hopefully this weekend will provide me with a nice reminder.