In 4HWW, Ferriss advocates a 2-3 month ‘vacation’ initially (p.256, revised edition):

“True freedom is much more than having enough income and time to do what you want. It is quite possible [...] to have financial and time freedom but still be caught in the throes of the rat race. One cannot be free from the stresses of a speed- and size-obsessed culture until you are free from the materialistic addictions, time-famine mind-set, and comparative impulses that created it in the first place.

This takes time. The effect is not cumulative, and no number of two-week (also called “too weak”) sightseeing trips can replace one good walkabout.

In the experience of those I’ve interviewed, it takes two to three months just to unplug from obsolete routines and become aware of just how much we distract ourselves with constant motion. [...]

Learn to slow down. Get lost intentionally. Observe how you judge both yourself and those around you. [...] Take at least two months to disincorporate old habits and rediscover yourself without the reminder of a looming return flight.“

I realized even though I’ve been implementing 4HWW ideas for about 2.5 years, I’ve never actually done this while unplugging from work. I always took my laptop, or checked e-mail regularly (from internet cafes or whatever - even if I wasn’t responding to the e-mail).

I recently went on a vacation for a little less than a week and implemented some of the above ideas as an experiment.

I did 3 things in particular:

1. I didn’t take my laptop. I had traveled without my laptop before, but not combined with …

2. I didn’t check e-mail. At all. In fact, I never used a computer during the entire trip, including internet cafes.

3. I also turned my cell phone on silent mode, and rarely checked it.

I think doing the above 3 things increases the effectiveness of the time by something like 3-5 times. So, 1 day of vacation without laptop, e-mail, or cell phone = 3-5 days of ‘vacation’ with.

For example, somewhere between days 2 and 3 I completely relaxed and forgot about what business e-mails might be coming in. Interestingly, though, by day 4 I started to get excited about business projects.

Turning the internet off also forced me to rely on people and local signs for information about what was happening and where to go. This was actually more fun, I found.