Diane

I'm a meeting planner -- been with current company 15 years so I get the maximum allowed, four weeks. I usually cash in one week at Christmas and take the other three, not altogether though, as workload doesn't allow it. I live simply, save for retirement, travel primarly on points, stay in moderate (not cheap) properties. Travel is a definite priority for me. I try to go to Europe for two weeks at a time. The investment of time and effort from California makes "Paris for a week" too much trouble.

Carol

I'm a lawyer in a state agency. I now get 15 discretionary vacation days each year plus 3 "administrative leave" days, which can be taken without requesting in advance. (I used to get only 12 vac. days.) One year's worth of unused vacation days can be carried forward to a future year. We also get 15 sick days each year, but they cannot be used interchangeably with vacation days. The unused sick leaves accumulates indefinitely. As state workers, we get numerous paid holidays, in addition to the discetionary days off. The pay is pretty low for a lawyer's job, but the hours are the best I've ever worked as a lawyer. We simply work normal business hours, and I very rarely even carry work home with me. <BR> <BR>Long long ago I was a teacher, so of course had entire summers off -- not the ideal time to travel to Europe, though.

Marsha

Like Cindy, I am an attorney working on an as-needed basis from my home. I also have the "second" job of raising children. I can "vacation" when I want, but, of course, I don't get paid. My husband, also an attorney, works for a firm that has "sabbatical" leave every 7 years. One may take 3 months with full pay, and additional months at one-half pay. We took a 6 month sabbatical 6 years ago and it was wonderful - traveling around Europe and the U.S with one child. We are currently planning our next sabbatical, with two children. But unfortunately, we rarely vacation or travel between sabbaticals - we save up for the next sabbatical. It is a great program and it strengthens the family.

Lauren

I have my own law practice and no requirement for a certain number of billable hours (thank goodness). I do not make a high end salary but the up side is that I can take off whenever I please (of course without making money). <BR> <BR>August is my slow month since all my cases involve hearings with large numbers of lawyers. Several years ago I gave up making money in August because so many other lawyers were out of town. So, I began simply closing for 3-4 weeks and doing a home exchange somewhere. Lots of them have been in Europe, but I have done many in the US and Canada as well. You can travel quite cheaply by trading homes. Of course, any vacation time I take comes right out of my own pocket. <BR> <BR>This summer will find me home exchanging for 2 1/2 weeks in Berlin with a week in Paris afterwards because my daughter will be traveling and we will meet there for a few days. I rented a studio in Paris and it just killed me to actually PAY for accomodation. LOL. I have plenty of information on home exchange that I will be delighted to share with anyone who asks. Of course, if you live in a nice location, I might want to exchange with you. Look out!

Katy

I'm British but have lived in HK for the past 7 years. I work as a Textile Designer and am entitled to 14 days leave annually including any compensation entitlement. During the past few years I have travelled extensively throughout Asia and will be in Phuket, Thailand in a few weeks, however I yearn to be back in Europe. I was back in London in January and before that Paris, Rome and Milan in October. My next trip this year will be October again. See you all there....

Miriam

Hello Danny, <BR> <BR>I`m from Germany. I`m a recruitment specialist("Headhunter") for the IT-industry. I get 30 days vacation plus the national holidays(I think about 9 extra days). Everything is paid by the company including the time you might be sick and no matter how long it is. Normally I will take one "long" trip in the summer(3-4 weeks), one trip in October (1 week), a 2-week trip around Christmas/New Year`s and a one week trip over Easter. I`m planning around the national holidays to have more time even when it`s more expensive. And I love my weekend trips to Italy, France or the Netherlands(at least twice a month) <BR> <BR>Miriam

Terry

I'm a librarian in a University Library in Dublin, Ireland. We get 37 days leave per year, plus the 10 public holidays. We also get the Christmas period off - from the day before Christmas Eve until 2nd January. None of this includes sick leave. Pretty good eh?

cassandra

i work in magazine publishing and get 17 days vacation (three weeks plus two personal days), and pretty much unlimited sick time. i'm fortunate because my boss is forgiving about personal days... unfortunately, though, salary does not support extensive traveling... and, now i've gotten to three weeks after three years of employment, the next bump of one week's vacation time doesn't come until ten years! <BR> <BR>this post is very, very interesting. i'm looking forward to starting my own business in the next year or two - well on my way already - and cannot wait for the travel time it will afford me. i would much rather be plugging in my laptop while sitting in a hotel room in paris than sitting here, gazing out onto the concrete jungle of midtown new york city! now, if only my boyfriend were able to do the same.

Danny

Wow! Great responses so far.., I never knew so many people here were lawyers.., I think we better watch ourselves! LOL! I would love to hear about the others on this board. All of the responses has me thinking that next time I change jobs, I need to negotiate a bit more.

sandy

I'm a jack of all trades in the marketing department of a manufacturing company (customer service, event planning, database management, brochure design, office staff coordinator etc., etc.). I've been here for about 6 years, and I get almost 3 weeks vacation now (after 10 years I get the max 4 weeks), 1 week sick time, 10 or 11 paid holidays and 1 personal day. I can also roll my vacation time but not sick or personal time. My husband (an engineer) makes twice as much money as I do but gets half the vacation time, so it puts a damper on the trips we could take.

