Basically I’m wondering how other people are handling things like this, and if anyone has any ideas of how to allow yourself to go on “vacation mode” without sabotaging the rest of the month (either by losing all your life points or by setting super easy goals for the entire month).

Maybe you should add this as an idea to the idea tracker? E.g. a “pause” game feature where you don’t have to “play” and you won’t lose health points (obviously you won’t earn points either)

Good point – I just went ahead and did that. I’m still curious to hear how other people have been balancing their rules & vacations, though!

I’m definitely interested in this idea. And open to ideas. I like the idea of a “Get out of jail free” card. Maybe it can be one of the things you specify at the beginning of the month if you think you’ll need it later on.

In the meantime, you could just explain your vacation in a plea for fruit… I’m sure people would understand and help heal you back up. That would break your streaks though… and maybe they should. Thoughts?

I also am in this same position. I began starting my September rules and realized that I would not have daily internet connection, nor would I be able to follow most of my rules as I’ll be pretty much on an eating/drinking holiday in Spain. I like the idea of a ‘pause’ game feature! I’ll be away for 16 days… so I for sure will lose all my points. Otherwise I could always start again in October… but I do really want to keep this going when I return :)

I like the idea of a get-out-of-jail-free card. Maybe you could win it on the wheel or “buy” it with a certain amount of fruit or a streak or something?

However, I don’t like the idea of a pause button! I think it’s okay to let loose on vacation, but it’s also important to know how much you’re letting loose. One of the huge revelations about this game for me is awareness of my habits. I don’t like telling on myself for sneaking extra sodas, but if I step on my scale and my weight is higher than it was before, it’s so much easier to make the connection between bad choices and not reaching my goals.

All good ideas. I just want to add that since you start with 10 points I think it is reasonable to use that (lose them) normally when you can’t follow rules for whatever reason, like vacation time. Like Buster pointed out, Pleading for fruit is a good way to get your points back (and doesn’t change the dynamic of the game and/or gives anyone an advantage/disadvantage). Now, for giving people a handicap of some kid because they expect to go on vacation could be played like a card (like you get from the wheel, which would help maintain the same game dynamic) or it could be a separate request (probably while you are picking out the rules) that would surpress lost points for the days you don’t play, but also would not give you any points.

@Raven: I’ve also thought about how to handle not having daily internet access (although I always find a way to get at least 10 minutes, since I have an obscene streak on 750words that I am unwilling to relinquish yet) — the site will let you catch up on missed turns when you come back, though. I’ve thought about maybe keeping a tiny notebook (say, a little Moleskine or a Scoutbook) for things that would be obnoxious to remember off the top of my head — then I can fill them in on the site later.