Anyone else get grief about taking time off?

[chrismch]

One thing I love about these boards is hearing others freely talk about their vacations. And it seems that many others take multiple vacations throughout the year as we do. However, I am now getting the cold shoulder from some business friends because I am not here 24/7. I have a staff to handle things in my absence but they seem to begrudge the fact that I take vacations. The worst was a client who was upset that I took a 3 week honeymoon even though there were highly competent personnel handling my business in my absence. I don't lord it over others about where I've been nor do I have pictures in my pocket to show off. However, when someone asks where I've been to lately, I do tell them. I enjoy seeing new places and learning new things. Travel excites me! I'm not waiting until I retire so I can take time off. I've learned from others experiences that doing that might be too late. So now I'm wondering when a business associate asks what my next vacations plans are, should we say "oh nothing much planned?":p

[OuiOnboard]

So now I'm wondering when a business associate asks what my next vacations plans are, should we say "oh nothing much planned?":p

Used to tell some people ...friends and family and business associates....but then when several customers started to act "funny" (making little comments to the effect that perhaps they were giving me too much business and such), we decided not to bother talking about these matters until well after the fact...sometimes months later and then with little detail. It has worked...at least with my new customers.

..................cruise well and discreetly...Oui :)

[judyfssw]

I know what you mean. I would get that kind of response whenever we went out of town during school vacations and then in the summer. Then, when we retired, it just so happens that we have been on many long and short trips and I get things all of the time like, "I wish I had your kind of money" etc. It just is that we saved our money and now we can spend some money by traveling. We planned for it and I don't want to have to explain it all of the time. However, I'm about to the point where I'm going to say the same as you.

[Steamboatin]

Have the perfect solution.

 

Am retired twice.

 

Last one told them to take the job and well you know the rest.

 

Now enjoying cruising as we wish.

 

Happily spending everyones inheritance.

[KroozFoolz]

"Anyone else get grief about taking time off? "

 

Here lately, I get grief from my supervisors and co-workers for taking the two fifteen minute breaks and one thirty minute lunch the union contract says we are each entitled to daily.

[jessemon]

I'm sorry...but if I had a client that begruged me a three week honeymoon...

Let me put it this way...I have been in sales all my life and sometimes the best way to get someones attention is stand up...shake their hand...and say it's been nice.

They have never let me leave and never questioned me again.

[barriedavis]

Here in the UK, one of the benefits of being in the EC is that they say everyone must have 4 weeks vacation each year in any job (some exceptions, Army etc). I am fully employed in a city hall exective position and manage to take 3 cruises a year. Some Americans I have met are absolutely astounded and say that they are frowned upon if they take all of their annual allowance as it is considered to be in some way disloyal!!

 

My philosophy is that nobody ever says on their deathbed "I wish I had spent more time at the office"

[GramaFran]

This is what we are going through now - Planned a 4 wk vacation including 13 day cruise in Europe - Well, DH's boss said he can not be gone that long at one time, so now I have a 4 wk vacation - 2 wks by myself traveling and DH joining me for 2 wk of cruise. Not clients saying or giving grief but his boss.

We love to cruise and are always being asked by family and friends when & where is the next cruise? That is ok as we kind of expect it.

Francine

[tapia]

I am in the same position here--an American........

 

I actually got NO vacation the first year in my new job. Well, actually I did when I was hired and then it was taken away from me because I didn't have it in writing. So, I learned my lesson--get everything in writing. You're right, I did almost tell them to take the job and...ya know

 

But, I ended up all right with cruises planned. Now, even though I'm guaranteed a certain amount of vacation (2 whole weeks a year), I can't take them together. You don't even know what I had to do to be able to take the trip to Alaska I'm planning........

 

So, I GREATLY sympathize.

 

I do also have people envious & making bad comments when we cruise. So, I've learned to just not talk about it. Ie: You're so young, where do they get the money, they should be spending it somewhere else. I never foolishly took vacations before I was well at a company 10 years........

 

That's what I save for though.

[dkjretired]

One thing I love about these boards is hearing others freely talk about their vacations. And it seems that many others take multiple vacations throughout the year as we do. However, I am now getting the cold shoulder from some business friends because I am not here 24/7. I have a staff to handle things in my absence but they seem to begrudge the fact that I take vacations. The worst was a client who was upset that I took a 3 week honeymoon even though there were highly competent personnel handling my business in my absence. I don't lord it over others about where I've been nor do I have pictures in my pocket to show off. However, when someone asks where I've been to lately, I do tell them. I enjoy seeing new places and learning new things. Travel excites me! I'm not waiting until I retire so I can take time off. I've learned from others experiences that doing that might be too late. So now I'm wondering when a business associate asks what my next vacations plans are, should we say "oh nothing much planned?":p

 

If you have people who can handle things while you are gone, then you deserve your vacation. So many people that I knew did not know how to delegate responsibility or authority and therefore had a lot more stress, work and less free time. Good for you and keep it up.

