According to Expedia, Americans are receiving fewer vacation days than they have in the recent past. Two years ago, the average number of “paid time off” received was 14 per year, but as of 2024, it was only 12. Europeans typically get 30 days, or six weeks, of vacation days each year, which may explain why those from Europe tend to travel more than Americans do. If you have only two or three weeks’ worth of vacation or paid time off, here are some tips on how you still might be able to incorporate Travel with limited vacation time into your year:
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Start local
If you need a break, you can get away from it all for a few days without cutting into your vacation time too much by staying fairly close to home. If you limit yourself to a four-hour radius of driving time from your home, you could conceivably leave first thing on a Friday morning, be enjoying your destination by lunchtime on Friday, and not have to get back in the car to head home until Monday after lunch. This gives you a four-day trip while only using two of your vacation days.
If you schedule this around a long weekend where you will have Friday or Monday off paid anyway, you can stay a day longer, though you’ll most likely pay for it financially if you choose a popular holiday weekend to travel.
Save up your time and/or money
This is not always allowed, so check with your employer ahead of time, but if you are planning a long trip next year, do your best to save some of your days this year to roll over into 2025. If saving days is against company policy, or in addition to that strategy, also try to put aside the equivalent of a day’s pay every month or so. By doing this, you could have an additional ten to twelve days to put toward your time off, assuming your employer allows you take a longer vacation with part of it unpaid.
Talk to your boss about telecommuting
If you can do your job from home, then you might be able to do it from anywhere in the world with Internet access. Talk to your boss about the possibility of telecommuting temporarily. If you already telecommute full- or part-time, then this will be easier than if you don’t ever work from home. It might be worth trying to work from home one or two days per week now, even if you aren’t planning your travel until next year. Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Day Workweek, suggests not telling your employer that you have worked remotely from another continent until you return, but this may or may not backfire on your particular situation, so use your best discretion.
Schedule your vacation for your office or industry’s slower times
If you are an accountant, forget about trying to see the tulips bloom in Holland next March and April, for example. If you work around the natural lulls, your boss might surprise you with his willingness to grant you a month-long sabbatical.
If you have to travel for a convention or meeting, try to tack on a few days to the beginning or end of your company-sponsored trip! This will likely take some negotiating with your boss, of course.
Consider taking advantage of changes in employment
If you are looking for a new job and have the money put aside, tell your new boss that you can start several weeks past the day that you tell your old boss will be your last. This way, you can take time off without inconveniencing either of them. This is also a great way to relax and get some perspective during a transition period. Do the same, if possible, if you are planning on going out on your own by starting your own business. The first few years of business ownership can take up all of your time, and then some, so taking a nice long vacation before jumping in with both feet can do wonders!
Do you have any great tips on making the most of your vacation time, or on getting more vacation time, whether paid or unpaid? Share them with Gtravel365!
