How Important are Vacations?

[Taco-Calamitous]

...and what do you consider a "vacation?"

The last couple of weeks since Summer Term ended, I have been incredibly lazy. My sole thing that's anything similar to work is rugby practice, and I've skipped out on that like 4 out of the 5 practices in the last two and a half weeks (but I suppose I'm going tonight... guh.) Been slacking on my site, too.

Anyway though, my friend asked me when the last time was that I went on vacation. I mentioned a few times I drove from point a to point b (like driving back home from across country earlier this year), and he stated that that "wasn't a vacation." There was a month that I came home in December this past year, and he supposed that counted; I'd vacationed to home, haha. However, what he considered a vacation was something like we were about to do this past weekend: go camping. Leave stuff behind, relax, etc. After doing that, and going to the Coast, I realize that I really felt a lot better; less stressed, less worried about things. Like that damned C I got for the first time in 12 years, grr....

But yeah; I sat around and did nothing at the campsite but drink beer for nearly a full day on Saturday (and got stung by a bee while I was just sitting there...) and I didn't feel bad about it. I didn't read, I didn't play a game, I just sat, and occasionally talked, heh. It was some kind of unwinding, decompressing thing. It was also nice to sit around the campfire and talk to my friends about stuff in our lives that's happening. There was a lot of time to devote to listening to each other's troubles, to reflect on things, and to be there for one another, without any distractions; I really liked that. The Coast was awesome too, in a different way; yesterday at a place called "Cobble Beach," I sat on a rock and reflected on the waves as they came in and went back out... over a coast of small rocks, not sand. I would've sat there a lot longer if family members weren't waiting for me. I love bodies of water; between the nearby river at the campsite and the various beaches on the Coast that we went to, I've got like 5 fifteen second videos of moving bodies of water, up on my instagram. One is with the sun setting over the waves.

Anyway, yeah; I think doing those things did good for me, as opposed to carrying on forever. Good for my soul, or whatever. I don't know if they're necessary, but they're good for a person; helps when one is burning out.

[Clint]

I hear all the time of people who choose to stay at work, despite that they have paid vacation time. That type of thing seems absolutely ridiculous to me. I get paid by the hour and don't get any paid time off, so I don't take a lot of vacations, but when I hear about people who have vacation time that they aren't using, I just want to join ISIS and chop their heads off. You're choosing to stay at a place where you're agreeing to sell a portion of your life for a certain amount of money per year, instead of taking your paid vacation time and actually living your life.

Even if you don't go anywhere, just take some time off. Any time away from work is a vacation. Work and school are the two most bullshit things in this world. They cause people so much stress that half the time we die from heart failure or cancer before we're 70, and I never understood the point of working for a living if you kill yourself working.

Anyway, my two cents is that vacations are necessary in order to live a full and happy life. Work is bullshit and a modern form of slavery, and school is mind control and programming.

[LocoColt04]

I've hit a point where I'm at 160 hours of vacation PTO to go on top of the two comp personal days and the six comp sick days every year. Like, I don't even know how to vacation for a month out of every year, but you better believe I take my time off. That's when I binge through all the RPGs that I purchase throughout the year and never actually sit down to play.

I do travel a couple times a year though. Typically I just schedule my days off so that I can take some weekends here and there out of town without actually having to spend any PTO at all.

[Unknown Entity]

I've only started taking holiday this year. I'd been with the company I work for for just under fives years before I took a week off. Five years without a holiday? Yeah. My contract moved up so that I could afford to and get paid for it.

I just got back from holiday this week actually. Two weeks off this time. We spent five nights in South-West England in Torquay. It was nice to be by the sea. We did loads in that time. Took a day trip to Dartmouth, which is beautiful. Took a cruise up the River Dart. Went on a steam train. Went on a ferry. Spent about £200 on cocktails and no regrets were had. We had a great time.

And you don't realise how important they are until you come back from one. Work has been horrible to say the least lately, with a lot of nasty things going on. Long story short, my staff had no one to talk to while I was away, and seeked help at a higher level and now things seem to be on the up. It worked out for me, switching off for a few weeks and my store saw what they'd lost and did something about it. Everyone is happier!

Being by the ocean and watching and listening to the waves is the ultimate stress reliever for me. We picked up Chinese food one night and sat out in the marina eating and watching the stars. Never felt so relaxed in my life.

[Lily]

If you have paid holidays and you don't take them, then I think you are an idiot. There is no way I am giving the company I work for more of my time, especially if it's fully paid holiday entitlement. I will take every last minute I am entitled too. Dunno how it works over there in the states, but we get fully paid holiday entitlement relative to the hours we work unless you are on a zero hour contract, but don't get me started on that bullshittery.

[Michael Swayne]

I like to plan for a vacation. I will say I want to go somewhere (like how I wanted to go to Massachusetts during the Spring). I will do the necessary research about where I want to stay, how to get there, etc. I will even make it a point to put money back each paycheck so I could actually afford it. But I never follow through with any of it. Something always comes up, and the money I saved is better used elsewhere.

Back when I only worked at the newspaper, I always thought of it like this: I work one day, and I get a six-day vacation each week to do whatever. And that is how I think of it now that I work more. I work five or six days each week, and the other one or two days are for me to do whatever. I may not actually do anything during those one or two days, but at least it is my decision.

The people I live with HAVE to use their vacation days each year, or they lose them. I guess if they are getting paid for it, then they may as well take the days off.

[Alpha]

I haven't taken a vacation in a while. I have over two weeks of paid leave sitting there for me to take. Problem is I really like my job and actually get satisfaction from going to it. People often say that you should "work to live, not live to work". That'd be fine if you hated your job, but at least in my current role I'm satisfied not going on an extended vacation. I'd much rather just cash out my holiday.

[che]

Definitely no benefit from taking a vacation. Probably just gonna sit on your ass on a beach in your swimsuit and drink alcohol. It's just lazy. There's nothing you can do on a vacation that you can't do in your chair at home. How can something be good for your soul when you don't have one?

[Pete]

I actually feel bad or awkward when taking vacation. I'm finally in a position where I'm salaried, as opposed to hourly, and it's amazing.I used to have to fight for both my actual working hours and my time off. Now, I do less work and get paid much more. It's great

Sometimes I feel bad taking days off, knowing the clients want me based on my knowledge of the jobs I've been on. I really hate when someone else shows up, and has no idea of my systems. On the other hand, screw it, I'll take days.

I can't see myself taking a full week or two though. I feel like I'd get restless

[LocoColt04]

I feel like I'd get restless

I get restless by the middle of day three, but if I didn't take them, my own mind would whittle me away into nothingness.

The trick is to fill half of a week off with fun, productive things so that your itch to work is satisfied while still giving you a much-needed reprieve.