We all need time off and we all have backups. If not, how do huge companies survive when employees resign? Trust me. Your inbox will remain your inbox and "I am so busy" will remain "I am so busy".
Do yourself a favor this week. If you are taking a day off, defer questions to someone else AND LET THEM HANDLE IT! There is no reason to feel guilty for taking a few days off. Here is my exact out of office message:
"Thank you for the email. I will be out of the office until November 26th spending time with my family over the holiday. Please contact my backup John Smith at john.smith@acme.com. John has the full resources of my team and will be able to resolve your concern immediately. If not, he will escalate this issue to my Vice President.I have used a variation of this for 10 years. Obviously, your manager is never contacted. My backup has my home number and if needed I can get involved. However, I have found that nothing gets escalated to this degree over a holiday. My message is friendly but I don't stay 'on-call' for any complainer that has a bad day.
If you require simple technical support please dial 1-800-111-1111."
Just my $0.02. It works.
