Hey you guys, it’s 2020, a new year! One of my favorite (past) pastimes is to begin each year with a plan for using all of my vacation. Studies, however, reveal that Americans are rarely capitalizing on the full gift of paid time to not work, and it’s costing us all big-time. The rippling effects go far beyond our own well-being and can affect society at large.
How much are we truly leaving on the table?
Man was made at the end of the week’s work, when God was tired.
Mark Twain
Why We Are Not Taking Vacation
A 2016 Bankrate survey shows that 64% of Americans get paid vacation days, yet only 47% of that group will actually use them all.
The reasons, according to a survey by Kimble Applications, reflect the culture of America’s largely unique obsession with looking good to our bosses. We (often wrongly) believe that the world cannot possibly go on in our absence.
In this study, 13% of respondents fear they’ll return to too much work, while 27% say they have too much to do to even consider leaving. And when they do leave, 19% of workers check their email daily while on vacation.
Oddly enough, surveys on worker productivity show that while we may be at work in excess of eight hours per day, we are only working an average of…..2 hours and 53 minutes. The standard time wasters apply here: news and social media surfing, and idle chit-chat.
(Related Post: Digital Minimalism: Give Me Back My Brain)
I get it. Not every minute at work can be spent actually working. The point, however, is that we waste time at work. We then refuse to use our paid time off in fear of having to return to the work we’re not doing when we are there.
Hmmm.
Bottom Line: Studies show that Americans are afraid to take vacation out of fears of workplace loyalty or an overly burdensome workload. Oddly enough, separate studies show that the average American is ridiculously unproductive, working less than 40% of the time when “on the clock.”
The Economic Cost of Not Taking Vacation
A US Travel (Project: Time Off) survey found that Americans forfeited 212 million vacation days in 2017, at a cost of $62.2 billion in lost benefits.
Sure, some companies offer rollover options, where unused vacation can be used in the following year. But many companies don’t. In many cases, unused vacation—a benefit set aside for the employee—is simply lost.
Interestingly, there are ripple effects beyond the individual or company of unused vacation. When folks take vacation, they usually travel. And in doing so, they spend money. The unused vacation time results in $255 billion in lost American economic opportunity, and potentially 1.9 million jobs.
Bottom Line: Unused vacation is often money the employee chooses to leave on the table. The effects also extend far beyond the company or individual. Hundreds of billions of dollars of economic opportunity is lost each year, as is close to 2 million jobs.
The Physical and Emotional Costs of Unused Vacation
Travel and new experiences are still key in producing happiness. The Project: Time Off survey finds that when comparing those who use vacation to travel versus stay home (or “staycation”), there is a 22-percentage point gap in reported physical health and well-being. Obviously, if vacation time is simply unused, there are zero benefits.
Traveling provides a 22% increase in physical health and well-being compared to staying home.
Project: Time-Off, 2018 Study
Those taking vacation, and specifically taking that time to travel, show the highest degree of happiness with their company, job, and personal relationships. In the study mentioned above, more than half of vacation travelers received a promotion in the last two years, compared to 44% of those who use some or none of their time to travel. The same trend is evident in the likelihood of receiving a raise or bonus. The travelers keep winning by not being at work.
(Related Post: Rest: We Need It and We Don’t Get Enough)
Those who take vacation and travel are more likely to be promoted, receive a raise, or a bonus.
Project: Time-Off, 2018 Study
Paradox Alert: Being at Work Hurts Our Chances of Being Good Employees
Continuing to grind on at the workplace has a point of diminishing returns. Living your life on the weekend margins simply is a losing game, and studies continue to expose that reality. American workers are burnt out!
Once again, let’s take a moment to imagine a “40-hour work week.”
It isn’t 40 hours, is it?
Once we begin to consider the time it takes to prepare for work, commute to work, and unwind from the stress of work, there’s volumetrically little time in the day for us and our families. And then the weekend is spent catching up on chores instead of engaging in new and exciting experiences.
Once we begin to tally our real hourly wage, we’re not doing as well as we thought. And for those constantly putting in 50, 60 or more hours of work per week, the hourly wage figures are even more daunting.
The downstream effects are poor personal relationships, sub-par exercise and eating habits that lead to weight gain, and often some degree of life discontentment, perhaps in the form of full-blown depression.
