Why we need vacations

I've long been envious of Europeans because they mandate that all workers must have at least four weeks of vacation time. Americans are lucky if they get so much as two weeks paid vacation, if they get any vacation time at all. If you work at a temp agency, you get no benefits at all, no paid sick time or vacation time or anything else for that matter. I am fortunate in having been at my job long enough to have six weeks paid vacation time per year, but I never get to take that much, especially now that we have permanently downsized our workforce by 10%. Even were the economy to make significant improvements in the coming years, we have been told that our workforce downsizing is permanent with no plans to ever replace those jobs that were lost during this long and deep recession. Those of us left in our jobs have been forced to pick up the slack and work that much harder, and since our salaries are also permanently frozen, we are working harder each year for less and less money because as prices skyrocket and our pay remains flat, we have less spending power. This isn't helping an already stagnant economy that shows little if any sign of recovery anytime soon. The more things get cut, cut, cut, the less money people are going to have to spend and to help jump start the economy. When people can't afford to spend money and buy things, the entire economy suffers. Tourism is suffering because no one can afford to travel anywhere, so people aren't taking their vacation time unless they decide to take what is now being called a "staycation", as in, you take time off but you stay home or close to home instead of traveling. I'm perilously close to doing that from now on myself. The vacations I have taken in the past where I have traveled out of state have become so unaffordable that this well may be the last year that I have taken them. It took deep sacrifices on my part just to be able to go the places I did this summer, but as the economy continues its downward spiral and prices continue to soar, I'm thinking that vacations for me are, from now on, going to have to turn into "staycations" where I stay home or do things closer to home that cost little to do, if anything. Even if that is the case, I will take my allotted time off, because I value the idea of getting away from work and relaxing. I typically take about 4 of my six weeks of vacation per year so I am fortunate that I can get away from work that much. It's just getting harder to be allowed to take vacations during my requested times of summer and holidays because everyone wants those times off and my seniority gives me no leg up in allocation of time off. Once upon a time it would have but things have changed, so I am on the same playing field as a junior employee with only a few years experience.

So why do we need vacations? Simple answer is, rest, rejuvenation, relaxation and to recharge our body's and mind's batteries. Life comes at us so fast these days that it's even more important than ever to get away and de-stress oneself. Americans have this idea that work - your paycheck - is your reward, and that vacation is somehow equated with being lazy. Americans believe in being chained to the workplace because they think that is what makes us so productive as a nation, but in point of fact, we have the highest health care costs in the world partly because Americans are overworked, eat too much and rest too little, leading to a plethora of health problems. Most Americans, if you ask them, hate their jobs and would do anything not to have to work every single day for wages that have largely become stagnant. We are stuck in the Protestant work ethic in this country, which is deeply engrained in our national psyche. Work is your reward, idle hands are the devil's workshop. I think this is a bunch of bunk. I am a firm believer in the idea of vacation. I know that when I travel and get away from familar surroundings and routines, I feel better, more refreshed and more creative. I feel physically healthier, too. I usually eat better, sleep better and get more exercise when I am on vacation than when I am at home and going to work every day. I come home from work most days too exhausted to think straight. I am usually sound asleep within a half hour of coming home and sometimes stay asleep for hours on end because I am so absolutely spent from working and commuting. I spend an hour per day in my car driving to and from work and I find that to be equally exhausting, dealing with people who are texting or yakking on their cell phones while driving, or soccer moms with minivans full of screaming children who are distracted by that, or idiots on motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic, or obviously exhausted semi-truck drivers who are driving erractically.....it can be unnerving and exhausting spending so much time in your car each day trying to navigate your way through any number of potential road hazards. When I am on vacation, the car is parked and I am walking everywhere and am out in fresh air and sunshine and I feel better physically as a result. The walking is superb for de-stressing and making me feel more physically fit and active. Vacations are rejuvenating, relaxing, and are excellent opportunities to get in touch with our better and more creative selves. I just wish America would adopt a more European attitude when it came to vacations and families and spending time in the slow lane enjoying the things that really count, families, good food, time together and time off work to relax and get in touch with our creative sides. We wouldn't lose productivity as a result. Hell, we might gain productivity if more workers took more time off to relax. Imagine a country as big as ours where worker morale was consistently high in every sector. We might be able to pull ourselves out of recession once and for all. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew." Well, time for some new thinking with how we want to be as a country. Do we chain our workers to their jobs and make them work longer harder hours for less pay or do we give people the benefit of time off to think, create and rejuvenate? The choice is ours to make.......