This site features a multitude of vacation itineraries. Most of us would love to take every single one of them. However, limited vacation time is a reality for the vast majority of people. Therefore, we all have to use a variety of strategies to make the best of our vacation time and work situations. The following guide includes a variety of tips and tricks that anyone can use to maximize limited vacation time and see more on your travels.
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Vacation Days
The obvious place to start this discussion is with how you choose to use your vacation days. This is often the limiting factor for most people. Two weeks (or ten days) of vacation is the most common amount for Americans just entering the job market. This average increases to about three weeks (or fifteen days) after five years in the job market. The average climbs to four weeks (or twenty days) with 20+ years at the job.
What to Do if You Have Minimum Vacation?
If you find yourself at the low end (closer to ten days), you will need to be very strategic about its use. A large number of people will use one full week around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and then have a one-week vacation at some other point in the year. While this will get you two vacations per year, it is likely that you are spending at least one of these visiting friends and family. This setup also means that you don’t get any other vacations or small weekend trips for the remainder of the year. While this is better than nothing, it’s going to be important to look at some other strategies if you find yourself in this position.
A large number of our itineraries run 10-days or more. With only two weeks of vacation, these will be difficult to do. I recommend saving up vacation days for one of these longer trips every couple of years. Alternately, if you book early, use some company holidays or other strategies mentioned below to extend your trip.
Strategies if You Have a Little More Vacation
If your situation provides you with three or four weeks of vacation annually, you have a few more options in how to structure your vacations.
Three weeks (or 15 days) of vacation allows for taking one large trip every year. A ten-day trip uses between six and eight days of vacation depending on how weekends are used. This means that a week and a half or more is left in the yearly vacation balance after taking a big trip. It is generally advisable to use this remaining vacation for smaller trips to see friends and family. Smaller three to four-day weekend trips are also possible with this amount of vacation.
If you are lucky enough to have four weeks of vacation available to you, this opens up the possibility of doing two or more major trips per year. After two major ten-day trips, someone with four weeks of vacation would have 8 days of vacation left. This is enough to spend doing a few smaller trips. However, if you wanted to take another major vacation, it is sufficient to take 3 ten-day trips. This can be done under the right circumstances; however, I would recommend against doing that every year.
Use Company Holidays
The next (and possibly obvious) strategy is to use the existing holidays your company provides. The vast majority of Americans get between seven and nine holidays each year. The vast majority of the holidays fall near weekends. Memorial Day, Labor Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and Presidents Day all are observed on Mondays. Using these holidays is a great way to recover a vacation day during a trip.
One thing to keep in mind when using holidays is that many people have these days off. A large number of people will travel locally during these holidays. The increased number of travelers can drive up prices and leave you with less travel options if you don’t plan ahead. Also, depending on where you go and what type of travel you are doing, you may run into closures. Finally, most locations and travel hubs (like airports and train stations) are usually more crowded over the holiday weekends. I don’t say this to discourage you from using holidays, instead, it is just to open your eyes to what to expect.
The best pro tip for using holidays is to use them along with some vacation. For example, if a holiday falls on a Monday, don’t travel on Monday. Travel out late the week prior (or earlier if you have the time). Wait for Tuesday or Wednesday to return so that you will miss the vast majority of the holiday travelers.
Weekends
The final tip for getting in vacations is to use weekends to their fullest. While several vacation options aren’t possible in a weekend, there are so many that are. Numerous successful beach trips, mountain vacations, and urban exploration options can be done in a weekend. Weekend trips to Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean are also possible if you find a good enough deal on airfare. Don’t let a lack of vacation days stop you from exploring.
Timing is very important for weekend trips. You will want to leave as early as you can on Friday and come back as late as possible on Sunday to maximize your time on vacation. A normal weekend will provide you with almost two full days to explore the location of your choice. If your work arrangements allow you to get off even earlier, such as 4 ten-hour days or a 9/80 schedule (off every other Friday), weekend travel is even a better option.
Work Flexibility for Vacation Compatibility
After exploring all the options for time off from your work, flexibility in work arrangements provide another opportunity to maximize travel time. Again these won’t apply to everyone, but the options below include some creative ways to get more vacation time if your work arrangements allow it.
Work Remote from Vacation
The first option for those who can work remotely is to move around while working. If you can work from anywhere, work from a vacation spot that you want to visit every now and then. While you are working during the day, you won’t be able to sightsee. However, you will be able to explore in the afternoons and evenings. Since you are still working, you often don’t have to worry about the length of time that you are in the vacation location. For that reason, individuals who are able to do this are able to see a city or country at a more leisurely pace. Also, because you are in a location longer, you will be able to immerse yourself in the culture more.
There is a large culture and following for remote work all over the world. As long as a location has good internet connectivity, it is a candidate for remote work. Many countries and major cities also have coworking spaces that provide conducive environments for this. These spaces are great from being in an office away from the office. They also have a social aspect to them. Remote workers are able to meet other people who have similar work arrangements. This can provide a good cohort of people with which to explore a foreign country.
Flex Your Hours
Another strategy for maximizing your vacation time is to flex your work hours. Flexible work schedules are becoming more popular in several industries such as technology, software engineering, aerospace/defense, etc… Flexible work schedules can take many forms. The form that your company offers will dictate how much of a benefit this is for travel.
The first form is the ability to pick the start and end times of your day. While this doesn’t help to gain any additional full days to your vacation, late arrival or early departure can help you make a flight the same day you wrap up or return to work. This sometimes allows you to grab that 5 o’clock redeye flight that lands at 8 or 9 in the morning. With that arrival time, you have a full day ahead of you at your destination that doesn’t have to be spent traveling. Even if you don’t have a flex schedule, some people are able to leave a little early or use a few hours of paid time off to do the same thing. Depending on flight times, this can really be worth it.
Another type of flexible schedule is the compressed workweek. A traditional option here is working four ten-hour days each week so that every Friday is an off day. The other most common option is called a 9/80 schedule (work 80 hours over nine days). This results in every other Friday being an off day.
The final, and more rare, form of flexible work is a complete flex. A complete flex has no rules on the schedule or amount of hours employees need to work. These roles are built on trust, and the only requirement is that employees perform their prescribed job. If they can do it in 15-20 hours, then that is all they need to work. Alternately, if they want to work 60 hours one week and 20 hours the next, this is often acceptable. This type of arrangement has its obvious benefit of allowing time for travel. However, be careful not to burnout trying to use this too much or put yourself in a bad position with an employer. If it appears that you are taking advantage of this arrangement too often, it will destroy the trust that these benefits are built on.
Bottom Line
Vacation time or time away from work can often be an impediment to travel. However, even those with several limitations on vacation time can enjoy traveling. The strategies listed above can help maximum the amount of time possible to enjoy your vacations. While not all of these will apply to everyone, at least one of these should help you gain a little more opportunity to enjoy the thrill of travel. If you have used another strategy that we missed, describe it in the comments below for all to use.
