Travel Talk 2¢: How do you spend and save your annual vacation days?

I get 30 paid days plus holidays because of time at my company. In 2007 I spent 10 days in Italy and some days home during the holidays but carried over 76 hours that I could not take. Work schedule it too hectic and we don't have the funds to keep us traveling that number of days.

I am Canadian, get 25 days per year and have no trouble using them all. In recent years I have only used them in one or two week blocks for major trips. For 2008 the only trip booked is Venezuela next month.

Interesting. I live in the U.S. and also get 25 days a year plus holidays. In 2007, we took roughly three weeks off to visit Spain, a week in Boston/Cape Cod, and another week in Florida. I never take vacations that are less than five to six days long. And I have never worked between Christmas and New Years (ever ) which is very special given we have two little kids. For 08, the only plan we have so far is a week long vacation in DC but I will be able to tell you more in December

I'm retired and get 365 days a year!!

But when I was working for the first few years at the last job I had, I got 14 days after 1 year, after 5 years, 21 days...but I could purchase additional days. Before I joined the "corporate world" and worked for independents , I could take as much time as I wanted but I only got paid for 2 weeks.Again , I was not the primary wage earner, and my DH was an executive so got 3 weeks for starters and then 4 weeks after 5 years!And even more that he could purchase. Gues those guys aren't as important as they like to think they are!!!!

I'm not currently working, but my husband gets 30 days of paid time off per year because he has worked for the same company for over 5 years. For years 1-5, he got 25 days of PTO. Any vacation, holidays, sick days, whatever, all comes out of the same PTO bucket (pretty typical of PTO systems, I think)

We don't use all of his vacation. He is paid hourly and sometimes manages to get 40 hours in during a 4-day workweek (say the 4th of July was during the week) and doesn't have to take any time off for that holiday. In any case, we usually end up carrying over a week or two of vacation. We like saving it up and taking it in big chunks. He takes off for the usual holidays + around a week and a half at Christmas + whatever vacation we have planned. In 2007, we spent a month in Europe. In Sept of this year, he will be taking 3 weeks off for a Switzerland-Tuscany trip.

His company allows him to carry over 280 hours (7 weeks) of PTO from year to year, so we were able to build up a "slush fund" of vacation with the leftovers from several years prior and that allowed us to plan for these 7 weeks' worth of Europe trips in 2007-08 and still have plenty leftover PTO for holidays and our annual Christmas trip to see my family. It also helps that he has a great immune system and almost never gets sick.

I work part-time, on an hourly basis, so (assuming the demands of the job are met) I can theoretically take as much time off as I want. DH is in a group practice, and seems to have as much vacation time as we ever need. But we've always taken the maximum time off that we can, for travel.

Usually one longer trip (the last couple of years, always to Europe), around 2 weeks long, one shorter trip that's usually combined with a yearly meeting of DH's (in the U.S.). And long weekends scattered here and there.

Have earned 21 paid vacation days + 2 PH days due to years of service and use them all! Company policy will not allow us to either borrow, sell or carry over days. One block of about 10 days (incorporated with a holiday to save a vacation day) in late May-early June to explore Europe. Another week in August to relax and enjoy the Finger Lakes in Upstate NY, with the remaining days used sporadically to shorten a work week, enjoy a girls weekend or just veg out. My husband is able to carry over hours from year to year, so he actually have more days off than I do, but he'll use a day here and there for various 'honey do' projects around the house.

36 days in France - wow!

I received 25 days for both sick/vacation when I worked at KPMG, a "Big 4" public accounting firm. I also worked 500-700 hours of unpaid overtime...
Shortly after my 25th birthday, I made the switch from public accounting to working for a publicly traded company in the SEC reporting group. I now receive 16 days of vacation and an additional 7.5 sick/personal days. The company is pretty strict about those 7.5 days in that they are not to be used for vacation but my boss is fairly lenient. My husband receives 20 days of vacation a year, plus the week of Christmas off. We are ages 28 and 34 respectively.

If we take 1 trip to Europe in a year, we normally go for about 3 weeks and don't combine the trip over any work holidays. If we go on 2 trips in a year, we cut the "big trip" to about 2.5 weeks and then we do a shorter 9-10 day trip for the second trip and make it happen over either Thanksgiving or Christmas where there are some work holidays so I don't have to take vacation.

I think we have it better than most people in our age groups here in the USA. We also both work for companies who give us an extra few days for having Masters degrees. Personally, neither of us think the extra degree gives us any real merit toward more vacation but the policies aren't decided by the accountants.

I have 28 vacation days each year. I usually take a 3 week trip to Europe each year and then another week to week and half trip to either Europe or to someplace in the US. Other than a day or so around the holidays, I do not usually take vacation days outside of trips. My job necessitates that I travel in the Spring. This year Spain in April!

