Ideal no. of vacation days per year?

[drsel]

Dear experts,

1) What in your estimate is the ideal number of vacation days per year to enjoy life to the fullest without compromising on your job/business/career?

2) What percentage of these holidays should be on a cruise?:cool:

[marchie1053]

365 days per year (unless it's a Leap Year)! We're fortunate enough to be retired and to be able to split our time between our main home (in Scotland) and our hovel in France that we bought as a 6 months renovation project in September 2010 (10 days to go until the start of Year 8 of the renovations ... not everything goes to plan ...). We split the time roughly equally and whilst we are in France, we pack our wee Trailer Tent and clear off to Campings Municipal sites (run by the local authority) for 7-10 days at a time. These are ridiculously cheap (we paid less than £10 per night for 2 adults, car, trailer and electrical supply in mid-July this year!) and have a lovely atmosphere and setting near to Town Centres so we can walk to collect fresh bread etc! Then we go back to the house and do a bit of renovation - and after that, we take a cruise (a little more expensive and more formal than the camping!). Last year we had 37 days' camping, 5 cruises totalling 81 days and about 50-60 days working on the house - which explains why we're about to start Year 8! The pleasure is in the variety of 'routine' (there isn't one!) and the type of break - after a cruise, it's quite pleasant to return to do a small amount of renovation work or to go back to basics camping and eating meals cooked on a 2 burner bottled gas cooker - porridge, omelettes and pasta! And then we drive back to Scotland and catch up with friends and neighbours - so another change of activity/routine. We haven't reached the stage of boredom yet and I hope we never do!

[navybankerteacher]

The US is probably the one modern industrial country with no statutory mandatory paid vacation time - and apparently the least amount regularly given. Western European countries all seem to require a minimum of three weeks, with U.K., France, and Scandinavian countries about four weeks.

 

That said - the ideal would be six weeks - to permit a full month for serious travel plus ten days to take here and there.

 

School teachers in the US seem to have the most time off - but that is generally limited to specific times.

[Extra Kim]

In Sweden we have 25 days payed vaccation until we turn 40, then we get 31 days and after we turn 50 we get 32 days. This does not include "red days".

 

I'm 36 and I have had some extra days this year, did two cruises this February (19 days total away from home, including weekends), did one week on the Azores and one week on Mallorca + days of before and after (32days including weekends). I wouldn't mind a couple of weeks off this winter :halo:

[klfrodo]

For me

2 weeks was not enough

6 weeks? Never say too much but rarely used all of it.

4 weeks would be ideal along with the normal holidays, sick days, and paid PTO ( mental health) days

[spookwife]

While Active Duty, Mr spook earned 30 days per year in chunks of 2.5 days per month. This was perfect for us. The new post retirement civilian job is half that, with far less flexibility as to when it can be taken and how far in advance it can be planned for.

 

I am skewed 75% cruise, 25% fulfilling family obligations to stay in the will.

 

 

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[janetz]

I believe the OP is asking the question to those of us not retired as yet.

I receive 6 weeks per year, which we make good use of.

10 weeks would be ideal :D

[Keith1010]

I am not sure what it is.

 

Some of this comes down to your career and to each person and even how much you have in disposable income.

 

Keith

[paul929207]

Retired, so 365 vacation days per year. About 100 are on a cruise

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we worked, we each got 6 weeks paid vacation each year.

But it was hard for us to take vacations together even though we each had seniority in our jobs. Our bosses had the final word.

[cynt]

I think 4 weeks should be mandatory.

 

I have 3 weeks plus I can purchase 1 week. So I have 4 weeks total.

 

In the U.S. most people start a new job with 2 weeks and earn another week every 5 years.

 

The down fall is if you leave a job after 10 or 15 years, you begin your new job with 2 weeks unless you negotiate more vacation time.

 

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[Cruise Junky]

I have 32 days but husband has 28. I'd like 35 (7 weeks) but I'm greedy :)

 

We start our employees at 4 weeks. 2 just sucks.

[rccampbell]

Interesting question depending on who you are and where you are in your work life. This is the first year I have reached 3 weeks, cannot be used in more than 7 day portions and only during certain non-busy times of the year. DH owns his own business so can take time off. But time off means zero income during that time frame.

The cost of cruising and the need to fly to any given port and hotel costs, etc all add up to make cruising only an occasional option.

I think 3-4 weeks would be great with enough income to accommodate the travel.

[sparks1093]

"So you want a day off. Let's take a look at what you are asking for. There are 365 days per year available for work. There are 52 weeks per year in which you already have 2 days off per week, leaving 261 days available for work. Since you spend 16 hours each day away from work, you have used up 170 days, leaving only 91 days available. You spend 30 minutes each day on coffee break which counts for 23 days each year, leaving only 68 days available. With a 1 hour lunch each day, you used up another 46 days, leaving only 22 days available for work. You normally spend 2 days per year on sick leave. This leaves you only 20 days per year available for work. We are off 5 holidays per year, so your available working time is down to 15 days. We generously give 14 days vacation per year which leaves only 1 day available for work and I'll be darned if you are going to take that day off!"

[geoherb]

I received 26 days a year, and I could carry over six weeks worth of leave, giving me potentially 56 days of vacation in a year. But the problem was my job made it impossible to take off for large chunks of time. The longest vacation we ever had was 13 nights. I worked on a Monday then flew to Alaska that evening to begin a 12-night cruise tour. We spent one night in Vancouver before flying back home. I was back in the office the Monday morning two weeks later.

 

We were also constrained by DH's vacation schedule from his job teaching at a community college. He could count on three weeks at Christmas and two and a half weeks for the summer break (end of summer school to beginning of new school year). Some years we managed a spring break cruise and some years a cruise during his little break before summer school began.

