Summer is usually seen as the traditional time to take one or two weeks' vacation from work, just ahead of a mid-winter break. So why is it that more and more of us are becoming vacation deprived?
As hard working North Americans, we're conditioned to believe that we are only productive when we're working and that leisure time is somehow unproductive. In other words, we live to work rather than work to live. The French would say "au contraire mon ami" and they should know. The French worker receives, on average, 38 paid vacation days per year. 38 DAYS!! More than double the 15 day average of most North Americans. So what gives?
For most of us deciding to forego our vacation boils down to two things; the job itself and money. Given the state of the economy, we're scared out of our minds that our job will disappear while were out of sight and out of mind, and we don't have any extra cash to go away so we might as well go to work. For a lot of workers, trading their paid vacation time for cold hard cash seems a good option.
Younger workers are more prone than older workers to give up their vacation. A survey conducted by Expedia and Ipsos Reid revealed that 37% of workers aged 18-34 feel guilty about taking time away from work. They're busy building their careers and fear that they'll miss something if they're away from work for a week or two. Not so the older generation. Unsurprisingly, less than one quarter of workers over the age of 35 feel the same way.
For some, coming back after two weeks away means they have to work doubly hard just to catch up, so they simply don't bother taking time off in the first place. But all that work does more than make Jack and Jill dull people; a lack of downtime from work can result in some serious health issues. People who don't take regular vacations have more difficulty concentrating; they suffer more headaches, have more trouble sleeping and are, well, just plain grumpier than those of us who do take time away from work.
Add up the headaches, the lack of sleeping and the difficulty concentrating over a period of two, three or four years and what do you end up with? Totally stressed out and miserable people, that's what. So do yourself and your family a favor, and take the time off work that you're entitled to. Even if you don't have money to go away somewhere, a stay at home vacation is still better than none at all.