Hi,
I get 15 days vacation, 5 sick days per year and the usual holidays. I usually take 2 weeks at a time each year and we go to Europe and the other 5 for things that come up or to visit family in New England and Texas.

Paul

my company gives us a measly .67 days of vacation per month, which works out to 8 days per year, plus we get an annual "personal day"- whoopdee doo! 9 vacation days!

and it's a non-profit.

that said, i prefer to save up my vacation time for weeklong trips, but of course there's the occasional day off here or there to extend a weekend to go home for a holiday, a wedding, or a funeral.

I have been with my current company for 5 years so I now have 3 weeks vacation. I always use it all.

I usually take 1 1/2 weeks in Europe (for skiing & sight-seeing)and 1 week in the US for skiing.

Then there is a day or two left which I usually take at Christmas.

Oh, yeah, vacation plans for 2008 - One week of skiing in Whistler, Canada happened at the beginning of the month.

In Feb DH & I go to Paris for one week.

For the third week I probably to visit my Dad (he lives a few states away) in the fall.

Here in the UK I get 25 days holiday, plus the statutory bank holidays. 3 days of the leave must be taken between Christmas and New Year, which, when added to bank holidays, give us a week off over that period when the company more or less closes down.

I normaly take a 2 week holiday in the summer and a week off spring and autumn and go away as much as time and finances allow. We are allowed to carry over 5 days holiday, if we have any left in December, which must be taken before the following May, or lost. I never have any left at the end of the year! Sickness leave is an entirely separate issue from holiday leave in the UK

Switzerland:
My husband has 25 days vacation a year. The kids are off school 6 weeks in summer, 2 weeks in October, 1 1/2 weeks Christmas, 1 week February, 2 weeks May.

We have an average income.

We try to travel two weeks a year on the average (split up) and spend the rest doing day trips from home.

My husband would rather stay in Switzerland and I'd rather travel abroad and save Switzerland for the weekends.

We do a lot of skiing which is quite expensive with a family. We do a lot of hiking which is very inexpensive since we bring our own picnics.

The Swiss usually take all of their vacation time and don't understand people who don't.

My DH gets about 4 weeks vacation a year plus sick and personal days.
He usually carries some time over. Since he is in sales, he can't take big blocks of time off at one time. This year, we are going to Europe for 15 days. This is the longest block he has taken since our honeymooon 20 years ago? wow that is pathetic. I would have liked to stretch the trip to 3 weeks, but fflyer tickets came up and fit his work schedule perfect. So I can't complain
He usually takes a week off at Christmas to be home. We also ski and he takes long weekends to do that.
In the last 5 years, we have taken two separate weeks away each year. One usually is Caribbean and the other a city in the US or an east coast Ocean week.
Over the next five years, I hope to spend more time traveling the globe with the kids (they are teens). Then they will be gone to college. These are the best years to take them globetrotting!

I get 20 PTO days off a year. I like to do 2 week vacations and a day here or there and I have to save a few days until the end of the year in case I get sick. They are not carried over so I get paid for them if I don't use them.
Have not decided on this years trip yet.

31 PTO days.. I rarely get sick, so it's all for ME, and I use it all. I do not understand people who don't use their vacation time.

Typical allocation:
1-2 Europe trips, 10-15 work days total
2-3 Texas (family) trips, 10 work days
3-4 long weekends, 3-4 work days
3-5 'carryover' days, in case something unexpected comes up
- that leaves a couple extra days for whatever

I get 26 days pto and carried over some for a total of 45. I prefer to carry over as many as I can (19 is the max). DH gets a few less than me.
This year we will take a week for Paris w/o the kids, 2 weeks together for a family beach vacation in July and then another week w/ my entire family in the OBX in August. If my schedule allows, I will most likely take one more week in June to go away w/ a bunch of other moms and their kids right after school gets out.
I don't take many individual days but do take off the day of my children's b'day to have a special day w/ them. Looks like I won't be carrying over many this year!!

I get 20 days of vacation, 10 sick/personal and the usual holidays. I almost never take vacation time unless I'm actually going somewhere. Last year it was 8 days for Amsterdam and 8 days for Rome. The other 4 days I took to go away to a family wedding and the day after Thanksgiving. I use sick/personal for sick/personal/emergency reasons, not vacation. I'll do the same this year, with Paris/Vienna in April and ???? in the fall.

Having been with my firm for 5 years, I now receive 15 days vacation plus state and federal holidays. Prior to that it was 10 days per year.

My sick days are separate from my vacation.

I usually take my vacation all at once if it's a "big" trip. I always use all of my vacation, and sometimes have to take some days off without pay on top of it.

