We've reached that time of the year where – if you work in an office – colleagues come and go with the rapidity of characters in a Whitehall farce. It's not the same as breaking up for the holidays from school or university, but it has a similar sort of feel to it. Depending on how the holidays fall, you can go a month without seeing some people.

Rhodri Jones, i's production supremo, has just returned from holiday in the Vendee with his wife and two young children. Linda Taylor, who oversees production of The Independent, is taking a staycation next week so she and her daughter Skye can help their new Bengal kittens settle in.

Lisa Markwell is in Scotland, Alice Jones is in Cheshire, and Stefano is back from his idyllic holiday in Sardinia on Monday. As for me, I'm off to Slovenia and northern Italy next week with my daughter. We're on tour with her school choir (I'm standing in as an alto) and we'll be performing in Ljubljana, in Verona and in St Mark's in Venice.

It's not all singing – we'll be visiting the Postojna caves (about 20 miles east of Trieste), and Lake Garda, and trying out the summer toboggan at Bled. I'll probably need another holiday when I get back.

Until then, whether you are at home or away, have a great summer.

Stefano Hatfield is away.