Take Your Vacation!

We’re rapidly approaching 2014, and most of us are facing the prospect of working more hours and more days per week in the coming year. 

That is, if you’re blessed to have a job.  And if you do, keep this in mind; there are five blokes out there who would gladly push their mothers into rush hour traffic to get their hands on that gig.  And the skunks would probably work for twenty percent less than you do!   We know it and our employer knows it. 

Granted, you may not love your current gig, and probably cuss like a sailor when the alarm goes off, but the Good Lord knows you sure don’t want to be on the outside looking in.

Labor data further indicates that in addition to working more hours and more days a week, there’s a growing trend wherein employees routinely forego their vacations.  Sure we earned the time, but we are troubled by today’s workplace realities.  First, most folks are doing the work that three people used to do.  Second, there’s nobody left at your joint to do your work if you’re not there.  So, not willing to take a chance that the work won’t get done, and that we’ll hang for that, we decide not to take that vacation time away.  We either skip the time away altogether, or take the work with us while we’re supposed to be “relaxing.”

And don’t you just love these “experts” who tell us that we should shut our phones off and don’t look at e-mail while we’re on holiday.  ARE THEY NUTS?   Miss one important call, text or e-mail, and when you return all your earthly possessions may be packed in the brown box of love!

But now research (once again those chaps in lab coats) has shown that we really NEED that vacation time away.  Besides recharging your soul - travel also helps you live longer.  That research further found that people who do not take at least one vacation a year have a significantly higher risk of heart attacks.  Frequent travel also seems to prevent dementia and improves your mood.

The preceding editorial and the study data contained therein were conducted by researchers at the prestigious Expedia Institute.