How long are your vacations? Do you prefer short trips or long ones?

[adelaster]

We do 2-3 trips a year. In 2016 we did two long cruises (9 and 12 days) and a week at the beach. This year we did a 9 night spring cruise and we'll be doing a b2b on Oasis (14 days total) plus 5 days in WDW. Since our kids grew up, we go for longer vacations, usually during the school year. We did one week per year when they were still home, but once they left for college we started doing longer ones and at least two per year for the last 11 years. I get 5 weeks of annual leave per year and DH gets 4 (used to get 5, but he started a new job last month) and we use most of it every year.

Wow! My family did a week every few years. I've never taken even one vacation in one year that long, and y'all do three! I had no idea there were this many people who had four weeks of vacation leave annually.

 

[tvguy]

My wife gets 5 weeks vacation, I get 4 weeks.
My wife insists on taking a week off every 3 months, otherwise she might kill a co-worker.

 

[Colleen27]

Is both an option?

When we had dogs, I didn't like being away for more than about 10 days at a time. Even with a friend watching the animals in our home, that felt like too long to be away from them. For some reason leaving the cats and rabbits doesn't worry me as much, which is why we have two new kittens but no plans to get another dog. But some trips demand more time. Others are perfect for a weekend. In a typical year we have two week-long trips, one to a "real" destination and the other in a rented cabin up north, plus 4-5 weekend trips scattered throughout the year. DH doesn't get much vacation time, just a week a year right now plus comp time for some of his overtime hours, but I do a lot of traveling with some or all of the kids without him.

 

[kmb584]

We take two 8-10 night vacations to WDW every year, but regardless of where we're traveling to, I prefer longer stays to shorter ones. I never feel like I'm on vacation nor can I relax until our suitcases are unpacked and clothing, toiletries, etc. are put away.

 

[Disneylover99]

We take a 3-4 week trip every summer, but we also try to get away for a couple of nights here and there throughout the year. I love all my trips! Short, long, it doesn't matter to me. I love hotels. The older we get, the more we travel.

 

[Shanti]

Hello all! Interested in hearing how many days/nights you usually travel away from home at a time. Do you prefer splitting out vacations throughout the year, or do you take one long trip? How often do you take time off, and how do you spend it?

Personally, I've discovered that my magic number is five nights away from home as a "long" trip, bookended by weekends. We have pets and any longer than that is too long to be separated. Most of my vacations are about two-five nights, and I find I am happiest when I can "get away" a few times a year, although that isn't always a fiscal possibility.

Do you do Disney any differently? Has travel changed for you over time?

Please share!

Five to seven nights is plenty for us for a typical theme park trip. Seven to ten nights is ideal for a more relaxing vacation like a cruise. That said, I have done a weekend-only theme park getaway and a 3-night-only cruise and loved them both. I do value taking multiple trips during the year, as it gives us something to always look forward to. I also get homesick when I'm away for very long.

 

[gillep]

I really don't like long vacations. 7 nights is more than enough for me, but shorter trips are great too, I am going on my longest vacation ever on Tuesday (12 nights) and I am dreading it, the only reason it will be tolerable is that it is 2 completely separate destinations.

 

[North of Mouse]

Hello all! Interested in hearing how many days/nights you usually travel away from home at a time. Do you prefer splitting out vacations throughout the year, or do you take one long trip? How often do you take time off, and how do you spend it?

Personally, I've discovered that my magic number is five nights away from home as a "long" trip, bookended by weekends. We have pets and any longer than that is too long to be separated. Most of my vacations are about two-five nights, and I find I am happiest when I can "get away" a few times a year, although that isn't always a fiscal possibility.

Do you do Disney any differently? Has travel changed for you over time?

Please share!

Didn't vote, as neither fit us! We've always taken both long (usually 8-12 days) and shorter (4-5 days) a few times a year. Now, retired, we go more longer trips - up to 3 weeks. I'm a home body, so that is about my max per trip. Most of our Disney trips are about 10 days - enjoy them to max, but are ready to leave at that time, then we're ready for a more laid back type trip.

 

[DisneyHardin]

If it is something that is a close distance a couple days is fine, but if I am going to have to really travel, then I want to stay longer because I hate feeling like half my trip is spent traveling to get there. We are creatures of habit and generally travel to the same places for the same amount of times each year. I am a teacher, so we usually go to Disney in the fall when I can pair my 3 personal days with a day we already have off/weekend so we are able to go for 5 nights/6 days (we fly to Disney, so we generally spend about 5 hours in travel time). In the summer when time is more flexible, we generally rent a condo at Hilton Head (10 hr drive) for 2 weeks. Sometimes I also go to Gulf Shores at spring break with my mom (10 hrs) for a week.