I get 20 vacation days, plus 12 federal holidays and 13 sick days per year. I can accumulate as much sick time as I earn, currently have about 500 hours. I can only "carry over" 240 hours of vacation year to year but rarely have that much to carry over because I believe in using my vacation days. Usually a trip to Europe once a year or every two years and then visits to family around the country and an annual jaunt to Chicago with some girlfriends.

After 20 years service we get 4 weeks (20 days) of annual vacation. Schedule is 1 week after 1 year; 2 after 3 and 3 after 5 years. Used to be the question was "what do you get after 10 years?" and the answer was "disappointed".

Being a small company and I'm the only one in my department so I can't generally take long blocks of time. In 2005 we did take 5 days for trip to Paris, and this spring we plan 7 days (11 counting weekends) in Germany/Austria.

Otherwise I take a day here and there when the weather is nice or to work on home projects. Occasional long weekend to visit the children.

Almost always have 3-5 days left over at the end of the year not taken.

I have 25 paid vacation days, 9 company holidays and three personal days off.

I used to take long involved trips lasting 3-4 weeks and more but now I have scaled back and take a 2 week trip twice a year and then long weekend trips in between.

When I took the month long vacations it was because I was secure in my work position and knew my job would be there on my return and I would be welcomed back, now, not so much.....

I get 28 days a year, state and federal holidays and sick time. Generally my husband and I will plan one extend trip where we're off at least 7-10 days at a time, and always the week between Christmas and New Year's. The other days are used to extend holiday weekends into longer stretches.

I'm self-employed so get as many days of as I like, but if I don' work, I don't earn anything and my clients aren't too happy (I'm a psychotherapist.)

My husband works a corporate job and gets 21 vacation days, two "floating" holidays and 6 regular holidays. He also gets plenty of sick days that can be used for family sick or funeral but not for vacation.

WE generally take all of his allowed days. We go to a lake in Maine most summers for 2 weeks (using 10 or so of his days) and another 10 day-2 week trip (This year we're going to Paris in May for 12 days)using up the rest. The floaters get used for long weekends away for us and he occasionally uses a sick day (naughty boy!)for us to travel to visit his folks for a long weekend.

I had 9 weeks vacation and 10 sick days and other regular holidays per year. I have always taken a week per month Feb - Oct. We were not allowed to take vacation Nov-Jan. One year, for my first trip to Europe, I took all my vacation at once. Never again! Working every day for almost a year with no more time off. Never again. I retired from 31 years at a slimey parcel delivery company last year, and now am on permanent vacation. My wife and I now go to Europe twice a year, every year.

In 2007 I had almost 30 days of vacation plus personal/sick days - I had carried over a week.

I took my Mom to Italy for two weeks in May, spent a week in Colorado/NM in October, a week in Portugal in November, and two weeks in Italy, straddling the end of December/beginning of January, with friends.

Plus days here and there - home to visit family, a few long weekends, extra time around the 4th of July, that sort of thing.

In 2008 I have 5 less days than 2007 because I'm starting out "fresh" - no carryover. I already used 3 days of it (but got a week out of it - New Years week), and am planning a two week vacation in June-ish. I stretch my vacation time when I can by planning around holidays. Portugal over Thanksgiving worked so well it's a consideration for this year too. The weather is still decent in Lisbon!

I am a homemaker and pretty flexible. My DH has worked his way to 30 days a year plus holidays. However, he works tons and tons of OT during tax season.

We try to do two three-week European holidays a year (spring and fall) and camp weekends in the summer (albeit a short summer!).

We live in Canada.

I work for a public firm like TexasAggie does. We get 16 days of PTO, which could be sick time, vacation time, whatever, plus one 'floating holiday' on years where they can't find 11 holidays to take off.

I refuse to be sick so I can take the three weeks (14 days plus 1 holiday day) in June/July to go to Scotland. I would rather save it all up in big chunks since it takes so long to travel to Europe - might as well do as much as I can while I'm there!

Once I'm here 5 years (2 more to go) I will get 5 extra days - 21.

I've been with my company for 10+ years so I get 5 weeks' vacation plus 10 paid holidays. In 2007, I took six weeks off and toured Asia. Since I was able to use frequent flyer miles, it was an inexpensive way to visit a lot of countries all in one trip but pretty exhausting. In 2008, I plan to spread out vacation days, mainly because of the vastly different destinations:
1. 2-week vacations to Scandinavia (summer) and Morocco (winter).
2. Long weekends in Vancouver (summer) and San Miguel de Allende (winter).

6 weeks! Sounds great---like a sabbatical.

My brother-in-law works for a company that grants its employees an extremely flexible vacation policy; I don't think there's even a quota for instance. I think he can take as many days as he needs/wants (within reason) as long as he stays on top of his work. I'm willing to bet that this approach doesn't acutally result in much abuse.

