Comments on: Twentysomething: When working on vacation isn’t work

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:27:14 +0000

I don’t wish to offend anybody but I think it’s absolutely disgraceful that the United States does not have a legal minimum for vacation days like almost every other country on earth.

Australia and Britain have a minimum for four weeks (20 days) stipulated by law. In Europe it’s usually six weeks.

Vacation time is terribly important for personal sanity, for family happiness, for many, many reasons. But it can sometimes be hard to fit around work commitments and if you don’t HAVE to take it, the temptation is not to. You’ll take some of course, but nowhere near enough.

In Britain they make you take all of your holiday entitlement in the year you earn it, so people take it. In Australia, it rolls over to the following year so quite often senior people who are quite indispensable to a company don’t take all of it and wind up with a huge backlog owed to them. The higher up the food chain you are, the more difficult it is to take a holiday.

Minimum vacation time is not about big government getting in the way of private enterprise. Americans accept that the government will set rules on the minimum wage (even though it’s low, it still exists), the minimum working age (no child labour), health and safety, discrimination, all manner of things deemed to be important. Vacation time should be up there with the rest of them.

I work for myself so I understand what Ryan is saying when he talks about the blurring of work and personal time. I’m quite happy working on the weekend for myself (though I would be less happy doing so for an employer). It’s my choice and if I want to skive off mid week to make up for it I can. But even though I work for myself and love what I do, I do like to sometimes get away from it all. Some of my holidays might involve some low-level checking of email and so on, others will be in a wilderness area truly escaping city life.

By: Fran

Fran — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 02:16:02 +0000

I think it’s not a big deal to do a little work during vacation. As long as you are enjoying it, theres nothing wrong about it. I think it also depends on how a person wants to spend his/her time during vacation.

By: MCW

MCW — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 09:48:02 +0000

Well, I can see multiple sides to it.

My husband and I have two classes of vacation: 1) the doing-an-hour-of-work-here-and-there, call-me-if-necessary vacation, and 2) the totally-unavailable, dark-side-of-the-moon vacation. Given the nature of our work, 2) is pretty rare. But even 1) is way better than no vacation at all.

That said - I do think it’s valuable every once and awhile to take a block of time and get your head completely out of work. Maybe this is really only necessary for some people after some years at their job, whereas some people may need it every year.

I know I’ve heard some people say, and have felt it myself, that when you *really* need a break, even a week is too short. It takes a few days to really detox your brain, and the last 1-2 days you’re already thinking about coming back.

Meanwhile, travel industry data says that vacations in the US are getting shorter and shorter. Two weeks in the summer (camping, road trips) used to be fairly common; now they’re rare. One week is becoming rare; the most common vacations now are the 2-4 day long weekend variety.

I’ve even read how some national parks have fewer visitors now, and there’s speculation that many people feel unable to take a full week of vacation, which is discouraging them from traveling to more remote locations. They simply don’t have time to travel to get there.

By: anna

anna — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:59:05 +0000

I have a flexible schedule (11-7 3 days a week) and I write constantly for various sites. I’ve also been involved in the internet since its inception (by Al Gore! haha). I disagree with your point, though. While it is hard to justify and take vacation when you love your job, I think it’s vital to well-being. There’s a point 2 weeks into my vacation when I can sit at a cafe, and watch people, and not try to occupy myself with a book or a computer or a phone. I liek the earlier comment regarding family, too. Too much we get in a kind of compulsive digital grind (enjoyable, but like a rat in a maze), and despite how rewarding and important, we need to step back and slow down and enjoy our friends and family on a personal level. Or, discover other paces of life, settings, cultures, etc. I come back from these vacations so rejuvenated and carefree, despite a realy enjoyable carefree life, and make it even better.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:31:41 +0000

I think it is truly inspirational that you have such passion for your work. I know when I’m “away from my desk”, I constantly think about article ideas and ways to counsel and support clients. However, I need the sanctuary of my office in order to work effectively. I would love to work from my local Panera, but I just can’t do it. So next week, while I’m on vacation, I will take a break from any visible work while I enjoy my family and the beautiful New Jersey sunshine.
http://flexibleworkforce.blogspot.com/2007/07/why-i-will-not-work-on-vacation-next.html

By: Recruiting Bloggers.com

Recruiting Bloggers.com — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:34:45 +0000

Gen Y Spokesman…

Goes Completely Off Rocker. “There should be no such thing as vacation days. By telling employees they are allowed fifteen days off from work a year, you are in effect telling them that they will need to escape the daily grind. With new technologies a…

By: MG

MG — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:17:50 +0000

Wherever you are, be there.

All small business owners and corporate robots would benefit from “taking a week off to try and recall the whole year” to paraphrase Jimmy Buffett.

Even Marc Andreesen . . .

By: Helen

Helen — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 02:54:50 +0000

For me, a little thought about work will ruin my vacation. Since vacation means we are doing something else for fun, it would be a disturbance to think about work..
If we are doing even a little work on our vacation, it means that we are not enjoying it.

By: Hope

Hope — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 22:49:25 +0000

I think some of this IS generational, and most of it is learned behavior. I agree with all who say detaching from the job is necessary to recharge the brain. My experience is twofold: 1) It takes about three days to really stop thinking about work (i.e. in a dead zone where you can’t check your Blackberry every hour). 2) No one is irreplaceable. If you got hit by a bus tomorrow, someone else would step in.
Finally, we would all be better off if the pace of the workplace allowed some introspective thought.

By: Cathy Mosca

Cathy Mosca — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 21:20:19 +0000

I find a change of scenery with work along is all the vacation I need. Putting myself out of touch with work just causes a backlog, and clearing up the backlog makes the vacation week a distant, unreal memory. Why would I choose that when I can take my laptop and keep up with the most pressing work (an hour or two a day is all it takes) from anywhere in the world? That way I can stay two weeks, instead.