[98Charlie]

I've never gotten grief from work for taking my vacation time (4 wk/yr).

 

OTOH we are empty nester's and don't have to worry about school schedules any more. We take our cruises during the Sept-May period and not over the holidays. The added bonus is that we can search for fares first and schedule the vacation when we find a good price.

 

At first, friends and co-workers would occasionaly make a comment about the amount it must cost to take as many cruises as we do. I would explain that the way we do it it is less costly than a road trip or all inclusive.

 

Finally, I just started telling them it's our hobby, which is also true. That seems to put the situation in perspective for them.

 

Charlie

[Longboysfan]

I put in the request about a year in advance. They can't complain then.

They know if they want me there that they will have to:

1) Pay for the cruise cancel.

2) Pay for the air cancel.

3) Piss me off to no end.

[BaltiGator]

They say Americans are the most productive workers in the world, based on some statistical measures.

 

They also say this has a lot to do with the high number of hours a day most Americans work, the high number of hours each week, and the low amount of vacation time taken each year.

 

Maybe we are a productive nation, but I often wonder how happy we are.

[Hondu]

I worked for a company back in the 80s and this executive never took a vacation even though the company required that you take it or lose it. This man's wife wanted to go places but he prefered to wait until retirement.

Lo and behold, he did retire at 65 and was planning on taking his wife on a 6 wk trip to China. But you may guess it already. He went in for a physical and there was a spot on a lung which was cancerous. I don't remember what medical procedure was done but he was dead within months. Sad for him and even worst for his wife who should have enjoyed many vacations over the years.

 

I have been taking 2 cruises a year since 1996 knowing very well that "life is short."

[mcnyc]

I work in an office with a lot of green eyed monsters. I solved my problems quickly by not telling anyone where I'm going. When they ask, I just say I'm vegging out at home and not taking any calls.

 

If I happen to come back with exotic pictures on my computer desktop, it's from a "friend" who just returned, and I wax poetic about how I hope to go there one day. At that point, my boss even encourages me to take a vacation to that destination.

 

Funny though, when I attempt to take a 2 week vacation, he freaks. Like he will this Friday when he finally remembers I'm not in the office the next 2+ weeks. ;)

[Splinter]

I know what you mean. While people don't treat me badly because I take most of the 5 weeks of vacation I earn every year, no one does my job when I am gone, so I "pay" by having to stay late (unpaid overtime) when I get back from a trip to catch up.

 

Regardless, it is important to take time off. Workaholics are working themselves into an early grave, and not pleasant to work with, and, research shows, are actually less productive that those who balance a personal life and their work.

 

As famously quoted, a physician once said that in looking at the lives of some of his elderly and dying patients: "No one ever regretted not spending more time at work - but so many regretted the time they'd spent away from their families."

[Hondu]

It can be very rough going on vacation for some people.

 

When I was going on the Rotterdam for 17 days, I was talking to my step-dad and he told me that when he was working for a large bank in NYC, he was eligible for a 2 week vacation. He submitted his request and the boss told him that if they could operate without him for 2 straight weeks, then they don't need him. He had to split his vacation every year.

[Host Joe]

I so understand. We get this all of the time.

 

We always hear from friends and family,"You're going on ANOTHER cruise?". I used to feel guilty, but we have now taken both sets of our parents on an all expenses paid cruise as well as my sister, so I got rid of that guilty feeling and I now say, "yes" and smile.

 

I have a client that is a work-a-holic, and gets mad when he knows I am gone on another trip. My answer has been to stop telling him. I take my cell phone and laptop with me, and check them daily. There is nothing that he would need that I could not handle away from home. Works great.

 

I always say life is too short. I know so many people that never enjoy life. When we took my parents on their 50th anniversary cruise it was their FIRST real vacation in their lifetime! How sad that is. Not happening to me!

 

I say, "He who dies with the most life experience wins!".