 

Somehow we did manage to take three cruises one year, but they were all week-long ones. We could never have done the cruise we took last month--12 days around the British isles on a Princess ship with four nights in London and Southampton beforehand.

[navybankerteacher]

When I came off active duty I started with a bank - with two weeks vacation which had to be taken consecutively - to ensure there was no funny business. My active reserve cruises ( for which the bank kept me on pay) counted for the consecutive weeks- which was good, because it was several years before I could afford to do anything interesting for two weeks straight.

 

By the time I left the bank I was up to five weeks - but found it tough to use it all up -- one way or the other there was not enough time off ---- until now, with our endless series of seven day weekends.

[slidergirl]

My last stop as a software engineer - 30 days PTO from the start. After 2 years, another week added PLUS you could apply for 6 months unpaid leave and keep your job. My last manager there did put some restrictions on it, though. Each of us had a work "partner" and we could not be off at the same time. My "partner" was from India and would take 3 months off at a time to go back home. Kind of put a crimp on things. AND, the manager required 3 month's notice of intent to take more than 3 days PTO.

 

Now, I started at a new hotel in November. I get NO PTO for the first year, then get 2 weeks in a lump when I reach my 1 year anniversary. So, all the time I've had away this year (with taking care of my dog until he passed), I've had 3 weeks off without pay... I cannot take any vacation time from Thanksgiving until the week after Easter - it's our prime season and you have to have a damn good reason for taking time.

 

Another question: is your PTO your vacation/sick time all rolled up in one pool or do you have 2 different batches? I've had both scenarios. I now have the "one pool" where, if I'm sick and take a day off, that's one less vacation day.

[Cruise Junky]

Another question: is your PTO your vacation/sick time all rolled up in one pool or do you have 2 different batches? I've had both scenarios. I now have the "one pool" where, if I'm sick and take a day off, that's one less vacation day.

 

We have one pool. Do with it what you will. We do have Short Term Disability though so if you're sick more than 3 days, you'd go on that.

[Extra Kim]

Our sick days doesn't affect our vaccation days.

[Warm Breezes]

Dear experts,

1) What in your estimate is the ideal number of vacation days per year to enjoy life to the fullest without compromising on your job/business/career?

2) What percentage of these holidays should be on a cruise?:cool:

 

These are very subjective questions and I willing to bet you will receive a wide range of answers. My answer to your question would be different today than it was when I was 20, 30, 40, and will be different than what I would answer when I am 60, 70, etc. It varies based on the stage I am at in my career and with my family.

 

1) When we were first married, before kids, when our careers were just starting we took 1 7-10 day vacation each year with as many long week end trips as we could manage. After having kids we took 1 7-10 day vacation each year with kids and 1 long week end with just each other with as many family long week end trips as we could manage. When the kids were old enough to leave at home alone we started taking 1, sometimes 2, 7-10 day vacation each year with the kids and 1 7-10 day vacation each year with out them with as many long week end trips (with and with out kids) as we could. Our kids are now out of the house but we are still working. We still try to take 1 7-10 day vacation with the kids and now about 2 7 -10 day vacations with out the kids each year again with as many long week ends as we can (almost always without kids now.) We plan on retiring in 4-5 years. My plan then is to be on a permanent vacation :cool:.

 

2)We didn't discover cruising until we were in our mid 30's and our kids were 4 and 7. Since we started with Disney (planned by friends of ours that we cruised with) our first 2 cruises were 3 years apart (too expensive to do yearly). After that I started planning our cruises myself and found we could do it much more economically by sailing other lines and doing the planning myself. After that it was 1 cruise a year (one of our week long family vacations). DH and I are currently cruising 2 times a year (sometimes with kids and sometimes with out), we also take land vacations 1-2 times per year. It is a good mixture for us. My dream 1st vacation when we retire in 4-5 years is to do Route 66 from Chicago to LA in a Class A motorhome, cruise to Hawaii and back when we hit LA, drive up the West coast to Seattle and cruise to Alaska and back, drive across the Northern section of the USA to Maine, drive down the East coast stopping in NY to cruise to Bermuda, continue on to Florida where we will have set up our new retirement residential home base. From then on it will be a combination of motor homing, cruising, and/or flying to where ever the kids are or where ever the mood strikes us as long as the good Lord blesses us with health to travel. Flexibility and spontaneity will be the name of the game for as long as we can do it.

[Jenna2407]

I work for the NHS in england and get 7 werks & 2 days off per financial year (april - april) and i still feel that isn't enough 😂

 

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[navybankerteacher]

I work for the NHS in england and get 7 werks & 2 days off per financial year (april - april) and i still feel that isn't enough 😂

 

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Which seems to indicate that satisfaction is a highly elusive state.

[Haoie]

Here in NZ, 4 weeks [20 days] are given as a minimum for all workers.

 

I find it disheartening the lack of vacation time Americans get. Really limits one's travel/leisure options.

[CPT Trips]

Here in NZ, 4 weeks [20 days] are given as a minimum for all workers.

 

I find it disheartening the lack of vacation time Americans get. Really limits one's travel/leisure options.

 

Don't feel badly for us. It's self inflicted. The average U.S. employee who receives paid vacation has only taken about half what they receive in the last year. That's been consistent for a number of years.

Why do people leave thousands on the table? Fear. Fear that if all their vacation time off is used the employer will replace them.

[Jenna2407]

Don't feel badly for us. It's self inflicted. The average U.S. employee who receives paid vacation has only taken about half what they receive in the last year. That's been consistent for a number of years.

Why do people leave thousands on the table? Fear. Fear that if all their vacation time off is used the employer will replace them.

Omg that's crazy!!! I am already planning where to take april 2018-apr 2019 7 weeks allowance. I wouldn't miss a day of my annual leave.

 

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