Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Which length vacation is better?

The long or the short one. That is what this brief article addresses in the WSJ without coming to any real conclusion. It asks whether a long vacation or a series of mini-vacations relaxes us more.

I have always tried to take long vacations. I don't think you really feel as if you are on vacation if you take a series of two, three or four days off at different times. In my opinion those are just what they are called, some days off and not really a full-fledged vacation. The funny thing about this article is the perspective it has on what a "long" vacation is. Consider the question it poses at the end of the first paragraph,

"But from either a professional or a personal perspective, is it better to take lots of short jaunts or escape for a longer one or two-week stay?"

One or two weeks is a "long" vacation for the writer. There is definitely a type-A American perspective in this question. Considering that Europeans, Australians and other take 4 - 6 weeks vacation, one week seems like a drop in the bucket.

Before I became my own boss I worked for a big company. After being there for some years I was entitled to four weeks of vacation. I would usually take at least three of those weeks in one shot and felt a lot better for it. Now, I am never fully on vacation, but never quite fully at work either. I think I prefer it this way. Either way, I don't think mini-vacations really work, but that is just me.

2 comments:

Don said...

I prefer the long ones, greater than two weeks as well... Short ones just get you starting to "relax" then you are back at the grind.

Don
http://exposeyourblog.com

T. T. Douglas said...

Agree completely. Thank you for the comment. Cheers!