I completely disagree with this, especially having grown up in a poor family and knowing that my parents were anything but lazy. I myself have a very strong work ethic and rarely take more than 2 weeks/year off.
As a result of this I have mixed feelings about how to take vacations.
I recently took a vacation that was a whirlwind of activity with very little downtime (as an introvert I find any social interaction to be somewhat exhausting and this vacation was all about social interaction). For more on this see: Top 5 Things Every Extrovert Should Know About Introverts.
As a result of this, I'm actually MORE tired at work this week then I was the week prior to "vacation." Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful time and still owe a post on the most amazing dinner of my life and am looking forward to writing it. That said I feel like I need another vacation.
I think this points to a larger problem within our culture. In most modern post-industrial countries around the world, the average yearly allotment for vacation is 4-6 weeks. In the US, it is two. We are also often made to feel badly about taking sick time, our allotment for maternity leave is a joke and the manner in which we handle bereavement is an embarrassment.
As I have gotten older (I'm 34, pretty much middle-aged at this point) I have come to realize that I actually need vacations where I do nothing but recharge. This means parking my ass on a chair and reading. For others, I'm sure it means other things. To that end, I'm planning to propose to my wife. I'm going to propose that our next vacation is somewhere warm, sunny and has a beach or a pool. I propose that we park our asses in a deck chair and read five or six books over the span of a week. We can go out to dinner at nice restaurants and drink some fine wines (de rigeur for Angela and I), we can even plan an activity or three. But I want at least 3 days where I do as little as possible beyond maybe some swimming and hitting the hotel gym. February or March sounds about right for this. Before then, I'm going to take a nice long weekend (three, maybe four days) and sit on my comfy couch in my comfy living room and read and relax with my cats.
4 comments:
Chris, you have no idea how perfect such a vacation sounds. As you know, I am an extrovert. But, I am so tired from life with these kids that I am looking forward to later this month when we go away, just the two of us, and do nothing but read and order room service for two days.
I think you really hit the nail on the head on a variety of points here. I agree that workaholism should not be viewed as a virtue. A while back I wrote about the unreasonable expectations many employers have in exchange for a paycheck. I'm married to an architect and I know this part all too well. I (and my husband) are also introverts (although as most people do, we enjoy a fair amount of socialization).
After or last vacation, we tacked on a long three day weekend and went away, just us, no kids, to a sort of resort where we just sat.
That was the way to do it. It was great.
Julie
Using My Words
I love the idea of tacking time on at the end! I think that is a new policy for me and vacations. I enjoy the hectic pace sometimes, but I need the downtime.
I completely understand your need to sit and recharge during a vacation. That is what I had to do, too.
Oh.. a sunny place with a beach.. warm? Thailand. :) I went there on vacation initially and it ended up changing my life. I hung out for nine months before I came back here.
I wrote about the work ethic today, too. It might be of interest to you.
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