Taking vacations

[adel9216]

Hello,

Quick question for you all. How many weeks of vacations do you actually take every year and when during the year do you take those?

[Parasaurolophus]

Are we counting days when I do research on my own time? If so, then usually I take 2 weeks in the winter after the end of the semester and before the start of the next, two weeks at the end of the winter semester, and often another two weeks somewhere in the summer. So at least six weeks. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It's hard not to spend 15 minutes to an hour a day on research...

[clean]

I spend a week or 10 days in Florida to include Christmas with my parents and family. (non negotiable)

I like to spend a week or 10 days on a cruise to Alaska in May (but not for the last 2 years!) (aftrr Spring, before Summer classes start).
In the summer I try to visit my parents for a week or so in the summer.  However, for the last few years, those have overlapped with their respective knee replacement surgeries, so Im not sure that those are 'vacations'.

This summer, no surgeries, but also no travel plans yet as flights are very expensive and we are all still COVID shy.  I have additional health factors and my parents are in their mid/upper 70s, so no need to risk health.  I may fly there over a later weekend or in November. 

Before COVID, I would fly to Orlando in early Fall for a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and also the weekend after Thanksgiving for Mickey's Merry Christmas Party.  No plans for that this year though, as flights are so expensive just now.  (Until COVID made it impractical, I had a Disney Annual pass... if you visited 10 days a year, it about broke even and in the past, I would pretty much break even.)
(note that I could drive to neighboring big city and get a direct flight to Orlando for a reasonable price so it was not too inconvenient or expensive, and with an annual pass, the off season rates were not too bad, and my brother's family visits Mickey frequently).

[Volhiker78]

I usually take week long vacations with my family July 4 (in Vegas now), Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Happy July 4th colleagues! 

[downer]

It varies. Generally about 3-6 weeks a year. Summer and Winter.

Sometimes I have also been doing online teaching at the same time, so not a 100% vacation. And also email work tends to happen. And some reading relevant to work.

[Sun_Worshiper]

It varies. Generally about 3-6 weeks a year. Summer and Winter.

Same.

In the summer, I usually take a two week trip with my wife and then another week of visiting with parents or in-laws. In the winter, I take a week over Christmas and a few days for Thanksgiving. I'll also take off a few other days here and there as well (i.e. today, since it is summer and my wife has the day off).

I try not to work at all during these vacations, but not always possible.

[mamselle]

What is this "vacation" of which you speak?

M.

[dinomom]

I only recently started tracking vacations as non-research time and am trying to be more explicit about it so the work doesn't look all the time. (When I was program chair a few years ago I realized that I had been on campus for something like 30 days in a row, including weekend days.) This year I took one week at Christmas (normally I would take more but our academic terms were arranged differently because of covid and so I went back to work 3.5 weeks earlier than normal), took two weeks in June, and intend to take one more week in July and one in August. In my experience, if I am able to take a vacation at the beginning of summer and then one at the end I can hit the ground running when the semester starts.

[Ruralguy]

About two weeks on winter and similar in summer, and various days here and there. If it's a situation where I can bring computer with me and do some work, then sometimes I might, if I see it as necessary or helpful.

[RatGuy]

I don't think I've travelled anywhere for anything longer than a day trip since 2014. My spouse's work schedule doesn't easily align with mine, and the times between semesters are blackout time-off days for her. So my family usually travels here in May then again in December, but I don't seem to get to go anywhere.

[arcturus]

The amount and timing of vacations may be country dependent. I work in the US, where "two weeks" is the normal expectation for vacation time. I inform graduate students that I support through RAs that I expect them to take the equivalent, but that they should consult with me about the exact timing such that it does not interfere with on-going projects. In reality, they take much more than the two weeks off, usually a combination of winter holidays and a week or so in the summer. However, as others have mentioned, vacations do not always mean no work gets done, as almost everyone takes a computer with them. For graduate students, that means that they can (at their choosing) work on data reduction or paper writing while spending time with their family. It is because vacations are not vacations that I do not hold them to the strict two week time period.  For myself, I travelled enough for work (pre-pandemic) that I preferred stay-cations for my time off. Post-tenure, I started to carve out the first two weeks of August, as being the least disruptive, for such stay-cations. Pre-tenure I took no official time off - including the winter holidays, which I often spent collecting data, not recuperating from the teaching duties of the previous semester.

I hear that many people argue that work-life balance is important. I think that is very difficult to achieve in your early career, as (in my field, at least) people are judged on their "dedication", which means rewarding incessent work, not "balanced" work.

[Ruralguy]

Ultimately, it depends on where I'm going. If it's Disney World, no computer. If it's two weeks hanging out with a bunch of relatives who all have their own schedules, I take the computer.  My family tends to want more vacation time. Frankly, I'd prefer less.

[bio-nonymous]

My strategy has always been to try to have multiple 3-day weekends (or 4-day--add a day to an official holiday like July 4th, for example) spread around the year when I am not teaching. I am in a situation now where I have accrued all the vacation you can carry over, and now will have to take all my vacation time going forward (or lose it--no pay outs). BUT, I am happy new workplace does this because it does force you to take vacation instead of work/work/work all the time--which is probably better for productivity in the long run?!

[the_geneticist]

I'm on a 12-month appointment and do earn vacation & sick hours.  I've taken vacations during the "gap" between the end of Spring & start of Summer, the end of Summer & start of Fall, or by adding a few days onto a long weekend when students don't have labs that week.  But it does require a LOT of pre-planning, working ahead & sometimes calling in a favor.
Like anyone who's teaching, just because the students have a holiday it doesn't mean I have less work to do.  Don't have a major assignment due before a holiday or you'll spend the entire holiday grading (learned that one the hard way. . . . )

[arcturus]

Like anyone who's teaching, just because the students have a holiday it doesn't mean I have less work to do.  Don't have a major assignment due before a holiday or you'll spend the entire holiday grading (learned that one the hard way. . . . )

Conversely, don't have a major assignment due immediately following a holiday, or you will spend the entire holiday responding to student inquiries...