People who love to travel find a way to do it no matter what. You don’t have to be a total nomad in order to travel around the world every year visiting new countries, cities and exploring new cultures. In fact, traveling while working a full time job isn’t as hard as it might seem. The US has some of the lowest vacation days of any other country, so people assume that with their 15-25 days (give or take) there isn’t a whole lot they can do with that.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. These ways will help you maximize your days off to see as much of the world as possible.
Leverage Weekends and Holidays
This is the most obvious way to make use of your vacation days. Rather than taking off a few days midweek to go somewhere, try to go for a long weekend, combine it with one vacation day and there you’ve just got four days off while only using one vacation day.
Always utilize weekends when possible because there are over 100 weekend days in a year, and that is a lot of vacation time! You just need to be smart about where you’re spending your vacation days to maximize on days you’re already going to have off.
Extend Business Trips
If you travel a lot for work, sometimes a great way to get more vacation is to extend your business trips themselves. You’re already going and that way you can take a few personal days since you’re already there.
The other benefit of extending business trips is you may save more money on flights because typical business trips require you to leave and return at peak times, but you could offer to come back on a different day that may save the compay a fair chunk of money.
Staycation
Don’t underestimate the power of a staycation as a form of travel. You don’t have to stay in the same city, just go somewhere nearby, explore and see what’s out there. You could leave on a Friday night after work and return Sunday night and you’ll feel refreshed and relaxed and ready to tackle the next week without having taken any vacation days at all.
Don’t Be Afraid To Take Your Vacation Days
The biggest mistake people make with traveling is being afraid to actually use their vacation days. Maybe they think work can’t cope without them, maybe they just don’t want people to feel like they’re in a lurch, but they’re your days! Make use of them.
It’s totally possible to work full time and still travel around and get plenty of vacation, you just need to be smart about where you’re going and how you’re using your days off.
