I’m off to romantic Sedona, Arizona, on Friday for three days with my German friend, Inge. You may be asking, “Why not with your husband?” The answer is simple. I live in the United States where work comes first and relaxation is a four letter word.
My husband is longing for a vacation. The last one he had was in August 2007, and I can tell he really needs one. There are however three problems. First of all, his boss doesn’t want him to take more than one week off at a time, even though he’s been a pillar of strength at the same law firm for ten years, (minus the one year we lived in Belize.) Secondly, he’s supposed to bill the same number of hours whether or not he takes a vacation. This obviously means working twice as many hours when he returns from his vacation. How can you relax when you have to do that? Third, we shall soon have two sons attending University in the U.S. Our 18-year-old is starting UCSB, University of California Santa Barbara, this August, and our oldest is in his 3rd year of engineering, at the University of Michigan.
For those of you who live abroad, California is considered in-state for us which means the fees are around $22,000 per year, including the dorm, food and books. When your son/daughter studies out of state, which is the case of our oldest, tuition and books amount to $40,000, not including room and board. Multiply both those fees by 4, for a University degree. No wonder people have the work ethic here. Many young students start a new career with loans of $160,000. Some people say, “Get a scholarship, but what if your kid is one of the 99% who does not excel at baseball, football, etc? My Danish friend’s son is also in college, and he gets a set amount per month for lodging from the government, and tuition is covered. He will be able to start a career debt-free.
I love asking people I know at my local gym if they have any plans for the summer. 99% of the time, they say, “I have to work, so we’ll probably take a couple of 3-day weekends to Santa Barbara or Las Vegas.” I’ve never heard anyone say, “We’re off to Brazil, or Australia.” I envy Europeans for the amount of holidays they have and the amount of traveling they do. It doesn’t necessarily seem to be related to a highly paid job either.
When Duke and I visited the tiny island of Nana-Nu-Ira in Fiji, for our 50th birthdays, a lifetime dream of mine, we met a couple from England. Both husband and wife were school teachers in their 50’s, and every year, they take the whole summer and fly around the world on a special ticket where they can stop when they chose to. They also take a holiday in the fall which is usually to Greece or the Canary Islands. I’ve never met a husband and wife who are both school teachers in the U.S., ever taking a round the world trip, EVER.
I know the economy affects all of us, and times may be different now.
So what are your plans for holidays this year?
What is it like for you when you take time off work? Do you have to make up the extra hours when you return?
What about University costs where you live?
Ironically, as I write these words, my husband is traveling in Greece and Turkey. I could not afford to take 18 days away from work at this time of year. I do plan to take three or four shorter vacations this summer.
How were you able to live in Belize for a whole year if your husband can’t take off work for more than a week?
I did my schooling in California and now in Rhode Island. Thankfully, I did junior college so I only had to do two (and a half, I over achieved and got two BAs) at UCB and then got into graduate school, where get this, they waive your tuition and pay you money! For four years. Then you have to pray you are done with classes and have to just pay then enrollment fee until you finish. But as an archaeologist, I must go digging in the summer. Getting money for that is hard. I don’t pay to go, but I have to cover my plane ticket (sometimes) and my weekends as well as any rent on the empty apartment/room (I’m only gone a month, so why try to find a sublet). But it does make trying to get and keep a job difficult when you have to tell them, “yeah, so I’ll be gone for 5 weeks in the middle of summer when I know you really want me to be working. Yeah.” Add to that the complication that I don’t speak Danish and live in Denmark and thus am not qualified to get a real job anyway and you get “who needs a vacation when you can’t even get a JOB.” Ah well, at least the health care is free. 🙂
We tend to tie most of our vacations to Hubby’s work. For example, next month he has a conference in Hungary and i’ll be joining him. His airfare and the hotel is paid for plus a per diem making that portion venture slightly more affordable.
Have fun with your friend in AZ! 🙂
Your questions, here we go:
'So what are your plans for holidays this year?'
At the moment no plans…(you'll find the answer why not on my blog post 21.5.)
'What is it like for you when you take time off work? Do you have to make up the extra hours when you return?"
In Finland you (normally) have a holiday when you have a holiday, no work on holiday :)!
Average lenght is 4 weeks in the summer and about 1 week winter. You're paid for that time.
Teachers have longer summer holiday from end May till Mid August. Many has to study during their holiday but only short courses…
In Finland Summer Universities are very popular to study languages etc. on your holiday! Here's one link: http://www.kesayliopistohki.fi/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=83
We DON'T have to make up nothing! You've earned your holiday working hard enough 11 months…
What about University costs where you live?
In Finland it's FREE but for how long…
BUT cost of living, books etc. are really expensive.