Steph

Hi, <BR> <BR>I work in the 401(k) plan record-keeping industry. I've been in my job for over 5 years and have 3 weeks of vacation plus one more week that we have the option of "buying" (deducted from your salary, spread over the whole year) and 10 personal/sick days. I do not make much but i'm 23 and still living at home, so I can use money that would normally be for living expenses on travel. Last year i spent a week in Germany. This year we were transitioned from one company to another and there were a few bonuses involved which allowed me to go to Aruba for a week in March and I will also be going to Europe for a week(France/Germany) in July. Next year I plan to go back to school, so my traveling days are numbered! <BR> <BR>Steph

Patrick

I teach at a University in London. <BR> <BR>I have 37 days A/L per annum plus two weeks paid closure at Christmas plus 9 days public holidays througout the year. <BR> <BR>My working week in three days and I will be travelling to Madrid, Glasgow and New York for long weekends within the next two months. I will not be taking any a/l for these trips. <BR> <BR>My sick leave is for sickness and is full pay for the first six months, half pay for the remaining six months. <BR> <BR>Please forgive me for this ...but I am so glad I do not live in the US. <BR>

abc

Looks like there are a lot of lawyers around! I'm not a lawyer, but I work for 2 lawyers at a well-known corporation. I've been here 15 1/2 years; I get (per year) 4 weeks vacation, 6 sick days, and 12 paid holidays. My husband is a department head for the City. Our combined income is good, but not great. We have 3 children (2 teens, 1 8-year old). We're getting ready to take our 2nd international trip (to Italy) at the first of June. Our other international trip was almost 2 years ago, to England. We're very excited, but sometimes I get anxious just thinking about the money we're spending for this trip (i.e., how we should be using the money for other things). But then I tell myself, we are making some wonderful family memories by doing this, and that's important.

Brian in Atlanta

I work in Investment Banking. I get 27 days off (includes sick days) and 10 federal holidays. My wife works for the phone company and gets 24 days off (not including sick days) and 6 federal holidays. Each of us also have long term disability protection. <BR> <BR>So it's not so bad here in the US, Patrick.

s.fowler

I teach philosophy, web design and a few other stray things part-time at a college outside of Chicago. My husband teaches there full time. <BR> <BR>The advantage? We have a month off at Christmas [from before Thanksgiving to right after New Years.] We also have summers and, of course "spring break". The disadvantages. We have to spend a lot of that time doing professional things, whether researching, writing, attending conferences or preparing new courses. And the pay isn't great. But we travel anyway Sometimes we combine pleasure and business as we are in our June London trip. Other times we are visiting friends in Eastern Europe. And occasionally we just go to Paris -- just because

Sjoerd

I work for a bank in Amsterdam. I get 51 vacation days per year + 8 national holidays. And once every 5 years we get 3 months "sabbatical". <BR>I usually take 4 two-week trips per year (this year two trips to Asia, one to South America and one to Canada) plus numerous long weekend trips in Europe.

ilisa

I am a lobbyist for a non-profit association. I get 15 days leave plus 2 floating holidays. However, I have to save some for religious holidays and child-related activities which does cut into travel time. However, my husband and I have 2 home businesses, so I am hoping to quit the day job and concentrate on them and my family. Then maybe we can think about more travel.

Lesley

I am a (Canadian) mid-life student recently retired from 20 years in magazine publishing and now on my way to a Masters of Divinity to become a Minister. Part of my reason for leaving the corporate end of the business world was to have more flexible vacation time...when I do take on a parish, it will probably be part-time to preserve this new found freedom. My husband is a writer (6 books) and we like to plan 4-6 weeks travel time per year with more to come. This is a fascinating thread to me...what interesting and varied lives we all have!

Christine

I'm an administrative assistant at a univesity. I get 3 weeks vacation plus 2 personal days. But since they do a good job of living without me and summers are slow, I was able to take 4 weeks unpaid last summer. To me, vacation time is more important than money! <BR> <BR>My husband is a grad student and he is interviewing for a job with a company that will give him 4 weeks vacation to start plus the week between Christmas and New Year's off! I'm desperately hoping he gets that job. <BR> <BR>It would be really hard to work with only 2 weeks vacation. We don't live near our extended families so we use up at least a week or 2 per year of vacation time just to see them. In addition to that we need time to travel by ourselves!

Anna

Wow, the difference in vacation time between the US and European countries is amazing. My husband and I are both pharmacists, we each have about 6 years of service and get 3 weeks of paid vacation plus 6 federal holidays. After 15 years of service we'll get a 4th week of paid vacation. Our supervisor is allowing us to take an an additional 3 weeks off unpaid this year, so we're able to take three 2 week trips.