Paradoxically, the more time we spend showing up and trying to impress, the less likely we are to do so.
Bottom Line: Unused vacation results in worker burnout. When we don’t take time to mentally and physically regroup, we are sacrificing our health, well-being, and career prospects.
My Thoughts on Vacation
I use it, plain and simple. How could I write this article if I didn’t?!
There have been maybe two or three years in my 10-year career that I rolled over a handful of unused vacation hours. I might have been saving for a bigger trip the following year, or had some other plan. But after 10 years, I can proudly claim that I’ve never left a single hour of unused vacation time on the table.
What’s the result? I’m 100% sold on everything written above, substantiated by Project: Time Off. This is especially true when we travel.
For a few years, from about 2013-2015, we didn’t take any international trips or extended vacations. We were afraid we would appear less committed during the previously-described Catalyst Era.
It was a mistake.
We finally came to our senses, with plenty of layoffs still occurring around us. We started traveling on extended trips. France came first. Then we traveled to Germany, Austria, Spain, and soon Italy. We have more plans for South America and a return to Southeast Asia in the near future. We go on domestic road trips three or four times a year, spending virtually nothing other than gas money.
We’re often gone for two weeks or more in a single stretch. I’m happy to use up my generous vacation policy that my company assumes no one will actually use. I might be the only one.
Mrs. CC has a sounds-good-but-sucks “unlimited” vacation policy. It’s sort of like Golden Corral. They might say it’s all-you-can-eat, but unless you’re stuffing steak in your pockets (guilty as charged during my college years), you are paying for fluff.
By the way, I’m not some kind of savage. I wrapped it in a napkin first, okay??
How can we travel internationally so often?
We firmly believe that travel focused on the essence of the experience not only saves money but makes for a more memorable and enjoyable experience.
We toss unnecessary luxury to the curb and instead focus spending on what brings the most value—simple experiences. Fancy hotels are fancy, but what kind of lame-o sits in their hotel all day on vacation?! Get those boots on the ground soldier!
It’s the new and thrilling sensory experiences with the ones we love that provides the restorative effects we so desire. The dopamine hit of luxury is simply ephemeral. Blissful for a moment, then gone.
That kind of philosophy got us over two weeks in Mallorca, Spain for just over $2000, all-in. We use a number of tricks and optimizations to, for instance, fly to Europe for free.
It’s worth noting, even if you can’t pass on luxury, travel rewards credit cards can be used to book swanky hotels, practically for free. You do you, but don’t pass on being an optimizer my friend.
For more easy cost-saving travel tips, check out this post: Traveling Abroad: You’re Paying Too Much)
Bottom Line: Once you get beyond the feeling of needing to be at work, the next hurdle is believing that travel can be affordable. By focusing on the aspects of travel that bring value—lasting and memorable experiences over fleeting luxury—travel becomes much more cost-efficient and attainable.
Summary
I have nothing more to say. Quit reading this and go submit a vacation request! Start planning your next affordable vacation and then spray us all down on Instagram or something.
You will come home with a better appreciation of your place in the world. A new, relaxed version of yourself will show up on Monday and carry that sense of peace into the day. Now you can brag about how you can say “beer” and “please” in two new languages. So erudite!
Soon enough, with less effort than the “loyal” ones down the hall, you will find yourself on the business end of a nice bonus or promotion.
Well done, you vacationed person, you.
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Thanks guys, see you next week.
I rarely took all my vacation after I got to the point where I had four or five weeks worth every year plus another ten holidays. I didn’t feel any need to, after all I got to travel to fun places on my company’s expense account frequently and that included lavish meals and entertainment. I never felt overworked, my commute was eight minutes tops and I spent tons of quality time with my wife and kids. I simply took all the vacation I wanted and had a very enjoyable career and home life. I realize what you posted was pretty accurate for most people but there were some of us who got all the time off we wanted even if we didn’t take off all the vacation possible.
Thanks for the comment Steve. I see unused vacation (or PTO) as a part of my total compensation, like a bonus or perhaps equity stake in a company. I know people who would be livid not to get a bonus, but will shrug off taking vacation. Unused vacation to me is money on the table. I’m all for maximizing benefits offered to me! I’m glad you at least felt satisfied with your work/life balance.