[joelmarj]

For years as I climb the corporate ladder, I was always entitled to at least 4 weeks, but rarely took more than two. Now I've acheived some success in my career, and have a great staff that works for me and can be depended on in my absence. During the past years, I realize how much I missed out on by not taking trips and how I was a slave to work. When the company came out with an equity plan I was whoafully disappointed in the finally result for me. It made me realize that I'm just a number to them, and all that hard work and dedication really was more a loss for me than a gain for them. So now, I take my vacation. I am entitled to it and don't care what they think. My staff handles the important items and now I get to refocus on how important life is. Afterall, it is just a job.

 

Surprisingly, I've not gotten any grief from my boss. Once or twice he's asked that I reschedule due to a major project, but other than that I take my vacation and come back a renewed person. My staff love to hear about my cruise and a few of them have even schedule some of their own based on what I've told them.

 

Vacation is there for a reason and should be enjoyed. We as a society work very hard, but we can't lose sight of the important things - Living life to its fullest and enjoying our brief time on earth.

[cruisePRN]

We go on two cruises a year and multiple little vacations. When co workers or neighbors say "it must be nice to have money" or "it must be nice to be rich" I have a pat answer.....It beats being POOR!

[hmg]

DH is in an industry where he's required to be away from the office for two consecutive weeks every year. Works for us! :D

[SheilaNC]

We have always been on a relatively tight budget and took only very economical vacations...then, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Talk about changing one's decision making style! After successful treatment, we realized that there are no guarantees in life (SHOULD HAVE LEARNED THAT WHEN MY MOM DIED AT 52). So..as you can see from my signature, we've been traveling a lot since and make decisions based on what we want to do not putting anything off until the elusive tomorrow. Of course we still budget, often choose an inside cabin and research shore excursions carefully. But, AND when others give us grief, we smile, share our experiences and help them to plan trips within their budgets. What fun!

[Sky Sweet]

In 1989 my husband was asked by a professional organization to be part of a team that inspected the forensic labs in Australia when they initially applied for accredidation. I could have gone to Australia with him for just the cost of my plane ticket, but didn't think I should be away from my business for that long. Two years later he was invited to be a speaker at an International Forensics Convention in China, and I could have gone with him for just the cost of my air fare, and didn't go for the same reason.

 

Whenever, I look at my husband's photos from those trips, I think about how silly I was to forgo such opportunities because I thought a client or employee might be upset if they couldn't reach me while I was half way around the world. Ironically, if I wasn't self employed I would have gone without thinking about it twice.

[SNOWEY]

We get grief from our relatives who could easily afford to cruise also. My husband has no hobbies and we do not eat out at expensive restaurants. I simply say that this is our golf.

 

We are both self-employed and do not have to answer to anyone but we also do not get paid when we leave. It would be nice to have a job that pays you when you go on vacation. Sometimes I sell a house when I am gone and that helps. What usually happens is I get a contract on a house just before we leave for vacation. I always feel guilty about not being there and collecting a commission. On this last cruise, I hired someone to be there even though everything was done for them.

 

I got DH to start cruising about 2 years ago by pointing out all of the people our age (early 50's) in the obits. :eek: Worked like a charm.

 

Claudia

[rienreiter]

OK. I took a bite of this one.

 

Until November of last year, I spent the last 25 years of my life working for a major american electronics corporation. One of the many good perks was approximately 6 weeks of vacation. Unfortunately, I had a boss who was nothing short of a complete btcih and a complete workaholic. Everytime that I would go on vacation I would have to hear the many complaints from her. Eventually, it came to the point where I could not take more than 1 and 1/2 weeks of vacation at a time. At times, she would take up to 6 weeks to approve a request for vacation causing me to not be able to make definite plans with family and friends until her approval came through and everyone else would ask "What's going on?"

 

As someone above has indicated, we now live in a society where loyalty is no longer prevalent and you are only a mere number. When it becomes convenient for them to get rid of you, they will; no matter what you have accomplished for them or how beneficial you have been. Last November, I was laid off. I have decided to take a year off from work and travel as much as I can as travel is my passion, hobby, and love. Life is indeed short. All of the money in the world will not have any value if I die tomorrow as it will stay in the bank account for someone else to enjoy. But the priceless memories of all of the trips that I have taken will go with me wherever I go into eternity. That is why I plan to live for and enjoy today. Tomorrow, I will take care of tomorrow.

 

Many of my friends and relatives also comment on "how can you afford it?" The truth is they can (lots of them make a ton of money); their priority is just not there. And they don't want to see it.

 

So, live life my friends and enjoy today for you don't know what tomorrow will bring.

 

There, thanks to all of you for hearing me out.

 

Regards, Juan