Research Shows
Planners Take More Vacation, Are Happier
National Plan for
Vacation Day is being held on January 30, and of course I’m all for providing
you with great ideas for your vacation. But wait, I hear that many people don’t
even use all their vacation time. How can that be?
Every year more than half of Americans (54%) fail to use all
their time off, creating a stock pile of 662 million unused vacation days.
The most effective remedy for American workers who want to
use more vacation days is better planning. Yet just over half (54%) of
households set aside time to plan the use of their vacation time each year. National
Plan for Vacation Day, launched by Project: Time Off, is a call-to-action for
Americans to stop making excuses and start making vacation plans.
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| How about a trip to Washington's The Herbfarm for a gourmet experience |
Research shows that planners have a distinct advantage over
non-planners. Project: Time Off’s The State of American Vacation 2017
report found that planners use more of their time, take longer vacations, and
are happier.
- 52 percent of planners took all of their vacation time vs. 40 percent of non-planners.
- 75 percent of planners were more likely to take a full week of vacation time or more at a time. Non-planners take significantly fewer days—zero to three—than planners at once (42% to 18%).
- More planners report they are “very” or “extremely” happy with their relationships (83% vs. 70%), health and well-being (57% vs. 48%), company (57% vs. 51%), and job (59% vs. 50%) compared to non-planners.
America’s unused vacation represents a missed economic
opportunity. Americans 662 million unused vacation days presents a $236 billion
economic opportunity for vacation destinations.
To help employees get their vacation days on the calendar,
Project: Time Off created a vacation planning tool.
By simply entering the number of days off earned, users can plot out their
trips or vacations for the year, export to their work or personal calendar, and
share with their family and co-workers.
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| How about a train trip? |
National Plan for Vacation Day, celebrated on January 30, is
a day to encourage Americans to plan their vacation days for the rest of the
year at the start of the year. Launched
by the U.S. Travel Association’s Project: Time Off initiative in 2017, National
Plan for Vacation Day provides an opportunity to come together at a single
moment to rally around the importance of planning for vacation. In its
inaugural year, more than 600 organizations, representing all 50 states came
together to encourage Americans to plan for vacation. Learn more at ProjectTimeOff.com/Plan and join the
conversation online with #PlanForVacation.
Travel Writer Rants and Raves is here to give you some
ideas. For example, I recently took a day trip from the Portland, Oregon area
to the Columbia River Gorge town of Cascade
Locks, still suffering from the aftermath of this year’s wildfires. I’ve
written about the Fresh
Foodie Trail in the desert communities around Mesa Arizona.
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| Even a day trip to the Columbia River Gorge can give you a break. |
And, I’ll bet you didn’t know that Boise
Idaho has terrific Basque food!
WanderWithWonder.com polled their writers for their WOW
travel moments of 2018 for some great vacation ideas. So take a few moments
and dream about your next vacation. Just thinking about it will be a great
departure from the stresses of life.
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