Quiz: Are you Making the Most of your Time Off?

This quiz is geared towards the average American who gets 10 days annual paid vacation; those lucky to hail from Europe, Asia and other countries that give employees a month or more vacation, should double all time periods listed.

Which of these descriptions best describes your vacation planning?

1. You book a week off work, but if an emergency comes up at the office, you give that priority, even if it means missing your vacation.

2. You book a week off work and spent it doing all the chores that have accumulated since your last week off.  You stay in touch with the office throughout the week by checking your emails and returning a few of the most important phone calls.

3. You book a week off work and spend it zigzagging from Boston to New York, New Jersey, and Maryland to visit parents, parents-in-law, siblings, cousins, old college friends and a couple of business colleagues you’ve never met in person.   You have your cell phone with you for work emergencies and with all that exhausting traveling, it’s almost a relief to get back to work .

4. You don’t book time off, but HR tells you if you don’t use some of your paid leave, you’ll lose it.  So at the last minute you make a reservation for a week at a luxury resort in Hawaii.  You participate in every possible activity there available — hang-gliding, deep-sea diving, a luau — and have a fabulous time.  You worry about how the office is doing without you and you also worry about how you’ll pay the bill when it comes through.

5. You don’t book any time off work.  You work 4 10 hour days so that you can have Friday off.  On Thursday evening you fly to your destination.  You vacation for 4 days (Monday is a national holiday) and fly home early Tuesday morning , heading straight to work from the airport.

6. You book the second week of July off work every year.  You and your family stay in a cabin on a river and have a great time camping, fishing and hiking.  Everyone knows this vacation is sacrosanct for you and over the years you’ve only once been called back to work for an emergency.

7. You book two weeks off work.  You fly to London, spend a week touring the South of England, take the Chunnel train to Paris and spend a week sightseeing in Paris.  You’re completely unavailable to your workplace, but you do send them a postcard of the Eiffel Tower and bring in a large box of Swiss chocolates for your team-members when you return to the office.

The Answers:

Here’s how the scoring works.  We give 1 point for booking time off; 1 point for traveling; 1 point for getting a mental break from the office; 1 point for each week that you’re away physically from the office; 1 point for activities that are purely recreational; 1 point for no office contact whatsoever.

If you picked #1, score 1 point.

Explanation:

Your workplace has managed to convince you that they simply can’t get by without you (or perhaps you’ve convinced yourself).  Unfortunately our local cemetery is full of people who thought their workplaces couldn’t survive without them.  We gave you one point because at least you know that it’s important to book time off.  By reading  Part One of our book you’ll learn how to follow through and take the vacations you deserve.

If you picked #2, score 2 points.

Explanation:

You’re a “catch-up” vacationer: vacation for you is a time to get serious about all those chores you’ve put off.  The good news is that you recognize the importance of taking time off work and you’ll have a great sense of accomplishment for the things you achieved.  But you’re not getting all you could out of your time off.  Because you still check in with the office you’re not freeing yourself up mentally and getting the break you need from work and business. And because you’re not getting away from your familiar environment, you don’t have the thrill and refreshment of new experiences.  You get a point for booking time off and a point for being away physically from the office.  This type of vacation works well if you have plenty more time off and can combine it with some of the other types of vacation listed below.  By reading Cheap Travel Made Easy you’ll learn how to ensure that not only do your chores get done, but you get some well-deserved rest, relaxation and travel too.

If you picked #3, score 3 points.

You’re a “get-it-done” vacationer: you work hard at your vacations and have a long to-do list to accomplish.  You get a point for booking time off, a point for being in a different environment and a point for traveling.   Since you’re combining business and pleasure, you only get partial credit for taking a mental break.  We can’t give you a point for being refreshed either, since you’re returning to the office exhausted.  This kind of vacation is important when duty calls, and as long as you combine it with other vacations, you’ll be doing fine.  By reading our book you’ll learn how to maximize your time off so vacations aren’t so harried, and how to see your family and still go to new places as well.

If you picked #4, score 3 points.

You’re a “last-minute” vacationer: vacations are too far away on your horizon to be planned for.  Your workplace is far more central to your life than time away from it.  Because of this you end up organizing last-minute trips which can be fun, but expensive.  You certainly know how to have a good time once you leave the office, but you pay for it afterwards.  You get a point for being away from the office physically, a point for travel and a point for recreational activities.  By reading this book you’ll learn why it’s important to make vacations an integral part of your life and how to cut your expenses and the worry that goes with overspending.

