Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to maximize your vacation days
Speaker 1: if you'd like to travel more. Different organizations obviously give
Speaker 1: different amounts of paid time off. Different countries have different
Speaker 1: traditions in this regard to and if you live somewhere
Speaker 1: where everyone takes all of August off, you can just
Speaker 1: ignore the rest of this episode. Join me again tomorrow.
Speaker 1: In the US, at least where I live, the widely
Speaker 1: reported figure is that people with five years on a
Speaker 1: job tend to get about fifteen days of paid vacation.
Speaker 1: That's three workweeks, but a lot of workplaces that aren't
Speaker 1: in vital public services also closed on the major holidays
Speaker 1: such as Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving, and so forth. People
Speaker 1: often talk about wanting to travel more. When I ask
Speaker 1: people what they'd like to spend more time doing, that's
Speaker 1: one of the most popular answers. We put various international
Speaker 1: destinations on our bucket lists, but even people who might
Speaker 1: be able to swing such trips financially often think these
Speaker 1: will need to happen during retirement because it's really challenging
Speaker 1: to travel far if you have limited vacation days, but
Speaker 1: I don't think this has to be the case. The
Speaker 1: key is to be proactive about your vacation scheduling. To
Speaker 1: stack vacation days with existing office closures and holidays. Then
Speaker 1: you can do quite a bit of traveling while limiting
Speaker 1: the vacation cost. So for instance, this year, America's Independence Day,
Speaker 1: the fourth of July, is on a Thursday. Bowing to reality,
Speaker 1: a number of workplaces will close on Friday the fifth
Speaker 1: as well, But that means that if you were taking
Speaker 1: July first, second, and third as vacation days, you could
Speaker 1: theoretically fly somewhere on the evening of Friday June and
Speaker 1: have that weekend, the whole next week, and the weekends
Speaker 1: of July six and seven off for the of three
Speaker 1: vacation days. That's a nine day trip, which is definitely
Speaker 1: enough time to fly to a country you've been hoping
Speaker 1: to visit in Europe or South America if you're not
Speaker 1: beholding to school schedules. Thanksgiving week is also good for this.
Speaker 1: Many US workplaces will close on Thursday November for Thanksgiving,
Speaker 1: of course, and then also stay closed on Friday the
Speaker 1: twenty nine. So by taking off in the evening of Friday, November,
Speaker 1: being gone that week, and then the weekend of November
Speaker 1: December one, you could likewise get a nine day trip
Speaker 1: for three vacation days. When Christmas falls in the middle
Speaker 1: of the week and it's on Wednesday this year, this
Speaker 1: can be a prime spot too. If your office closes
Speaker 1: December and then closes on January one, you could theoretically
Speaker 1: leave on Friday December, travel the entire next week, and
Speaker 1: then come back on Wednesday, January one. This is a
Speaker 1: twelve day trip for the price of five vacation days,
Speaker 1: enough to really take a trip to Asia or Africa
Speaker 1: or Pacific Island if you wanted to. Even long weekends
Speaker 1: can be good for stacking. If you get President's Day
Speaker 1: off in February, for instance, you could take off Thursday night,
Speaker 1: enjoy Friday, Saturday, and Sunday visiting somewhere in the US, Canada,
Speaker 1: Mexico or the Caribbean, and then come back Monday evening.
Speaker 1: That's enough to fit in a reasonable adventure for the
Speaker 1: price of just one vacation day. The key, of course,
Speaker 1: is planning ahead, because you probably won't be the only
Speaker 1: person in your office. Who wants one of these stackable
Speaker 1: holiday weeks. But here's the thing, it's not a mystery
Speaker 1: when future holidays will occur. You can look at future
Speaker 1: calendars into the year or later if you want so.
Speaker 1: These dates are definitely known for and so forth. If
Speaker 1: you look ahead and put in your request whenever your
Speaker 1: office vacation system opens up, then you're far more likely
Speaker 1: to have first DIBs on these days if you want
Speaker 1: them now. Maybe don't take all the holidays as a
Speaker 1: favor to your colleagues, but if you know now that
Speaker 1: you'll be taking a nine day European vacation in summer,
Speaker 1: you can start patting that vacation fund and anticipating your adventure,
Speaker 1: and that can make all the time before summer more pleasant.
Speaker 1: So take some time now to strategize with your family
Speaker 1: and the calendar. What great trips will you plan in
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
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Speaker 1: The number four then Breakfast p o D. You can
Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at
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Speaker 1: out with all the letters they so much should, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
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