I'm curious if there are similar policies in Europe?

I'm in the USA and get 27 days of paid vacation a year--so a bit over 5 weeks. Plus all the Federal holidays and 14 days of sick leave. In addition our company gives us the option of taking money or additional leave time for overtime work, and I usually pick up another 2 weeks or so leave from that.

I use all of the leave except sick leave every year on a combination of long weekends and 2 to 3 week vacations.

I run my own company, and can work from anywhere in the world, so I take as many days as I feel like taking.

Course, I'm never really "on vacation,
but I sure do travel a lot.

We always splurge on a Boat trip for a week somewhere - so far in Europe. After that, we will rent an apartment wherever the boat drops us off. Usually for five days to a week...Use HomeAway.com as they have given us some good buys. We live like the locals and only eat out at lunch time...take public transportation and trains or buses...We even start the year before trying to learn a little of the local language so we can get by in the shops. Before getting on the boat we will spend three to four days in the city where the boat takes off from. Helps get rid of jet lag and we are in great ship when time to get on the boat. If we can find an apartment hotel we do that. So far there hasn't been a problem...we always books months in advance and look for the best rates.

I work PT (4 days per wk) and get 3weeks off per year. No carry over. I have no other benefits by the way! PT is usually that way here in the states, well if you work for a small company it is. Last year I used 8 days (two weeks) to go to Italy..the rest I took here and there. When I had PTO time (which was for 23 years!) I would do a week or two long vacation somewhere...and then break up the rest. Now, I beleive in mini vacations. I try to scheduled them in now (since I turned 50, I am now 55!) at least once every two months!! even if I just go to an indian casino that has a spa and stay overnight one night!. I make my ownvacations....always.I would love to have the same vacation time as the Italians do!! As our group leader said when I was in Italy, "Italians weren't born lazy, just tired" That's me!!!! When we landed at the fumucio airport they were on strike! lol I heard when they don't want to work they call a strike. Now that's one I totally agree with...lol

I work in the U.S. I get about 20 days of paid time off a year. Plus it accrues up to the cap, so I have a ton of days saved. No, I have never used it all.

I took off four weeks in 2006 for my wedding and honeymoon. You should have seen the shock on my coworkers' faces about that! This year, I'm taking off two weeks to go to France.

This is pretty extravagent for most of the people who work with me. The partners of the firm, especially, may only take a week off and feel like they've been gone to long!

My firm starts us out at 15 days with plus personal days. We also have the option of purchasing an extra week. So I usually end up with 25 days of vacation a year. They also give us three four day weekends: Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day, so we don't have to use vacation.

I usually use a week here and there, but I always take a big vacation the first couple of weeks of September. Taking advantage of the Labor Day weekend holiday, I go to Greece for two weeks and then London for four to five days.

Except this year. My best friend is turning 50, so we are going to do a three to four week holiday starting mid-December touring Egypt (including a cruise down the Nile). Can't wait.

Believe me ... I take every day of my vacation. I more than earn it.

I get four weeks (been in my job 18 years)and take every second of it. I am retirement age and besides the paycheck, the next major reason I haven't retired is that I get paid to go on vacation. I usually take two vacations per year - one for 10-14 days in Paris and another with a tour group to some less expensive area. And I use anything left to attend painting workshops in my home area. Sometimes, the charitable grandmother in me has actually spent my vacation watching my g-kids so their parents can have some time to themselves. Full time vacation (retirement) is becoming more and more attractive though.

I am from the U.S. and get 17 vacation days and paid holidays. I take all of my vacation. I spend two weeks in Europe.

With only 10 vacation days a year, my trips have to be planned out very carefully. I usually use 5 days in spring to go somewhere in Europe (flying on Friday evening after work and returning as late as possible on Sunday so that I can spend almost 9 days at the destination). Then 3 days to extend the Thanksgiving holidays for a week in Paris, and the remaining 2 days to extend the Christmas long-weekend to visit my parents.

What a coincidence - I was laughing last night at a line in my Sunday newspaper, re the US - "what's the point in being the most powerful nation on earth if you get the fewest holidays ?"

Depending on length of service & grade, people in my company get 28-35 days annual leave + 8 days public holidays. I'm currently on 29 + 8. We can buy or sell up to 5 days. I've never heard of sick leave being deducted from holiday allowance except in the US -- that's outrageous. (I get up to 6 months paid sick leave.)

Recently I've been moving towards one longer and longer main holiday - 3 weeks (15 days leave) the last 2 years, hopefully 4 weeks (20 days) this year - in Italy. Then we'll mostly take the rest as long weekends, mainly in the UK + one or two a year on the Continent. Plus the odd day off for the Edinburgh festivals.

I would never not take my full allowance - even if I just used it up staying in bed for a couple of days !