If you picked #5, score 3 points.

You’re a “maximum-value” vacationer: you know the value of getting away and you plan it so well you can do it several times a year.  Even though this type of vacation is short, it can feel much longer because you’ve packed some really great experiences into it which take you into an entirely different space both physically and mentally.  Assuming you also book time off for other types of vacation,  you’ve discovered the art of maximizing your time off.  However, if these are the only breaks you’re taking, you won’t get the true value of a physical and mental break away from the office, and a long enough period of time away to recharge, refresh and get in touch with your creative side.  By reading our book you’ll learn how to ensure you get the full satisfaction of a well-earned, good-length, affordable vacation.

If you picked #6, score 6 points.

You’re a “laid-back” vacationer: for you the goal of vacations is rest and relaxation.  You enjoy spending time with your family, doing recreational activities and being in peaceful surroundings.  Vacations are like a Sabbath, they’re sacred and only a dire emergency can interrupt them.  You get points for everything because you are getting a mental and physical break from your routine and you’re traveling (we assume the cabin on the river isn’t in your local park!  If it is, deduct one point!) But if this is your one and only vacation in the year, it’s not enough.  By reading this book, you’ll learn how to work additional trips into your year without breaking the bank.

If you picked #7, score 7 points

You’re a true “live to play” vacationer:  however much you may or may not enjoy your work, you live for your time away from the office!  You know that vacations are for getting away from it all, opening up your mind to new ideas and new experiences, seeing new sights, and never thinking once about how your workplace is managing without you.  This is the ideal vacation to truly recharge.  But is it the only time you get away because it uses up all your vacation time?  By reading this book you’ll learn how to have more getaways that use very little paid time off as well as how to maximize every penny you spend.

Now, assuming that you had a combination of the above types of vacation, add up your total score for breaks you took in the last year.

Score of 3 or less:

You’re overworked and on the way to serious stress.  You’re at risk for heart-disease, burn-out at work, and you definitely suffer from Vacation Deficit Disorder.  Re-read the section on the benefits of vacation, then turn to the next chapter to discover how to increase your vacations and your travel.

Score of 4-8

You do get the mental and physical break you need occasionally, but read on to discover how small changes in how you plan and take vacations will help you dramatically increase your leisure-time without decreasing your bank account.

Score of 9-15

This is the ideal score you should be aiming for annually.  If you stay in this range you’ll be getting the mental and physical breaks you need from work to make you more productive.  You’ll also be getting the travel experiences that will make you happier and healthier in your life.

Score above 15

You obviously know the value of travel and have the time to do plenty of it.  We don’t need to tell you any of the benefits of vacation.  But with all this travel, perhaps you struggle to keep yourself out of the red?  Follow our guidelines for budgeting and finding the best deals and you’ll be writing the next edition of this book!

How to Increase Your score:

We described seven ways of using paid leave, but we’re not recommending one of them exclusively. Variety is very important.  You’ll be happiest when your life is in balance, which includes the types of vacations you take.  So we advise combining different types of breaks to get the absolute maximum benefit from your time off.   If all your vacations are spent visiting family, you’ll be missing out on the rich adventures you could be having visiting new destinations and meeting new people.  If all your vacations are spent in foreign countries, you’ll miss out on the delightful experiences of the incredible wonders of nature or the fascinating culture of urban USA.

The one recommendation we do make is that once a year you should take a break that’s at least two weeks long.  Researchers in Europe have shown that it takes about two weeks to obtain all the rejuvenating benefits of a vacation and many Europeans will testify to the difference between a short break and a real two-week vacation.   You might find you can’t manage a 2 week break every single year, but it should be your goal for most years, and it really is possible!

The best vacation plan involves a mix of one longer-length vacation, a couple of trips that are 4 or 5 days, and several weekend breaks.  That will put you in the 9-15 point range.  In Part One of our EBook, Cheap Travel Made Easy we explain how to maximize your time off so that if you only have 10 days of paid leave a year, you can take a two week vacation along with several shorter breaks.  Sound like a dream?  It’s not!  We do it all the time, even though we both work in demanding jobs and even though our combined income is way below the national average.