How do you have time to travel so much?

[Aimeedyan]

After joining this board, I've realized how often others get to travel! How do you get so much time off work? I won't even ask how you can afford it, LOL =)

DH only gets off 2 weeks a year... and we have to beg for that! I know some jobs accrue over time, or offer more than that, but usually not a month or more a year, right?

So how can you swing getting out of work so often? Just wondering which job field's we need to move to... =) We love to travel and just can't get out of work to!!!!!!!!

 

[barbeml]

DH has been with same small company forever, and he gets a month (rarely takes it all). I am a consultant and can take off whenever I want, except that I manage a number of events each year and have to work around them.

 

[danny1649]

DW and I after 30 years at G.E. get 6 weeks a year.When we were young we had no money and got a couple a weeks vacation a year.Still got no money but plenty of vacation.I'm not saying we are way old but our SS#'s are in single digits DW is 7 and mine is 8.Someday you will be in same same boat has us.Have fun everyday and and if you have someone to love and someone loves you all good things will happen in time.

 

[DocRafiki]

I only get 4 weeks off a year, and one of them is for continuing education (which usually involves travel).

My boss is really cool and understands the need for a quality life. He'll switch days with me every once in a while so that I can have a few days off in a row for short trips, so that doesn't count against my vacation days, or will only count for 1 or 2 days off.

I know I'm not who you're talking about, though. Some people on here vacation every month! I just assume they're retired, independently wealthy, self-employed, or take business trips.

 

[CamColt]

DH only gets 2 weeks, for another year, then he gets 3. He is able to carry over 5 days a year if he doesnt use them. Our past few trips have run into long weekends, or over Christmas so he has saved days there. Pretty much the only time he takes vacation days is when we are really going away. Luckily he is a manager and has the flexibility of leaving early or taking off for a few hours when he needs to. He does work 50 hrs/week at work and then puts in a little more time at night from home too so they dont mind him being MIA from time to time.
I used to get 4 weeks vacation when I was working, but those days are gone.

Oh and we dont really travel that much compared to some people... usually 2 trips a year if we are lucky.

 

[JoenAdamnErinnSam]

I work for a hospital,and I get 1 full day off for every 2 weeks I work.It adds up very nicely-but I do not call in and I am not comfortable unless I have at least a "week" in the bank..most of the time it is over that..right now I have over 50 hours banked..and I am taking a week in May but only have to use 30 hours to do that-we work every 6th weekend,so I'm using my day off and the weekend to make a week.It's doable,you just have to be careful.

 

[ibouncetoo]

For me it's 25 years with the same copany....four weeks vacation. Don't forget our European friends generally have more vacation time than Americans. I've only had one WDW trip that was a full week off work....most trips were three days plus weekend.

A SIX day trip coming up soon!

 

[MosMom]

Dh gets nearly 4 weeks a year so we never have a problem running out of time.

 

[geffric]

Dh has 4 weeks , been at the same company many many years. I get 3 weeks and in 1/12 years will get 4 weeks...

With AP's , it easy to drive down for a long weekend or so..as there is no cost right??? LOL

 

[Kitty 34]

My DH gets 4 weeks every year. I have the summers off 'cause I am a sub. teacher.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

My dh gets 5 weeks a year. We usually spend about 7-10 days at disney, starting tues. we will be there for 9 days. Its a good place for him to veg out as he says. He uses his mind alot and at disney he thinks absolutely nothing. Also he loves taking the disney buses and not having to drive.

 

[nativetxn]

My only child is grown up and moved back home, to Houston. I don't work outside the the home (not much with<i>in</i> the home, either, since I found the DIS). Most of my trips to WDW are solo.

However, we make several trips a year to Texas and Arizona. My husband just takes the time, he usually continues to work while we are on these trips, though. Darn those cell phones His work is flexible that way.

 

[arminnie]

If you really love to travel then you have to manage your time and not "waste" vacation days by taking off a day or two here and there.

I often took vacation days on a week when there was a holiday so I could have a week off and only use 4 days of vacation. Sometimes I would volunteer to work a holiday so I could have a day off at another time.

Many companies have switched to to PTO (personal time off) plan that merges say 2 weeks vacation with 1 week of sick leave for a total of 15 days PTO. If you do not get sick then you actually get another week of vacation days. The downside is that if you get sick a lot you might not get 2 weeks of vacation.

I know of some companies that have employees work longer days and then they get every other Friday off. Plus some companies give addition PTO days for "personal days".

When I was younger I only looked at the salary that I was making. As I got older I learned to pay more attention to the benefits.

 

[kilee]

I get 3 paid weeks. However, I set my hours. So if I want to do all my work this week on Sun, Mon and Tues-- then I can take off Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat--- then the following week I could take off Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed and work the remainder. That just gave me a week off and I didn't have to use any vacation time. I do medical billing and they are really, really flexible. Actually I left once, and it was one of my terms when they asked me back a year later. I have 2 more independent billing jobs-- where I am "self contracted" so I completely set those hours.

DH- he's the stay at home dad-- so he can work his schedule around mine.

 

[newholiday]

After 5.5 fulltime yrs at the library Im at 3wks vaca time. I save it for the summer and 1wk in Oct for WDW.
We also get 2 pers days and 15 sick days ea yr.

 

[helenabear]

We do TOP (Time off Paid) for all our vacation days and sick days combined. With 25 days of that total (5 weeks) I can afford to take off a lot more days than some. It usually allows for several long weekends away, a couple of "personal/sick" days a short vacation and a longer vacation. Just wish I had more money to go with all those days off

 

[CyranoJones]

My husband has been self-employed for over 20 years and takes about 3-4 weeks off a year. Some of our "vacations" are tied to continuing education.

 

[wendyl]

Arkansas Minnie

I'm soooooooooooooo jealous of the picture in your sig.

I do love my Georgie

 

[WDWLVR]

DH and I both get 3 weeks. We usually take 1 or 2 "long vacations" and then a few weekend trips where we add on a day or two.

It would be wonderful to take more, but I feel that we are blessed to have what we do.

 

[amymouse]

Since both of my jobs are at hospitals I have the benefit of flexible scheduling since my workplaces never close. I have six weeks PTO (paid time off) at my full-time job and some wonderful co-workers at my part time job who will often adjust their own schedule to help me make the most of my time off. It also helps that my FT job is a 12 hr shift. That means I can get 8 days off with out using any PTO if I schedule myself for the first 3 days of one week and the last 3 days of the next. Handy, huh?

P.S. The part time job answers the question the OP didn't want to ask "how do we afford it."