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Tom Dolan sent me this excellent column to which I said simply yesYou Deserve A Month Off / Our columnist returns from a modest hiatus, realizes we are all working way, way too much
My friend Tracy, whom I've been traveling with comisserates with the the Europeans regularly on this point (or rather, they extend their sympathy to her).
She says simply "I had to quit to get a vacation."
Two weeks is how long it takes simnply to stop twitching. You need more than that to relearn how to relax. To walk slowly. To breath to the bottom of your lungs. To hear your own voice.
"And the Australians are super-geniuses. Three months per year, paid. They pity us."
I wish! As far as I know, all us average working Australians get 4 weeks of paid leave per year. Teachers get a bit more, but their "leave" is filld with school work anyway.
We are, of course, super-geniuses. Clearly :)
Honestly, the cult of the 12 hour day exists even in Australia, although possibly not across the entire country. Those Queenslanders are a pretty relaxed bunch.
More holidays all round is an excellent idea.
"Or rather, the Europeans, with their regular, multi-month vacations, are geniuses"
¿?¿?¿ I must be in the wrong Europe, we only get 1 month around here. Please any info would be appreciated regarding the existence of a country with 3 months of vacation. Email me at psyduckling@hotmail.com
I've always found that the best indication that a vacation is having its desired effect is whether or not I forget what day it is. I've had a few vacations where I was able to accomplish that in a week, but most take two weeks.
Being unemployed drags out the process more; it was almost three months before I got to the point of losing track of days.
When I was working at IconMedialab in Hamburg, Germany (http://www.iconmedialab.com), we had six weeks off, starting in January 2001. Before that, we had five weeks. German companies generally provide six weeks.
Now I'm in the States and have to suffer--not just with two weeks, but a "prorated two weeks"...meaning that since I started in April, I really only get a week and a half of vacation. Combine US vacation policies with US HMOs and you get an equation equalling reason to move back to Europe.
Have fun in Rome!
joe