When was the last time you used all your paid time off? Have you always used all your paid vacation days and paid holidays? If you are an American, chances are 50/50 it was far too long ago, if ever. More than half of Americans do not use all their time off, according to a study by the U.S. Travel Association.
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| Americans long to be free from work-- but many are afraid to take time off |
Why would Americans leave vacation unused? A study by the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology showed that Americans who struggle to take time off, often do so because they have trouble disconnecting from work, don’t think the vacation will go well and anticipate being stressed from things like finances.
Work can be hard to escape
According to the USTA’s study, 80 percent of
Americans thought it was important to travel during their time off but don’t
for similar reasons: too hard to get away from work, financial stress and
frustrations around air travel.
The pandemic changed the way many in the world work:
offline to online, in the office to working from home. Has this improved
our ability to take a vacation?
Yes, a family road trip can be
a welcome escape from work.
In many ways, yes. All of a sudden, people were
spending more time with their families and being reminded of what is most
important in life. And with the increase in remote work, people felt they could
travel more often. Indeed, since the pandemic, there has been a significant
rise in bleisure travel, and many employers offer it as a benefit to attract
new hires.
Yet, for some, the rise of remote work has blurred the lines between work and time off more than ever. Ed Zitron shared in The Atlantic about his struggles detaching from work, before and during the pandemic.
As the CEO of the technology public relations firm, EZPR and the author of the
tech and culture newsletter, Where’s Your Ed At, the responsibilities felt too
overwhelming to escape. Yet, his experience contracting COVID-19 showed him
that working from home had become a “productivity trap” that he needed to
address, for himself and his employees.
“I’m slowly learning that a few hours, or a day, or
even a week away won’t bring the world to an end and that those emails will be
waiting for me when I’m done relaxing,” he writes.
Fishing is a popular way to relax.
Even the most experienced travelers in the world are
leaving paid vacation time unused. According to the Global Rescue Traveler
Safety and Sentiment, most travelers (68%) have taken all their available paid
time off from work. Of the 32% who have not, fear of falling behind and coming
back to a mountain of work and the inability to disconnect from work are the
leading reasons for relinquishing paid leave time.
A waterpark like Schlitterbahn can provide relaxing
fun for days.
Skiing may be your perfect vacation.
The practice of taking time off is something that
must be learned in American culture. Since it’s not in our country’s
culture, it is certainly a shift for employers and employees. Leaders almost
have to tell people how to unplug, and then employees have to take
responsibility for doing so.
Or try a spa experience for pure indulgence!
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