Do most people in America just not take vacations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my family and social circle, it seems to be the norm to take a nice trip 3-4x a year with a few long weekend getaways thrown in. We have never done that and I will admit to being jealous of those who can. We take 1 week at the beach every year. Once every few years I get a long girls weekend (but never fancy) or a weekend trip related to an event like a bar mitzvah or wedding. DH has from day 1 complained we can’t afford to travel because we should be saving for a rainy day. But now he is late 50s and I think he will never feel comfortable traveling. He has unlimited leave and isn’t afraid to use it. He takes it to stay home and work on a project or just lounge around. I think some people just don’t value vacations and he is one of them. I don’t need fancy trips but a nice trip once every few years would be appreciated.

Wow leave him at home and travel with other family or friends. Life is too short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm on vacation right now, use my PTO frequently (we have unlimited PTO and I am the boss so I push my staff to get away from work, too, I don't want burnt out people). People like to be martyrs, not me, when I am not working, I don't work.

Let me guess, you work for government or a non profit? There's no slack for vacations in private equity land.

[Anonymous]

We don’t really take vacations and I feel like the odd one out. MC/UMC area. We stay home, do day trips, my teen watches the pets of those vacationing and makes money. I help. I take the little ones to local beaches and amusement parks.

I don’t really feel deprived unless I’m playing the comparison game.

[Anonymous]

We go somewhere for a week about twice per year (summer and winter break) and maybe a couple weekend trips. At my kids’ school almost everyone travels for spring break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on vacation right now, use my PTO frequently (we have unlimited PTO and I am the boss so I push my staff to get away from work, too, I don't want burnt out people). People like to be martyrs, not me, when I am not working, I don't work.

Let me guess, you work for government or a non profit? There's no slack for vacations in private equity land.

Government does not have unlimited PTO

[Anonymous]

I have tons of time off (I'm a teacher) but I don't have the money for a vacation. One day I will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don’t really take vacations and I feel like the odd one out. MC/UMC area. We stay home, do day trips, my teen watches the pets of those vacationing and makes money. I help. I take the little ones to local beaches and amusement parks.

I don’t really feel deprived unless I’m playing the comparison game.

So why don’t you go on vacations?

[Anonymous]

I took 3 weeks off this summer consecutively. It’s the most time I’ve ever taken off outside of giving birth (before paid maternity leave, so doesn’t count, and wasn’t actually a break anyway). And I only did it because of RTO. Otherwise, I would have worked at least 50% of that time from my parents’ house or our extended family home, like I did for the previous 18 years. In stead, they got no work out of me and I unplugged entirely for 3 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i haven't been out of the country in over 10 years.

then i spent time trying to save up leave so i could have a baby, so all my "vacations" were like four-day holiday weekends using credit hours. and maybe a wedding here or there.

now with RTO and no telework, i have only just now taken the first actual unplugged vacations i have ever had in 10 years ... because i ran out of summer camps and backup care hours. in the past i would have gone to stay with the grandparents and worked half-days by getting up at 5am, but now i can't do that, so it's just slacking for a week and a half. it was kind of nice but now i'm back and still slogging through backlog.

Wow this entire post resonates with me so hard.

We did eke out one week this summer for a camping trip (no flights or hotels, only 2 meals out all week), and it did wonders for my mental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on vacation right now, use my PTO frequently (we have unlimited PTO and I am the boss so I push my staff to get away from work, too, I don't want burnt out people). People like to be martyrs, not me, when I am not working, I don't work.

Let me guess, you work for government or a non profit? There's no slack for vacations in private equity land.

Nope, neither. And we are owned by a PE group. They just happen to be humane and understand you can't get the best work and most profit out of people who are burnt out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on vacation right now, use my PTO frequently (we have unlimited PTO and I am the boss so I push my staff to get away from work, too, I don't want burnt out people). People like to be martyrs, not me, when I am not working, I don't work.

Let me guess, you work for government or a non profit? There's no slack for vacations in private equity land.

Nope, neither. And we are owned by a PE group. They just happen to be humane and understand you can't get the best work and most profit out of people who are burnt out.

It’s even more humane to replace you with AI, so you wouldn’t have to work at all.

[Anonymous]

My father is the CEO of a 10,000 company, and he always works even when he is on vacation. There is no such thing as vacations for a CEO. His compensation is 15M/yr, so it comes with a cost.

[Anonymous]

I’m a fed (SESer). Wife is big law (partner). She made partner the same year I made SES (2021). Before these promotions, we took 4-5 international trips a year and a couple domestic weekend trips. Since these promotions, we take 2 trips a year. Actually, we are on vacation right now (Bali). This is my first time off since Christmas 2024. My wife took 2 days off in March but that’s it. Funny that I have 687 hours of annual leave but can’t seem to use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on vacation right now, use my PTO frequently (we have unlimited PTO and I am the boss so I push my staff to get away from work, too, I don't want burnt out people). People like to be martyrs, not me, when I am not working, I don't work.

Let me guess, you work for government or a non profit? There's no slack for vacations in private equity land.

Nope, neither. And we are owned by a PE group. They just happen to be humane and understand you can't get the best work and most profit out of people who are burnt out.

It’s even more humane to replace you with AI, so you wouldn’t have to work at all.

Weird flex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer your question, yes. It is common to vacation rarely.

+1. After time off for sick kids, teacher work days, random school days off that are not regular holidays, minimal regular holidays (Black Friday, Xmas Eve, Xmas Day), and what not, we can’t really vacation. Maybe after kids are in college…