So you continued to work 3-5 per day while on vacation? Is this work on a personal project or for an employer? I just finished a weeks vacation where I did not do a single minute of work, or even check email. This was not the case in the past. I'm so glad I did. Sure, there were things waiting for me when I got back, even a minor emergency. But the world didn't end and my coworkers appreciated that I was back so I could resume my duties.
I quit my 9-5 last year so I work for myself 100% now. Of course I wish I could have not worked the entire time, but I had a website to launch, a new website to supervise, videos to convert, and clients who need their hands held. While it sucks to work on vacation, invoicing ~10k the day you get back from vacation ain't too shabby. It is a completely different mentality when you work for yourself vs work for a company. Every hour of my day could or could not be billable. It is 100% up to me how much or how little I want to work, what clients I would like to keep billing, which projects I want to take, etc. I will say it's a lot easier to fuck off and go to the beach when you aren't counting the money you could have made by not going to the beach.
Nice read. At least when you are working during your vacation, it is to your direct benefit. It's upsetting when you see salaried employees pressured to work during vacations and after hours (I've been there). It seems like there's a bit of trade-off, but one that seems to be working for you.