Limited vacation time is a big, fat negative of Corporate America. However, many people get paid time off and don’t use it, and to me that is an egregious sin. Put your limited time to good use, people! And here are a few tricks to help you do just that, maximize vacation days.
- Plan ahead. Make your travel bucket list and plan for it. If you want to go to Thailand, and only have 10 work days of vacation time, the best time to go is around a holiday. Let’s say you want to go around a holiday, like Memorial Day. Consider leaving the Thursday night, a week prior. Take your bags with you and head straight to the airport to catch an overnight flight. Now, you can take 17 days. By gaining a day for the holiday, and leaving at night, you maximize your time.
- Don’t take sick days. Seriously, if you have a little sniffle, suck it up and go to work anyway. Sure, you might not be that productive, but you’ll be much happier when you can use that day or two on, say, a cruise. Plus, daytime TV is just not that captivating.
- Fly nonstop for shorter trips. You may have to spend a little more on a flight to go nonstop, but if you are only going away for a few days, it makes sense to spend the extra money. You will get to your destination quicker, and have more actual vacation time, plus you minimize the things that can go wrong, like missing a connection.
- Research. You have a limited amount of time at your destination, so look up things to do (you may need advance tickets), and restaurants before you go. On our recent trip to Vancouver I had a list of about 10 restaurants to try. We made it to some, and winged it with others, but it was a starting point.
- Don’t waste time. When looking for hotels, location counts. You don’t want to stay on the outskirts of a city and spend hours getting around. See the sights, enjoy walking around and make it easy on yourself.
Bonus #6. Save up time and money: If your job allows you to roll over vacation time, consider suffering one year with less time off in order to have more flexibility for your next big trip.
Fortunately for you, I can help with all aspects of planning, hotels, air, tours and more, so you don’t have to waste precious time. Instead you can grab that extra pack of tissues on your way into the office.
