What “Out of office” really means during the holidays

The holidays are coming.
Or you already took a few days off.
Or you simply decided you are not answering emails while eating too much food, scrolling on your phone, or lying somewhere far away from your laptop. During the holidays, out of office email holidays messages rarely describe what is actually happening.

And yet – people still email.
Clients. Partners. Someone who “just has a quick question.”

Your out-of-office reply becomes your digital stand-in. It speaks for you while you are offline. And honestly, there is no reason it has to sound boring.

Below are a few out-of-office examples you can use during the holidays. Some are more playful, some calmer, some slightly sarcastic. Pick the one that feels most like you.

Why I am not answering your email during the holidays

The truth is, during the holidays, no one is really “out of the office” in the way the standard auto-reply suggests. People are just busy with other, far more important things.

Like sitting on a bench at the mall, holding bags, while someone shops for gifts and promises this is the last store.
It is almost never the last store.
This usually wraps up around January 2.

I am out of the office for the holidays. I am most likely sitting at the mall waiting for “one more store,” so I will respond on January 2.

Or maybe you are visiting family. Not the short kind of visit. The real kind. With a full table, “you sure you do not want more,” and stories that start with “back in the day” and do not have a clear ending.

In moments like that, emails are not forgotten. They are simply pushed aside by more urgent tasks, like nodding, smiling, and explaining for the third time that you are actually full. This situation also tends to resolve itself around January 2.

I am out of the office for the holidays and trying to convince my family that I am not hungry anymore. I will realistically be back to emails on January 2.

If there are kids involved, things get even more complicated. Gifts get opened in two minutes, and then someone has to assemble something that looked easy on the box but requires time, patience, at least one screwdriver, and six batteries.

Until that is done and everyone is reasonably happy, work mode feels very far away. Realistically, recovery happens around January 2.

I am currently offline because I am assembling a holiday gift that looked simple on the box. I now have two screwdrivers, six batteries, and 58 pages of instructions. I will catch up on email on January 2.

There is also that moment with relatives when a conversation starts with “how have you been” and somehow turns into a complete family history, with no breaks for air.

You are there, listening, fully present.
And you know there is no way to follow this conversation and respond thoughtfully to email at the same time.

That is not disrespect. It is basic attention math. And it gets resolved after January 2.

I am not available during the holidays because I am at family gatherings, actively nodding through conversations with no end and listening to stories from 1994. I will be back to emails on January 2.

To be completely honest, people are not offline during the holidays because they do not care. They are offline because life temporarily gets louder, fuller, and more demanding than their inbox. And it is perfectly normal to admit that.

The standard “I am out of the office” message does its job. But sometimes the truth is simply that you are at the mall, at the table, with family, with kids, or somewhere in between all of that. And that you will reply… on January 2.

The truth is simple

All of these messages say the same thing:
you are not replying right now, and it is clear when that will change.

The difference is that they sound like a person, not an automatic template.

I am not saying you should use messages like these.
But I am also not saying you should not.

And if you decide to set an out-of-office reply and wonder how to do it technically, the next article walks through the steps in cPanel, one by one.

After January 2, of course.

P.S. JetHost support does not use an out-of-office auto-reply. We stay available, keep services running, and help anyone who needs us.
Including those who might just want a short break from a family gathering.