Maximize Your Time Off: The Top Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Vacation Days
Posted September 1, 2021
Updated February 11, 2023
Do you feel like you're constantly putting off your travel dreams? Don't let your vacation days go to waste! With the help of batch planning, taking advantage of long weekends, and focusing on simplifying your travels, you can turn your RV dreams into a reality. Planning ahead and making the most of your vacation days allows you to explore new destinations and create memories that will last a lifetime. Whether you're looking to visit the beach, mountains, or somewhere you've never been before, let's turn your vacations into reality and hit the road!
Vacation Days
Perhaps every RVer has contemplated the idea of selling it all and moving into their rig. We dream of what it could be like to ditch the snow shoveling, lawn mowing, never-ending lists, and responsibilities of real life and become one of those iconic full-time RVers that look as if they’re on a permanent vacation. And then reality sinks in because, for whatever reason, it may be, now is not the time for that dream. So what are we left with? Weekends and vacation days!
Quite possibly the most iconic job benefit around is the vacation day. These hours, days, and weeks are earned based on years of work history or job title. Some of us use them for doctor’s appointments and our children’s school events; others take that singular trip of a lifetime, and more still, save them for the ubiquitous rainy day. The amount of vacation days that go unused in America is so overwhelming that the U.S. Travel Association has created the marketing campaign, National Plan for Vacation Day and Let’s Go There, to encourage us to actually use these days instead of letting them go to waste.
According to the U.S. Travel Association, the numbers were staggering in 2020; Americans left more than 33% of their paid time off on the table. That’s about five days of earned vacation time per American wasted. Even though six in ten of us feel we desperately need a vacation.
The good news is that the statistics show that when vacations are planned ahead of time, we are more likely to use up our days off for vacations instead of the other stuff. Not to mention, those who plan vacations ahead of time are 97% more likely to be happier overall while anticipating our travel and having more fun while on the trip itself.
So how can you make these vacation days a reality, hit the road, and get the most out of them? The key is having a plan.
First, grab your calendar, paper is best, and start by batch planning your vacations. Batch planning allows you to focus on a single time frame – whether this is three months, six months, or the entire year at one time. First, mark down all the days to remember, like weddings, birthdays, school events, sports schedules, etc. Then decide when traveling works best for you. Can you plan five long weekends away? Campers usually stick to the summer season; however, there is a huge movement to expand those into the shoulder seasons.
If you’re working with your kid’s school schedule, look for those random days off, this is especially nice when you’re hoping to avoid crowds. For example, my kids’ school always has an in-service day on the fourth Friday of September. This is perfect camping weather, and we love taking advantage of scenic drives and hikes to enjoy the fall foliage. We leave on Thursday right after school and come home Sunday afternoon. That’s only one, maybe one and a half days of vacation time taken off of work for a relaxing extended weekend away from home.
Next, think outside the box and make your vacation days work for you by making the most of each day. By now, every well-seasoned employee knows to use weekends as bookends for a longer time off. Five days of vacation time magically becomes nine days away from the office. But what about making the three-day summer holiday weekends like Memorial Day and Labor Day turn into five by using only two vacation days as bookends? That’s ten days off for the price of four! Since Independence Day falls on a Tuesday this year, take an extra long weekend by requesting on Monday off and getting Tuesday for your holiday.
Now it’s time to set your sights on which destinations you and your family want to experience. Beach, mountains, desert, the lake? Why not each one? Find a comfortable driving radius from your home and see what’s around. Don’t be afraid to plan a destination that doesn’t revolve around big activities; these times of relaxing around the campsite are great ways to reconnect with family and friends. Also, consider going somewhere you’ve never been. It is refreshing for the brain and a great way to feel like a full-timer. But if you want to plan a big trip, it’s the perfect time to pull out that bucket list.
For big trips, two or more driving days away from home, it’s a good idea to find a home base campground and explore from there for a week instead of moving around. We have a well-loved road atlas, and in it, we have marked the big places we want to see. For example, when we decided to go to Glacier National Park, we stayed in West Glacier. We looked around the map for equally beautiful places to visit – exploring Kalispell, a picnic at Flathead Lake, fly fishing the Middle Fork Flathead River, a day trip to Missoula, plus two days of scenic driving and hiking in the national park. Pinterest is also a great next step for digging deeper when looking for advice on what to do at your destination. Checking out travel books at your library is also a helpful resource.
Once you’ve requested the days off from work, made campground reservations, and planned your experiences, it’s time to focus on the best tip from the full-time RVers. Travel more simply. When we clutter our RVs with all the gadgets, do-dads, and extra things, it takes away from our precious vacation time. I challenge all campers to leave the extra things at home, just once and focus on the things that matter. Travel easier and cherish your weekends and vacation days. And make the most of each of them.