You get some support from social security but many students take loan or they work…
In Egypt…example link:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/overseas/programs/egypt/
cost $14.200/semester
I’ve heard that you get very little holiday in the US – it’s terrible! In the UK, you get 4 weeks’ holiday. Here in Sweden, I get 6 weeks hol with the right to take 4 of those weeks at the same time – ie. four weeks in a row. Then we have a whole load of bank holidays too, about another weeks’ worth.
Let’s see…we just booked our vacation to Denmark. We will be there for two weeks in August for a family wedding and just having fun.
That is about one thing Peter cannot get used to here in the US. He went from having 6 weeks of vacation to 2.
One company I recently looked into submitting my resume to only gives 2 weeks a year for both vacation and sick leave! So, if you are sick for 5 days, you only get a week of vacation! So I didn’t submit my resume.
As for college, I am not sure why the US has to charge so much for education. It is ridiculous.
Imagine paying college fees living and earning in the exterior… that is what we did for 2 years. Even though our daughter took a student loan, we could not manage it. But she has managed well on her own now, so it was worth it. Our second daughter luckily decided to go to University here in P.
At the firm (Coop) I work at we get 2 weeks paid vacation, but after 5 years seniority it´s 3 weeks and after 10 it´s 4. I´m at 4 weeks now. But we almost never go away for that long. Every 4 years or so, we make a trip to Canada to visit our daughter and friends for about 6 weeks. In between we make short “long weekend” trips in Paraguay or Brazil.
Hope you enjoy your time in Arizona!
For 9 1/2 years we lived in he mountains outside of Cody, WY. Everyday was like being in a vacation spot. Of course, there was still work to do …
You are so right. We don’t enjoy those extended vacations like other couples in different parts of the world. That’s just sad.
I feel like waking up my husband and planning a family vacation to Barcelona (where my ancestors are from). I keep saying “one day…” but will that day ever come??
Hope you enjoy your time in Sedona!
Seriously college just costs too darn much!
@Shirley,
During our year in Belize, my husband quiit his job, as we thought we’d be staying there for the rest of our lives. He came back to the same law firm afterwards.
I am retired, actually not by choice, but rather – mental health. After 7 years, I still resent the way it was done – guess I always will. BUT, the upside is, no longer dealing with the crazy employers and crazier patrons, AND spending most of my time alone, I am free to plan my time as I choose and now have very little depression!
That being said, I am developing what I call “The Second Verse of My Song” attempting to learn and paint daily. I feel like a new woman!
So, my big plans for the summer – taking a course offered by Alyson B Stanfield at artbizblog.com called Summer Blast Off! Get clear on priorities, establish boundaries, and gain courage.
What more could a retired girl hope for?
I wonder if that continues to be true for Europe today? It feels to me like the entire world has taken an economic hit. Maybe they still get the vacation time, but I wonder if they can still afford to travel.
It is amazing how little vacation time we get in the US
Gutsy,
Oh do I know how your husband feel! The word vacation has been erased from my dictionary. Sure I get a long weekend here or there, but a week vacation, nope, only in my dreams.
As someone who attended college out of state, I feel your pain regarding those out of state tuition fees! Ouch.
All plans have been canceled but we were going to visit my parents in Spain for a week or two. It’s very affordable to fly from the UK to Spain – doesn’t cost much more than eating out…..
Hubby never takes off work more than a day or two at a time. On ‘holidays’ he always has his laptop and 3g – ready to work whilst I take the kids off for some fun! It is simply not possible for him to not work at all. Yes, the hours have to be made up when we get back.
In the UK Uni is expensive enough. In Norway not – as long as the kids keep their living expenses down and don’t blow their stipends and student loans.
I have two heading off to college this fall for the first time. So I know what you mean. But I’m not sure I’d want to trade the other benefits I have living in the US in order to live somewhere else.
Just back from a 1 day “vacation” to north central N.Mexico. It is beautiful, with some beautiful scenery and a national park. We are going back.
Hi Sonia. Thanks for stopping by at my place. I really, really enjoyed reading many of your posts. It’s a very compelling life story that you’re sharing.
We’ve been somewhat nomadic ourselves, living in eight different houses including a two-year adventure in London. I finally left the corporate rat race for the teaching world and reconnected with the children I was helping to raise while on the road.
Looking forward to reading more.
Americans do need more vacations, I agree with you. All of my friends from overseas get so much more time off. I do think that it makes the worker more productive once they get back to work after a vacation.
I always find it hard to understand how Americans and Japanese people cope with so little holiday time. In France and Luxembourg the minimum per year is 25 days, I have 27. Plus you get extra days for moving house or getting married in Luxembourg, where I work. I got 6 days for getting married last year, by law. And two this week for moving house. And I need every second of my holiday time. I think the stress levels over there must be hard to cope with.