 

[North of Mouse]

We do some that are 2 nights (weekend getaways) The longest being close to 3 weeks.
I like the longer of course, but after 2 weeks, I'm ready to get home to my grandkids and my own bed!

We like our own beds also, that's why we travel in our motorhome. We take our 'house' with us - a main reason we never bought DVC - we'd rather have our 'home' (and bed & bath) go where we go.

Yes, very lucky, and I'm very thankful for it. DW works at the same school district that our kids attend. Here in the south, they never go more than 6 weeks in school without a week break (or longer). So they have a lot of off time.

Wow, you must be in a year round or modified year round school for those breaks. Our children were always in a traditional school calendar and never got those type breaks. The majority of schools in the south are traditional.

Several posters mentioned having/not having pets. We used to have a dog, but became too much to constantly make arrangements when we wanted to go places - sometimes rather spur of the moment. We are happily pet free now.

 

[design_mom]

If I had to choose one, I'd take the longer trip.

I enjoy both short and long trips, but the longer ones feel like a vacation while the shorter ones are a trip. It always takes me a few days into the vacation before I feel like I have relaxed. For a long-weekend type trip, that's just about the time we're heading home. Plus, all the packing and prepping for a short trip makes it seem like less "value" for the amount of work.

 

[LJSquishy]

The longer the better for me! I actually hate short trips because they're exhausting and it seems like a hassle to fly or drive for such a short trip, only to do it again on the return home a few days later.

We also don't even travel yearly (for vacations)...we take a vacation about every 3 years. So far it's mostly just to WDW...2012, 2015, and we'll go back in 2019 (we had a ton of expenses this year so decided not to go in 2018).

 

[bookgirl]

I would rather have three short trips.

A F/W trip, a winter trip, and a F/G trip, a Christmas trip, a fall trip, International Arts, Star Wars Weekends, race weekends, both in FL and CA there are thing still that can add so much to a trip, so many extra events to choose from.

One long trip only lets you do one season of Disney. There's too many things to do for me to only have one trip. The first couple trips were yearly but now I feel like limiting it to two trips still means I will have to miss events I want to experience.

5 days seems to be my sweet spot. I've done as many as 8 and as little as 1.5. I have a short spur of the minute trip in Oct and a 4 day (in FL 8 but part will be offsite doing Seaworld and Space Center before I go solo to WDW) in Dec.

I've purchased an AP with the intention of doing two 5 day (maybe 7 days if I split and include US/IOA) trips next year.

Oh I should probably make a distinction. The above is JUST Disney. Other trips vary. Last year I did 10 days in Europe. This year I did 4 days in DC and I have a three day Vegas trip this month. Next year I'm planning a 7 day Cruise of NE/Canada.

Those trips the lenghth is based on itinerary but I really do like 5 days if possible.

 

[22Tink]

We usually like to do at least one but sometimes two longer (7-10 days) Disney or beach vacations plus one or two shorter trips throughout the year. For our shorter trips we head to Vegas or maybe Vancouver or Edmonton for a few days.

 

[E&Cmom]

Bit of both....I will take what I can get.

Most of my " bucket list" places are longer trips though.

 

[adelaster]

Bit of both....I will take what I can get.

Most of my " bucket list" places are longer trips though.

Mine too! Although I might try to knock out some closer international travel in four nights or so soon. But my dream itineraries are looong.

 

[kilroy1966]

I usually take short trips(6nights) to WDW, because I miss my dog! I do take multiple trips to WDW each year.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

A trip is not a trip if it's less than 7 days. It's a quick jaunt. A trip is not "serious" unless its 10-14 days long. Beyond that is an epic vacation.

We try to do at least one serious trip, and several jaunts, per year. Epic vacations occur every 5-10 years. You gotta save up the vacation days for those.

FYI: My next Disney trip is 14 days. So, serious....but not epic.

 

[mrsstats]

We have a timeshare so our main trip is for a week. However, sometimes that seems too long. I have a diabetic dog at home and it is a stress on him and us while we are away. We have to arrange a lot to have him get his shots on schedule and sometimes the schedule has to be adjusted. Currently on vacation and I would have been happy to go home 3 days ago.

 

[Meriweather]

other....

We like short and long trips.
We tend to do a couple (2-3) short trips a year.....around our area.
And then we tend to do longer trips ...Disney parks, cruises, etc. 7-14 nights, 4-5 times a year