Spring Break has come and gone and I am not on vacation. I think back to those high school and college years when my friends and I would take the required “Spring Break” to ease, drink, and party away the pressures of school and life. Sigh, those were the days …
Now, Spring Break happens between midnight and 6 a.m. when I sleep. Finding––or making—time for that one-week break to ease, drink, and party my stresses away seems impossible and only gets harder with each passing year.
As much as I love to travel, there is always that part of me that feels kind of guilty when it comes time to vacation: Will I be able to catch up on my work missed? How will my family get along without me? Will my job get along too well without me? Will I able to workout in between fancy dinners and lazy days on the beach? Will I spend too much money?
My answer? Better not go.
I’m not the only one sitting home it seems. According to Expedia’s 2007 Vacation Deprivation survey, 51.2 million Americans and I are vacation deprived. On average, we earn a total of fourteen vacation days a year and only take eleven of them, meaning that 35 percent of employed Americans do not take all of the vacations days that they are entitled to.
Yes, this is sad, but the reasons behind this lack of vacation are even sadder. The survey also revealed that 12 percent believe that the money they could potentially receive back from their unused vacation days is more valuable than a trip and 10 percent agree with the statement, “Work is life and it’s too hard to get away.”
I’m finding a perverse comfort in numbers right now so here’s another one: 19 percent of Americans have actually cancelled a planned vacation because of work; 33 percent get stressed out from work on their break from their job, and 23 percent even check their work e-mail and voicemail while on vacation.
How pathetic are we? All work and no play makes America a dull place. Reading the stats is a wake-up call for me. I need a vacation, and sure, I’m no longer in college and no longer careless and irresponsible, but dammit, that’s even more justification for a Spring Break!
PREVIOUS PAGE
