The Cottage Life

by Heather Bayer

I’d just spent half an hour describing a cottage I was renting out to a lady looking to book it for her family vacation, when she said, “It does have high speed internet access doesn’t it? I need to stay connected." After gently steering her in the direction of another location more attuned to the communication needs of the 21st century public servant on vacation, it dawned on me just how much cottage vacations and work/life balance have changed.

Not so long ago, cottages were perceived in a different light. Fully equipped meant luxuries like electricity, an indoor toilet, and a TV with rabbit-ear antennas that, if you were lucky, picked up two channels with more snow than a blizzard off Lake Huron in the middle of February. The kids played outside; dad fished off the dock; and in the evenings the whole family played games together – Scrabble, Pinochle – or read books whose reading had been put off for too long. And late-night meanderings to the outhouse were lit with a flashlight. Work was left behind with all its attendant stress and worry. Aggravation was a board game we enjoyed, not a text message from the boss. A vacation was just that – a vacation; a getaway from it all; a time to relax, unwind and spend some real quality time with the people we love.

And for an ever-declining few, this is still the case. Their little piece of paradise is the opportunity to capture that elusive nirvana – the one place where the cell phone doesn’t buzz; where the only demand for their time is from the kids wanting yet another lesson on frog anatomy; and meetings take place on the dock or around the campfire, where the agenda includes the size of trout caught, whether the deck railings could go another year without re-staining, and conflict resolution means separating the dog from the raccoon living under the woodshed.

But times are a-changing. Surveys clearly show that the blurring of work life and personal life is unlikely to slow down. Most people expect to be connected to their network virtually anywhere: in the car; at the coffee shop; at home; and, increasingly, on vacation. Purists are horror-struck to hear that if they want to rent out their cottage for any significant amount, high on their guests’ criteria may be a satellite TV, dishwasher and laundry facilities, as well as good cell signal and internet connectivity.

It doesn’t seem long ago that when we were called upon to find a ‘rustic’ cottage, this meant minimalist living – wood fires, candlelight and a propane powered icebox. Now it means surviving on dial-up internet and roughing it without a Jacuzzi.

So, has the cottage become just an extension of home? For managers compelled to stay in touch with the office, it has become a compromise – an escape from commuting and an opportunity to be with the family while still having the ability to stay in touch with work. Their argument is that not having the communication lines in place would create more stress than the cottage created relaxation. Otherwise, they might have to forego a vacation altogether.

For a truly relaxing vacation, how that fine balance of work and non-work life is achieved is a matter of individual choice. For those looking for a ‘rustic’ cottage to rent, there are still a few heavenly spots remaining where the only BlackBerry in sight is in a pie; where, once the fresh corn and tomatoes have been carefully selected from the roadside stand and the prospect of an evening spent sharing stories has lured you back to the cottage, all thoughts of staying in touch with the office will have vanished from your mind. For those who must stay connected, more and more vacation properties are providing that capacity. It is yours to choose.

My hat goes off to those who decide to leave work behind and take a real break, safe in the knowledge that life goes on back at the coal face, with or without them. In the words of Cicero, “He does not seem to me to be a free man who does not sometimes do nothing”.


Heather Bayer is the author of Renting for Profit – A guide to successful cottage rental (www.clrm.ca).