Longer vacations are in. Here’s how to do it.
6 min read
You need a vacation.
No, not one of these Frankencations, where you cobble a few sick days together with a weekend and pretend it’s the real deal.
I mean a real vacation. One week, two weeks – maybe even a European-style getaway for a whole month.
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Americans take the least vacations, according to the latest numbers from Expedia. We get just 12 days off work a year on average, and 53% of Americans use all their vacation days. Expedia noted that 65 percent of respondents feel as if they don’t take enough time off, which is the highest rate in 11 years.
Wait, you call that a vacation?
Maybe it’s no surprise that travel itself is becoming a less satisfying experience. Tourists check into their hotels and spend the rest of their few days off running around, trying to make the most of their precious few days off. That’s not what most people have in mind when they think of a vacation.
“Travelers are looking for ways to truly immerse themselves,” said Alex Chatzieleftheriou, CEO of Blueground, an operator of flexible furnished apartments.
How to do that? Well, it turns out you can extend your next vacation and your timing may be perfect. Not only is this the right moment to be thinking about your summer vacation, but with slow travel shaping up as one of the big trends of 2025, you might consider a longer vacation.
“Folks are moving away from shorter stints and toward extended stays in a particular city or state,” said Bill Smith, CEO of Landing, a company that offers memberships that allow travelers to rent furnished apartments. He said slow travel could be a big trend for vacation-deprived Americans in 2025.
Times are changing
Robert Li, director of Temple University’s U.S.-Asia Center for Tourism & Hospitality Research, said Americans are becoming more comfortable with longer vacations. He’s researched America’s vacation deficit, which he blames on a perception that employees who take time off are less hardworking and committed.
However, the pandemic may have sparked a cultural shift, with employee well-being becoming an increasing priority.
“Ideally, this shift will be accompanied by policy changes at the national level to better support paid leave and work-life balance,” he said.
I was curious about America’s vacation deficit while I was on assignment in Scandinavia this summer. Vacations there are like a religion. You get about a month off, and people actually take the entire month.
I also noticed that there’s an unspoken cushion of a few days before and after a long vacation when people are tiptoeing around you. “I’m about to go on vacation,” or, “I’m just getting back from vacation” gives you leeway to be late for an appointment or to cancel a meeting altogether. So, in effect, they’re getting a month plus a few days of reduced work. And it’s fine.
That’s seven weeks of vacation. Now you’re talkin’!
Here are a few strategies for stretching your vacation time
But how do you stretch your vacation next year? Here are a few pro tips:
- Combine holidays like a pro for extra vacation time. Most people try to extend their vacation the wrong way. They focus on one holiday – like Memorial Day or the Fourth of July – and take a day before and after off. But Henri Chelhot, CEO of FlightHub, said a more effective way is to bookend it with other public holidays. “Try combining public holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s Day,” he said. Also, try looking outside of the United States, to places where you’re unlikely to find other holiday travelers, like the Middle East. I mean, who doesn’t love shopping in Dubai?
- Try a workcation or sabbatical. “With more people recognizing that they have a vacation deficit, there’s growing interest in extended workcations and work-from-anywhere roles,” said Toni Frana, a lead career expert at FlexJobs. A workcation is exactly what it sounds like – staying in a remote area but still doing some work. Frana said workcations can allow you to work from anywhere but still get a change of scenery that you can’t get from the great American micro-vacation. Many employers now allow their workers to do their jobs remotely. They also have more generous policies on sabbaticals, which allows you to take even more time off work.
- Don’t be afraid of a commitment. One of the big obstacles to an extended getaway is lodging. If you’re extending your stay beyond a month, you’ll need to find practical and affordable accommodations. And that’s hard in some places where short-term rentals are a hit-or-miss proposition. If you can commit to a month, you can use a platform like Blueground, which has apartments in 48 cities worldwide, or Landing, which has a strong presence in the United States. Airbnb also offers lower rates for monthly rentals. “When planning an extended stay, it’s important to define your priorities,” said Chatzieleftheriou, Blueground’s CEO. “Do you prefer a central location, a quiet neighborhood, or proximity to public transport?”
How do you extend your vacation?
But how do you do it? Richard Campbell and his wife decided they wanted more vacation time after spending a few days hiking through the Rocky Mountains this summer. He said he loved Colorado, but after four years of going to the same place, “we wanted something new.”
Campbell plans to spend next summer in Europe – as in all of next summer. As the founder of a travel booking site, he can take his work with him. Lucky guy.
“We will spend our time across four cities in France and Italy over two months, with a one-week holiday in the middle and another holiday at the end,” he said. “What really excites us is that rather than doing yard work or scrolling on our phones, every evening and weekend will feel like we’re on vacation, exploring a new town, trying new foods, and just enjoying a new place.”
The Campbells can stay in Europe for three months without a visa, so that’s the plan.
Maybe the key to a truly satisfying vacation in 2025 is simple: more of it. Whether you opt for a European-style, month-long escape or a strategic combination of vacations and work, it’s clear that more and more travelers are skipping microcations and going for longer stays.
Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer issues. He publishes Elliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and the Elliott Report, a news site about customer service. If you need help with a consumer problem, you can reach him here or email him at chris@elliott.org.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Longer vacations are in. Here’s how to do it.
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